6  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

permanent  existence  of  His  Church,  our  Lord  gave  them  the  solemn 
promise  that  He  Himself  would  be  with  them  to  the  end  of  the  world, 
and  that  the  Paraclete,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  would  abide  with  them 
forever,  "  Who  would  teach  them  all  truth."     John  xiv.  and  xvi. 

13.  Thus  was  established  by  Christ  the  "Kingdom  of  God  upon 
earth,"  that  is,  the  Church,  which,  although  small  in  the  beginning, 
was  destined  to  spread  over  the  whole  world,  embracing  all  nations 
and  uniting  them  into  one  great  spiritual  Kingdom.  The  small  society 
consisting  then  of  only  the  Apostles  and  Disciples  of  our  Lord,  and 
some  pious  women,  who  ministered  to  Him  in  His  daily  rounds  and 
travels,  was  the  commencement,  the  fruitful  bud,  as  it  were,  of  the 
"  Church  of  Christ."  Christ  calls  His  Church  indifferently  "  the  King- 
dom of  God "  and  "  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven^  She  is  a  Kingdom, 
indeed,  not  of  this  world,  yet  founded  in  this  world,  and  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  world.  In  her  alone  are  fulfilled  the  predictions  of  the 
prophets  concerning  the  perpetual  Kingdom  of  the  Messiah. 

SECTION    III. PASSION    AND    DEATH    OF    OUR    LORD. 

Jesus  and  His  Enemies — ^Divine  Decree — Institution  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
— Our  Lord's  Final  Discourse— His  Passion — His  Death — His  Resurrection 
— His  Ascension— The  Four  Gospels — Apocryphal  Gospels  and  Writings. 

14.  During  the  three  years  of  His  public  ministry,  Jesus  bestowed 
upon  the  Jewish  people  the  greatest  benefits  and  blessings  ;  the  count- 
less miracles  which  He  wrought  in  the  name  of  God  the  Father,  were 
a  sufficient  and  convincing  proof  of  His  divine  Mission,  and  of  His 
being  the  promised  Messiah.  Many  of  the  people,  indeed,  believed  in 
Him,  confessing  Him  to  be  "  the  Prophet  who  was  to  come  into  this 
world,"  John  vi.  14,  and  "that  when  the  Christ  conieth,  He  would 
work  miracles  neither  greater  nor  more  numerous  than  those  of  Jesus." 
John  vii.  31.  Nevertheless,  our  Lord  had  many  enemies,  who  were 
found  chiefly  among  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees.^  These  were  bitterly 
opposed  to  Him,  because  of  His  severe  reproaches  against  them,  and 
because  walking  in  the  way  of  humiliation  and  contempt  of  the  world, 
He  appeared  in  a  guise  which  ill  suited  their  pride  and  the  carnal  views 

1.  The  Jewish  Theolog-ians,  we  find  at  this  time,  divided  into  three  sects,  who  were 
more  or  less  opposed  to  each  other— the  Pharisees,  the  Saddiicees  and  tlio  Essenes.  The 
Pharisees,  whose  name  implies  separation  from  the  unholy,  atfected  the  g'reatest  exact- 
ness in  every  reiiKJous  observance,  and  attributed  j^roat  authority  to  traditional  precepts 
relating  principally  to  external  rites.  They  were  the  leading?  sect  among-  the  Jews,  and 
had  great  intiuence  with  the  common  people.  The  Sadducees,  on  the  contrary,  disre- 
garded all  the  traditional  and  unwritten  laws  which  the  Pharisees  prized  so  highly;  they 
denied  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  and  the  existence  of  the  angels.  The  Essenes 
were  a  society  of  piousty  disposed  men,  who  had-  withdrawn  themselves  from  the  strife 
of  theological  and  political  parties  to  the  western  side  of  the  Dead  Sea,  where  they  lived 
together,  leading  an  ascetic  and  retired  life. 


PASSION  OF  CHRIST.  7 

they  had  formed  of  the  Messiah.  They  con^antly  watched  His  words 
and  actions,  but  could  not  detect  any  fault  wherewith  to  impeach 
His  character. 

15.  Full  of  malice,  the  Jewish  leaders  continually  sought  to 
destroy  Him,  and  decreed  to  excommunicate  every  one  who  should 
confess  Jesus  of  Kazareth  to  be  the  Messiah.  John  x.  22.  Finally, 
when  Jesus  raised  Lazarus  from  the  dead,  and  soon  after  made  His 
regal  entry  into  Jerusalem,  the  high-priests  summoned  a  council,  and, 
under  pretence  of  providing  for  the  welfare  and  security  of  the  nation, 
resolved  to  put  Him  to  death.  John  xi.  47-53.  Yet  so  long  as  it 
pleased  Him,  His  enemies  could  do  Him  no  harm,  "for  though  they 
sought  to  apprehend  Him,  yet  no  man  laid  hands  on  Him,  because  His 
hour  was  not  yet  come."  John  vii.  30.  All  the  intrigues  and  violence 
of  His  enemies  would  have  availed  nothing,  had  it  not  been  His  will 
to  suffer  and  die  for  the  salvation  of  the  world.     "  No  man"  He  said, 

'taketh  My  life  from  Me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  Myself;  and  I  have 
power  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it  up  again."  John  x.  18. 

16.  But  when  His  time  was  come,  Jesus  said  to  His  disci- 
ples, on  His  way  to  Jerusalem:  "Behold  we  go  up  to  Jerusalem; 
and  the  Son  of  man  shall  be  betrayed  to  the  chief  priests  and  to  the 
Scribes,  and  they  shall  condemn  Him  to  death."  Matt.  xx.  18.  In 
the  eternal  counsels  of  God  it  had  been  decreed  that  Jesus  should 
become  a  victim  and  sacrifice  of  expiation  for  the  sins  of  the  world, 
and  by  His  sufferings  and  death  on  the  cross  redeem  mankind.  Our 
Lord,  therefore,  resigned  to  the  will  of  His  heavenly  Father,  steadily 
looked  forward  to  the  consummation  of  that  sacrifice  in  His  ignomin- 
ious death.  And  He  not  only  died  because  He  so  willed,  but  when  He 
willed.  He  chose  to  die  at  the  time  of  the  Paschal  feast ;  and  He 
carried  out  His  purpose  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  His  enemies  to  the 
contrary.  In  vain  had  the  high  priests  and  Pharisees  resolved  not  to 
seize  and  slay  Him  until  after  the  Pasch,  lest  there  might  be  a 
tumult  amongst  the  people  who  shortly  before  had  welcomed  Him 
with  such  enthusiasm.  Matt.  xxvi.  5.  Jesus  had  expressly  said  to 
His  Apostles  :  "  After  two  days  will  be  the  Pasch,  and  the  Son  of 
man  will  be  given  up,  that  He  may  be  crucified."     Matt.  xxvi.  2. 

17.  On  the  eve  of  His  bitter  Passion,  after  having  eaten  the  Pas- 
chal lamb  with  His  Apostles,  and  having  washed  their  feet,  Jesus 
proceeded  to  institute  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  Taking  bread  He 
blessed  it  and  gave  it  to  His  Apostles,  with  the  words  :  "  Take  ye 
and  eat.  This  is  My  Body  which  shall  be  delivered  for  you."  In 
like  manner  taking  the  chalice  with  wine.  He  blessed  and  gave  it  to 
His  Apostles,  saying  :     "  Drink  ye  all  of  this,  for  this  is  My  Blood, 


IBRARY 

'NlVr:-;TY  OF 
CALIrC.'?NiA 


/" 
j<«? 


History  of  the  Church, 


PKOM   ITS 


First  Establishment  to  Our  Own  Times. 


DESIGNED  FOE  THE  ITSE   OP 


ECCLESIASTICAL  SEMINARIES  AND 
COLLEGES. 


—  BY  — 


REV.  J.  A.  BIRKH.EUSER, 


IFORMERLY  Professor  of  Church  History  and  Canon  Law  in 

THE  PrOYINCIAL    SEMINARY   OF    St.    FraNCIS   DE   SaLES, 

NEAR  Milwaukee,  Wis. 


"  The  first  Law  of  History  is  to  dread  uttering  falsehood ;  the  next,  not  to  fear  stating  the  truth 
lastly,  that  the  historian's  writings  should  be  open  to  no  suspicion  of  partiality  or  of  animoslty."- 
His  Holiness  Pope  Leo  XIII. 


FR.   PUSTET, 
Printer  to  the  Holy  See  and  the  S.  Congregation  of  Kites. 


FR.  PUSTET  &  CO., 

New  Yokk  and  Cincinnati 


LOAN  STACK 

Copyright  Secured,  1888. 
Rev.   J.   A.   Birkhjeuseb. 


(All  Rights  Reserved.) 


RECOMMENDATIONS. 


Milwaukee,  May  9, 1888. 

It  is  with  sincere  pleasure  and  satisfaction  that  I  recommend 
the  *'  History  of  the  Church,"  written  by  Eey.  J.  A.  Birkhseuser, 
late  Professor  of  Church  History  and  Canon  Law  in  the  Provincial 
Seminary  of  St.  Francis.  As  I  have  carefully  perused  the  proof- 
sheets  of  the  work  while  it  was  in  print,  I  had  sufficient  opportu- 
nity  of  convincing  myself  that  this  book,  owing  to  the  singularly 
full  and  precise  treatment  of  the  subject,  will  fill  a  long-felt  want 
in  our  Catholic  literature,  and  will  be  used  with  great  advantage 
as  a  text-book  in  our  Ecclesiastical  Seminaries.  The  frequent 
references  to  patristic  literature  which  are  found  in  this  volume 
will  make  our  students  familiar  with  a  branch  of  theological 
science,  which,  owing  to  the  status  of  our  course  of  studies,  has 
not  yet  received  that  attention  which  it  rightly  deserves.  While 
I  sincerely  congratulate  the  Reverend  author  on  the  good  he  has 
done,  I  wish  to  his  work  all  the  success  which  his  zeal  and  assi- 
duity deserve. 

t  MICHAEL  HEISS, 

Archbishop  of  Milwaukee. 


Baltimore,  May  18, 1888. 

I  take  great  pleasure  in  adding  my  name  to  that  of  the  Most 
Rev.  Archbishop  of  Milwaukee  in  commending  to  the  clergy  and 
faithful  the  "  History  of  the  Church,"  by  Rev.  J.  A.  BirkhsBUser, 
late  Professor  of  St.  Francis'  Seminary,  Milwaukee. 

t  JAMES  CARDINAL  GIBBONS, 

Archbishop  of  Baltimore, 


.SI  2 


if  RECOMMENDATIONS, 

Cincinnati,  May  18, 1888. 
I  have  not  had  an  opportunity  to  examine  Rev.  J.  A.  Birkhse  user's 
"History  of  the  Church."  But  the  approbation  of  the  Most  Rev. 
Archbishop  of  Milwaukee  is  a  full  guarantee  of  its  merits.  And 
the  reputation  of  the  Institution  from  which  rit  comes  makes  me 
not  hesitate  to  recommend  it  to  all  readers  of  Church  History, 
t  WILLIAM  HENRY  ELDER, 

Archbishop  of  Gindnnatu 


I 


PREFACE. 


The  object  of  the  present  work  will  require  but  little 
explanation :  it  is  to  supply  what  is  believed  to  be  an  acknowl- 
edged deficiency.  This  brief  outline  of  ecclesiastical  history, 
intended  for  the  use  of  students  in  colleges  and  theological 
seminaries  as  an  introductory  to  the  important  study  of 
Church  History,  has  arisen  out  of  a  course  of  lectures  which, 
for  several  years,  I  delivered  in  the  Provincial  Seminary 
at  St.  Francis,  near  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin.  The  repeated 
requests  of  my  fellow-professors  and  of  the  seminarians 
attending  these  lectures  at  length  prevailed  upon  me  to  pub- 
lish them  in  a  connected  and  enlarged  form  for  a  wider  circle. 
That  there  exists  a  real  need  of  a  good  English  text-book  on 
Church  History,  suited  for  theological  students  and  more 
advanced  pupils,  seems  to  be  generally  conceded.  A  writer  in 
the  Catholic  Literary  Circular  of  London,  April,  1882,  observes : 
"  We  are  behindhand  in  many  departments  of  literature ;  but 
in  none,  probably,  is  the  dearth  of  readable  books  more  sadden- 
ing than  in  this  one  subject  of  ecclesiastical  history.  The 
English  version  of  Alzog  is  cumbersome  and  unfinished ; 
Reeve  has  made  his  work  so  intolerably  dreary,  that  it  would 
be  folly  to  hope  for  any  good  as  the  result  of  such  a  book ; 
the  translation  of  DoUinger  leaves  many  centuries  untouched. 
The  ordinary  Catholic  student,  therefore,  who  wants  informa- 
tion on  questions  belonging  to  ecclesiastical  history  and  is  not 
master  of  foreign  languages,  must  drink  at  such  poisoned 
sources  as  Stephen,  or  the  translations  of  Ranke  and  Neander." 
Other  leading  periodicals,  such  as  The  Dublin  Review  and  The 
American  Catholic  Quarterly  Review,  express  themselves  to  the 
same  effect.  '^Manuals  are  needed  for  the  use  of  institutions, 
which,  while  leaving  truth  intact,  shall  put  aside  all  that  is 
harmful  to  youth  and  serve  to  aid  and  extend  historical 
studies."  (His  Holiness  Pope  Leo  XIIL,  in  his  letter  of  August 
18,  1883,  to   Cardinals  de  Luca,  Pitra,  and  Hergenrcether.) 


%  RECOMMENDATIONS, 

Cincinnati,  May  18,  1888. 
I  have  not  had  an  opportunity  to  examine  Rev.  J.  A.  Birkhse  user's 
"History  of  the  Church."  But  the  approbation  of  the  Most  Rev. 
Archbishop  of  Milwaukee  is  a  full  guarantee  of  its  merits.  And 
the  reputation  of  the  Institution  from  which  at  comes  makes  me 
not  hesitate  to  recommend  it  fco  all  readers  of  Church  History, 
t  WILLIAM  HENRY  ELDER, 

Archbishop  of  Gindnnatu 


PREFACE. 


The  object  of  the  present  work  will  require  but  little 
explanation :  it  is  to  supply  what  is  believed  to  be  an  acknowl- 
edged deficiency.  This  brief  outline  of  ecclesiastical  history, 
intended  for  the  use  of  students  in  colleges  and  theological 
seminaries  as  an  introductory  to  the  important  study  of 
Church  History,  has  arisen  out  of  a  course  of  lectures  which, 
for  several  years,  I  delivered  in  the  Provincial  Seminary 
at  St.  Francis,  near  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin.  The  repeated 
requests  of  my  fellow-professors  and  of  the  seminarians 
attending  these  lectures  at  length  prevailed  upon  me  to  pub- 
lish them  in  a  connected  and  enlarged  form  for  a  wider  circle. 
That  there  exists  a  real  need  of  a  good  English  text-book  on 
Church  History,  suited  for  theological  students  and  more 
advanced  pupils,  seems  to  be  generally  conceded.  A  writer  in 
the  Catholic  Literary  Circular  of  London,  April,  1882,  observes  : 
"  We  are  behindhand  in  many  departments  of  literature ;  but 
in  none,  probably,  is  the  dearth  of  readable  books  more  sadden- 
ing than  in  this  one  subject  of  ecclesiastical  history.  The 
English  version  of  Alzog  is  cumbersome  and  unfinished ; 
Reeve  has  made  his  work  so  intolerably  dreary,  that  it  would 
be  folly  to  hope  for  any  good  as  the  result  of  such  a  book ; 
the  translation  of  Dollinger  leaves  many  centuries  untouched. 
The  ordinary  Catholic  student,  therefore,  who  wants  informa- 
tion on  questions  belonging  to  ecclesiastical  history  and  is  not 
master  of  foreign  languages,  must  drink  at  such  poisoned 
sources  as  Stephen,  or  the  translations  of  Ranke  and  Neander." 
Other  leading  periodicals,  such  as  The  Dublin  Review  and  The 
American  Catholic  Quarterly  Review,  express  themselves  to  the 
same  effect.  "^Manuals  are  needed  for  the  use  of  institutions, 
which,  while  leaving  truth  intact,  shall  put  aside  all  that  is 
harmful  to  youth  and  serve  to  aid  and  extend  historical 
studies."  (His  Holiness  Pope  Leo  XIIL,  in  his  letter  of  August 
18,  1883,  to   Cardinals  de  Luca,  Pitra,  and  Hergenroether.) 


▼i  P  EFFACE. 

While  teaching  Church  History  in  our  Seminary,  I  sadly 
felt  the  want  of  a  suitable  text-book  for  the  use  of  our  students ; 
as  a  natural  consequence,  they  had  either  to  be  taught,  with 
much  additional  cost,  both  of  time  and  labor,  from  the  notes 
or  lectures  of  their  professor,  or  to  adopt  as  their  manual  the 
translations  of  either  Alzog  or  Darras — works  which,  though 
excellent  in  their  kind,  have  been  pronounced  too  extensive 
and  voluminous  for  the  short  space  of  time  that  is  usually  al- 
lotted to  the  study  of  ecclesiastical  history  in  our  institutions. 
To  supply  the  want  by  the  translation  of  another  foreign 
manual,  I  considered  inexpedient.  In  a  text-book  of  Church 
History  for  the  use  of  our  institutions  greater  regard  ought  to 
be  shown  for  the  wants  of  the  English  speaking  world  than  is 
commonly  found  in  books  that  are  merely  adaptations  or  trans- 
lations from  foreign  sources  and  languages.  Besides,  I  deemed 
it  important  that  some  prominence  should  be  given  to  Chris- 
tian Antiquity,  and  especially  to  Patristic  Studies.  These 
important  subjects  are  generally  treated  in  European  institu- 
tions as  separate  branches  of -study  ;  but  in  our  ecclesiastical 
seminaries,  it  would  seem,  they  must  be  studied  in  connection 
with  Church  History,  or  there  is  danger  that  they  will  be 
entirely  overlooked. 

It  has  been  my  constant  effort  not  to  encumber  the  student's 
mind  with  a  mass  of  details,  but  to  sketch  events  in  a  few  words, 
and  to  give,  in  as  clear  and  connected  a  manner  as  possible,  a 
plain  but  carefully  drawn  outline  of  ecclesiastical  history. 
How  far  I  have  succeeded,  must  be  left  to  the  decision  of 
those  whose  knowledge  of  Christian  history  entitles  them  to 
pronounce  judgment  in  this  matter. 

This  being  the  limit  of  my  desire,  I  thought  best  not  to  clog 
the  work  with  copious  references  and  quotations,  which, 
although  interesting  to  the  scholar,  would  make  a  text-book 
too  prolix  for  the  ordinary  student. 

The  present  work  claims  no  originality.  The  utmost  I  have 
done  in  historical  research  has  been  as  an  humble  follower  in 
the  footsteps  of  those  who  have  gone  before.  Tte  work  which 
has  been  especially  consulted,  and  which,  to  a  certain  extent, 
forms  the  basis  of  this  history,  is  the  famous  "  Manual  of  Uni- 
versal Church  History,"  by  his  Eminence,  Cardinal  Hergen- 
roether,  whose,  great  services  to  the  Church  in  the  field   of 


PREFACE.  vii 

ecclesiastical   history  are    well   known  all  over  the  Catholic 
world,  and  have  been  acknowledged  by  as  high  an  authority  as 
His  Holiness  Leo  XIII.,  who  promoted  the  learned  author  to 
the  dignity  of   Cardinal,  and  appointed  him  "■  Prefect  of  the 
Vatican   Archives."     Other  works  used  in  the  composition  of 
this  volume  are  those  of  the  learned  Church-historian,  Bishop 
Hefele,  who  wrote  a  most  elaborate  and  valuable  **  History  of 
the  Councils ;"  of  Mohler,  the  famous  author  of  the  Symbolism  ; 
of  Jungmann,  professor  in  the  University  of  Louvain  ;  of  Palma, 
Dollinger,   Janssen,   and    Briick  ;   of  Lingard,  the  English  his- 
torian ;  of  Cardinals  Newman  and  Moran  ;   of  J.  G.  Shea,  the 
well  known  author  of  a  series  of  works  on  American  history  ; 
and  the  English  versions  of  Alzog  and   Darras.      Many  other 
modern  works  of  standard  authors.  Catholic  and  Protestant,, 
have  been  put  under  contribution  ;  amongst  the  rest  were  con- 
sulted the  publications  of  Cardinal  Wiseman  and  Archbishops 
Kenrick  and  Spalding  ;  of  Bishops  Challoner,  Carew,  and  Eng- 
land ;  of  Audin,  Waterworth,  Flanagan,  Mac  Geoghan,  Malone, 
Mac  Leod,  Marshall,  Gillow,  Thebaud,  Bellesheim,  Brownson, 
Murray,  Ranke,  Neander,  Mosheim,  Gibbon,  Milman,  Hallam, 
Maitland,   Green,    Macaulay,   Robertson,    Graham,  Bancroft, 
Blunt,  Lee,  and  Guizot.    On  some  points  I  am  indebted  for  val- 
uable information  to   The  Month,  The  Dublin  Review,  The  Irish 
Ecclesiastical  Record,  The  American  Quarterly  Review,  The  Cath- 
olic World,  and  other  Catholic  periodicals. 

In  writing  the  treatises  on  Patristic  Literature,  besides  con- 
sulting the  excellent  ''  OutHne  of  Patrology,"  by  Dr.  Alzog,  and 
other  works  on  this  subject,  I  followed  chiefly  the  learned 
and  extensive  "  Institutions  of  Patrology,"  by  Bishop  Fessler, 
whose  long  study  and  labor  on  patrology,  church  history,  and 
canon  law  were  deservedly  honored  by  the  late  Pope  Pius  IX., 
who,  in  1869,  appointed  the  distinguished  prelate  Secretary  of 
the  Council  of  the  Vatican. 

The  present  work,  having  been  written  and  the  printing  cor- 
rected under  the  pressure  of  other  occupations,  will,  no  doubt, 
contain  some  inaccuracies  and  omissions ;  with  respect  to  these 
I  trust  to  find  indulgence  with  the  reader.  In  writing  this  vol- 
ume, I  have  conscientiously  striven  to  follow  the  rule  laid 
down  by  His  Holiness  Leo  XIII.,  in  the  above  quoted  letter: 
"  The  first   law  of  history  is  to  dread  uttering  falsehood ;  the 


viii  PREFACR 

next,  not  to  fear  stating  the  truth  ;  lastly,  that  the  historian's 
writings  should  be  open  to  no  suspicion  of  partiality  or  of 
animosity." 

At  the  end  of  this  work  will  be  found  a  carefully  prepared 
Index,  by  the  aid  of  which,  together  with  the  Table  of  Contents 
at  its  commencement,  the  reader  will  be  able  to  turn  to  any 
event  and  question  stated  therein. 

In  conclusion,  the  author  expresses  his  sincere  thanks  to  the 
friends  who  helped  and  encouraged  him  in  his  labor.  He 
feels  bound  to  express  his  special  obligations  to  the  Rev.  E. 
Fitzpatrick,  formerly  professor  in  our  Seminar}^  who  furnished 
him  with  many  valuable  suggestions  and  corrections  ;  and  to 
Professor  J.  Gmeiner  and  Rev.  J.  Casey,  for  many  acts  of 
kindness  during  the  preparation  of  the  work  for  the  press. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS. 


T 


Preface 

Introduction xxi 

FIRST  PERIOD. 
CHRISTIAN  ANTIQUITY. 

FEOM  CHRIST  TO  THE  END  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY, 

OR, 
FROM  A.  D.  1  TO  A.  D.  680. 


FIRST  EPOCH. 

FROM  THE  BIRTH  OF  CHRIST  TO  THE  EDICT  OF  MILAN, 

OR, 

FROM  A,  D.  1  TO  A.  D.  313. 

CHAPTER  I. 

HISTORY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST,  THE  DIVINE  FOUNDER  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Section'I.  -  Birth  and  Early  Life  of  Christ 1 

Section  II.    Public  Life  of  our  Lord -  3 

Section  lU.    Passion  and  Death  of  our  Lord 6 

CHAPTER  n. 

HISTORY  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 

Section  IV.    Pentecost — Preaching  of  the  Apostles       .       -       -       -  10 

Section  V.     Growth  of  the  Infant  Church 13 

Section  VI.     ApostoHc  Labors  of  St.  Peter— The  Founding  of  the 

See  Of  Rome 16 

Section  VH.    Apostolic  Labors  of  St.  Paul — His  Missionary  Journeys 

and  his  Epistles 19 

Section, V  m,— Labors  of  the  Other  Apostles— Disciples  of  Apostles  24 

Section  IX.     Overthrow  of  Judaism  and  Triumph  of  the  Infant  Church  28 


X  CONTENTS. 

I  PAGB. 

Section  X.    Rapid  Propagation  of  Christianity — Its  causes        -        -         31 
Section  XI.    Propagation  of  Christianity  in  Particular  Countries       -         33 

CHAPTER  in. 

RELATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  TO  THE  HEATHEN  "WORLD. 

Section  XII.    Heatheti-  Opposition  to  the   CHristian  Cliurch— Perse- 
cution of  the  Faitliful.. 37 

Section  XIII.    Persecutions  during  the  First  Century         -         -         -  40 

Section  XIV.    Persecutions  during  the  Second  Century       -        -        -  43 

Section  XV.    Persecutions  during  the  Third  Century       -        .       ^    -  46 

Section  XVI.    Persecutions  during  the  Third  Century,  Continued      -  48 
Section  XVII.    The    Great   Persecution   under   Diocletian   and  His 

Colleagues 51 

Section  XVIU.    Continuation  of  the  Persecution  under  Galerius  and 

MaximinDaja -       •  55 

Section  XIX.    Heathen  Philosophy  in  Opposition  to  Christianity       -  58 

CHAPTER  IV. 

EARLY  CATHOLIC  LITERATURE. 

Section  XX.    The  Apostolic  Fathers. 63 

Section  XXI.    The  Christian  Apologists       •        .       .        -         .         .  64 

Section  XXI.    The  Fathers  after  the  Apostolic  Age        ....  69 

Section  XXII.    Clement  of  Alexandria,  Origen,  and  Tertullian        -  71 

Section  XXin.    Other  Christian  Writers 74 

Section  XXIV.    The  Early  Christian  Schools  or  Lyceums — Versions 

and  Canon  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures       -       -       -       •  77 

CHAPTER  V: 

HISTORY  OF  HERESIES  AND  SCHISMS. 

/.   Heresies. 
Section  XXV.    Heresies  during  the  Apostolic  Age       -       -       •       •         80 
Section  XXVI.    Heresies  after  the  Apostolic  Age — The  Gnostic  Sects — 

Various  Gnostic  Schools 83 

Section  XXVII.    The  Manicheans 87 

Section  XXVni.    The  Montanists  and  Alogi       -         ...       -         88 

Section  XXIX.    Antitrinitarian  Heresies -         90 

//.  Schisms  and  Controversies. 
Section  XXX.    Schisms,  (a.)  of  Novatus  at  Carthage;  (b.)  of  Nova- 

tian  at  Rome,  and  (c.)  of  Meletius  in  Egypt         -        -         92 
Section  XXXI.    Controversies  concerning  (a.)  The  Millennium,  (b.) 

Paschal  Festival,  and  (c.)  The  Validity  of  Heretical 

Baptism 96 

CHAPTER  VI. 

CONSTITUTION,  WORSHIP,  AND  DISCIPLINB. 

Section  XXXII.    The  Clergy— Diflferent  Orders  of  Clergy       -       -         98 
Section  XXXIII.    The  Hierarchy  of  Bishops— Metropolitans    -  -       101 


CONTENTS.  Ti 

Section  XXXIV.    The  Primacy  of  the  Roman  See — Authority  of  the 

Popes  over  the  Whole  Church        ....  103 

Section  XXXV.    Popes  of  the  First  and  Second  Centuries      -      -      -  105 

Section  XXXVI.    Popes  of  the  Third  Century 107 

Section  XXXVII.    The  Sacraments  of  Baptism  and  Confirmation     -  111 
Section  XXXVIII.    Practice  and  Discipline  of  Penance— The  Sacra- 
ment of  Penance 113 

Section  XXXIX.    The  Holy  Eucharist— Discipline  of  the  Secret       -  115 
Section  XL.    Holy  Days  and  Ecclesiastical  Seasons— Sacred   Rites 

and  Places— The  Catacombs        .....  -ig 


SECOND  EPOCH. 

7B0M  THE  EDICT  OF  MILAN  TO  THE  SIXTH  ECUMENICAL  COUNCIL, 

OB, 
FROM  A.  D.  313  TO  A.  D.  680. 

Introductory  MemarJcs, 
CHAPTER  I. 

CHRISTIANITY  TRIUMPHANT  OVER  PAGANISM. 

I.  The  Church  in  the  Boman  Empire. 

Section  XLI.    The  Church  under  Constantine  and  his  Sons       -        -  124 
Section  XLII.    The  Church  under  Julian  the  Apostate        -       -         -  127 
Section  XLIH.    The  Church  under  the  Successors  of  Julian — Extinc- 
tion of  Paganism  in  the  Roman  Empire       -       -       -  129 

II.  The  Church  outside  the  Roman  Empire. 

Section  XLIV.  Propagation  of  Christianity  in  Asia,  and  Africa  -  131 
Section  XLV.  Conversion  of  Ireland  by  St.  Patrick  ....  135 
Section  XL VI.    Christianity  in  Britain  and  Scotland      ....        133 

III.  Christianity  am,ong  the  Oermanic  and  Sclavonic  Nations. 

Section  XLVH.    The  IVIigration  of  the  Nations 141 

Section  XL Vin.    Christianity  among  the  Visigoths  in  Spain,  and 

Ostrogoths  and  Lombards  in  Italy       -        -        -      .  143 

Section  XLIX.  Christianity  among  the  Vandals  in  Africa — The  Huns  146 
Section  L.    Christianity  in  Gaul — The  Burgundians — Conversion  of 

the  Franks 148 

Section  LI.    Conversion  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  in  Britain       .       -       -  149 

CHAPTER  n. 

PATRISTIC  LITERATURE. 

Section  LH.    The  Greek  Fathers  and  Doctors 152 

Section  LIH.    The  Greek  Fathers,  Continued 156 


lii  CONTENTS. 


PAOS 


Section  LIV.    Other  Greek  Writers — The  Christian  Schools  of  Alex- 
andria and  Antioch 161 

Section  LV.    Doctors  of  the  Latin  Church        .        .         _         .         .  166 

Section  LVI.    Other  Doctors  and  Fathers  of  the  Latin  Church      -      -  171 

Section  LVII.    Other  Latin  Writers 174 

Section  LVHI.    Syrian  Fathers  and  Writers 178 

CHAPTER  ni. 

HISTORY  OF  HERESIES  AND  SCHISMS. 

/.  Heresies. 

Section  LIX.    Arianism— Ecumenical  Council  of  Nice  -       -  181 

Section  LX.    Intrigues  of  the  Eusebians — Persecution  of  Orthodox 

Bishops 185 

Section  LXI.    Arian  Parties— The  Pretended  Fall  of  Liberius  and 

Bishop  Hosius 189 

Section  LXII.  Decline  and  End  of  Arianism  in  the  Roman  Empire  193 
Section  LXIII.    The  Heresies  of  Macedonius,  Appollinaris,  and  Pho- 

tinus — Second  General  Council  of  Constantinople      -       -  194 

Section  LXIV.    Pelagianism 197 

Section  LXV.    Semi-Pelagianism — Predestinarians  -  -  -  199 

Section  LXVI.  Nestorianism — Third  General  Council  of  Ephesus  -  201 
Section  LXVH.    The  Monophysite  Heresy — The'  Fourth  Ecumenical 

Council  of  Chalcedon       -        -        - 204 

Section  LXVIH.    The  Orlgenist  Controversy 209 

Section  LXIX.    The  Three  Chapters— The  Fifth  Ecumenical  Council 

of  Constantinople 210 

Section  LXX.    Heresy  of  the  Monothelites        ......  213 

Section  LXXI.    The  Sixth  Ecumenical  Council,  A.  D.  680— The  Sup- 
posed Fall  of  Honorius 216 

Section  LXXn.    Minor  Sects       -       -       -       -       -       -       -       -      -  218 

//.  Schisms. 

Section  LXXIH.    Schism  of  the  Donatists — Luciferian  and  Meletian 

Schisms -       -      -        220 

Section  LXXIV.    Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism       -       -        -    -       224 

CHAPTER  IV. 

CONSTITUTION,  WORSHIP,  AND  DISCIPLINE. 

Section  LXXV.  Education  and  Celibacy  of  the  Clergy  -  -  -  227 
Section  LXXVI.    Metropolitans,  Primates,  Exarchs  and  Patriarchs — 

Bishops — Their  Assistants 228 

Section  LXXVIL    The  Primacy  of  the  Roman  See         ....  230 

Section  LXXVIII.  The  Popes  of  the  Fourth  and  Fifth  Centuries  -  234 
Section  LXXIX.    The  Popes  of  the  Sixth  Century  to  the  Accession 

of  Gregory  the  Great 237 

Section  LXXX.    Gregory  I.  the  Great— The  Popes  to  the  Close  of  the 

Seventh  Century -       -  240 

Section  LXXXI.    Sacraments  of  Baptism,  Confirmation,  and  Penance  243 


CONTENTS.  ^iii 

PAGE. 

Section  LXXXII.    Holy  Eucharist 245 

Section  LXXXIII.    Eremitical  and  Monastic  Life         .         -       -       .       243 


SECOND  PERIOD. 
MEDIEVAL  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

FEOM    THE    CLOSE   OF   THE    SEVENTH    TO    THE    BEGINNING   OF    THE  SIX- 
TEENTH   CENTXJEY, 

OE, 

FEOM  A.  D.  680  TO  A.  D.  1500. 


FIRST    EPOCH. 

FEOM  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTUEY  TO  THE  GEEEK  SCHISM, 

OE, 
FROM  A.  D.  680  TO  A.  D.  1054. 

Introductory  Remarks, 
CHAPTER  I. 

PEOPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 

Section  I.    Christianity  in  Germany        -        -        -        -        -       -        -  257 

Section  H.    Labors  of  St.  Boniface        -        -         -         .        •,       .        .  260 

Section  III.    Conversion  of  the  Saxons— Christianity  in  Scandinavia  262 
Section  IV.    Christianity  among  the  Sclavonic  Nations — SS.  Cyril 

and  Methodius,  Apostles  of  the  Sclavonians        -        •        -  265 
Section  V.    Christianity  among  the  Sclavonians,  Continued — The  Bo- 
hemians, Poles,   and  Russians— Conversion  of  Hungary  268 

Section  VI.    State  of  the  Church  in  Ireland -  270 

Section  VH.    State  of  the  Church  in  England 275 

Section  VHI.    State  of  the  Church  in  France  and  Spain      ....  279 

CHAPTER  n 

RELATION  OF  THE  PAPACY  TO  THE  EMPIRE. 

Section  IX.    The  Popes  under  the  Byzantine  Rule        ....  281 

Section  X.    Temporal  Dominion  of  the  Popes — Papal  States — Stephen 

in. — His  Successors 284 

Section  XI.  The  Holy  Roman  Empire — Pope  Leo  IH.  and  Charle- 
magne          287 

Section  XII.    Successors  of  Leo  III.        ......         -  290 


liv  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

Section  XIII.    Pontificate  of  Nicholas  I.  the  Great. — The  Papacy  to  the 

the  Ninth  Century       -        - 292 

Section  XIV.    The  Papacy  from  the  Death  of  Formosus  to  John  XII. 

— ^Enslavement  of  the  Holy  See 295 

Section  XV.    The  Papacy  after  the  Restoration  of  the  Empire  under 

Otho  1.  the  Great -        299 

Section  XVI.    The  Papacy  from  the  Death  of  Sylvester  II.  to  that  of 

Leo  IX.— Renewed  Dependency  of  the  Holy  See       -       -       802 

CHAPTER  ni. 

CATHOLIC  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE. 

Section  XVH.    General  State  of  Learning  in  this  Epoch — Endeavors 

of  the  Church  to  Promote  Letters 304 

Section  XVHI.    Christian  Scholars  and  Writers— Their  Works      -    -       308 

CHAPTER  IV. 

HERESIES  AND  SCHISMS. 

Section  XIX.     Iconoclasm — Seventh  Ecumenical  Council.         -        -  813 

Section  XX.    Adoptionist  Heresy  —  Predestinarianism       -        -       -  316 

Section  XXI.    The  Greek  Schism 318 

Section  XXII.    Eighth  Ecumenical  Council  —  Revival  of  the  Greek 

Schism  by  Michael  Cerularius 322 

Section  XXIII.    Controversy  on  the  Holy  Eucharist — Heresy  of  Ber- 

engarius 324 

CHAPTER  V. 

CONSTITUTION  AND  DISCIPLINE. 

Section  XXIV.    The  Church  in  Her  Relation  to  the  State— Supremacy 

of  the  Popes       -        -        -       - 326 

Section  XXV.     Ecclesiastical  Legislation— False  Decretals       -       -  829 

Section  XXVI.    The  Clergy  and  Religious  Orders       -       -        -       .  831 


SECOND    EPOCH. 

TROM   THE   GREEK   SCHISM   TO   THE    BEGINNING   OF   THE   SIXTEENTH   CENTURY, 

OR, 
PROM  A.  D.   1054  TO  A.   D.   1500. 

Introductory  Remarks, 
CHAPTER  I. 

PROPAGATION   OP    CHRISTIANITY. 

Section  XXVII.     Progress  of  Christianity  in  Northern  Europe         -         -       336 
Section  XXVIII.     Missions  to  the  Heathen  and  Mohammedans  in  Asia 

and  Africa 3^^ 


CONTENTS.  XV 

PAGE. 

Section  XXIX.     The   First   Crusade   under   Godfrey  of  Bouillon — The 

Kingdom  of  Jerusalem-                341 

Section  XXX.     The  Crusades — Continued 344 

CHAPTER  11. 

RELATION  OF  THE  PAPACY  TO  THE  EMPIRE. 

Section  XXXI.     State  of  the  Church  in  the  Eleventh  Century        -         -  349 

Section  XXXII.     Predecessors  of  Gregory  VII. 353 

Section  XXXIII.     Pontificate  of  Gregory  VII. 356 

Section  XXXIV.     Gregory  VII. 's  Conflict  with  Henry  IV.           ...  359 

Section  XXXV.     The  Conflict  with  Henry  IV.  —  Continued.     -        -        -  362 

Section  XXXVI.     Successors  of  Gregory  VII. — Contest  of  Investitures   -  366 
Section  XXXVII.     From  the  Accession  of  Honorius  II.  to  the  Election 

of  Hadrian  IV. 371 

Section  XXXVIII.     Conflict  of  Frederick  I.  with  the  Church.  —Hadrian 

IV.  and  Alexander  III.         .         - 374 

Section  XXXIX.     Pontificate  of  Innocent  III.     -        -        -        .        -    -  378 
Section  XL.     Successors  of  Innocent  III. — Conflict  of  Frederick  II.  with 

the  Church 381 

Section  XLI.     Innocent  IV.  and   His   Successors. — Thirteenth   General 

Council — Fall  of  the  Hohenstaufens    -         -         -         -         -  384 
Section  XLII.     Gregory  X. — Fourteenth  General  Council — Successors  of 

Gregory  X.     -         -         -         - -  386 

Section  XLIII.     The  Church  in  France  -         -         -         -         -         -         -  389 

Section  XLI V.     Boniface  VIII.  and  Philip  the  Fair  of  France    -         -     -  393 
Section  XLV.     Translation  of  the  Holy  See  to  Avignon — Popes  Benedict 

XL  and  Clement  V.    -         -         -         -         -         -         -         -  399 

Section  XL VI.     John  XXII.  and  His  Successors  at  Avignon      -        -     -  402 

Section  XL VII.     The  Schism  of  the  West,  or  the  Great  Papal  Schism     -  406 
Section  XLVIIL     The  Schism  of  the  West,  or  the  Great  Papal  Schism, 

Continued — Schismatical  Council  of  Pisa     -         -         -         -  409 

Section  XLIX.     Council  of  Constance—  Close  of  the  Schism        -        -     -  412 
Section  L.     Popes  Martin  V.  and  Eugenius  IV. — Council  of  Basle           -  416 
Section  LI.     Seventeenth  Ecumenical,    or  Council  of  Ferrara  and  Flo- 
rence— Reunion  of  the  Greek  and  other  Eastern  Churches    -  420 
Section  LII.     The  Concordats  under  Eugenius  IV. — Nicholas   V. — His 

Successors  ----------  423 

Section  LIII.     The  Last  Popes  of  this  Period— Fifth  Lateran  Council     -  427 
Section  LIV.     The  Church  in  England  under  the  Norman  Kings     -         -  431 
Section  LV.     The  Church  in  England,  Continued — Conflict  of  St.  Thom- 
as a  Becket  with  Henry  II.           - 434 

Section  LVI.     The  Church  in  England,    Continued — Conflict  of  John, 

surnamed  Lackland,  with  the  Church 438 

Section  LVII.     The  Church  in  Ireland     -         -         -         -        -  .       -        -  442 

Section  LVIII.     The  Church  in  Ireland,  Continued 444 

Section  LIX.     The  Church  in  Scotland  -         .        -         .         .        .447 


3tvi  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  III. 

CATHOLIC   SCIENCE   AND   LITERATURE. 

PAGE. 

Section  LX.     Foundation  of  Universities 450 

Section  LXI.     Scholastic  and  Mystical   Theology  .        -        .        .  453. 

Section  LXII.     St.  Anselm— St.  Bernard— Peter  Lombard      -        -        -  455 
Section  LXin.     Alexander  of  Hales— Albertus  Magnus— St.   Thomas  of 

Aquin — St.    Bonaventure — Duns   Scotus  -         -  -  459, 

CHAPTER  IV. 

HERESIES. 

Section  LXTV.     Minor  Sects -  462 

Section  LXV.     The  New  Manicheans — Catharists — Albigenses        -        -  46& 

Section  LXVI.     The  Punishment  of  Heresy — The  Spanish  Inquisition    -  469 

Section  LXVII.     John  Wycliffe— The  Lollards 47a 

Section  LXVIII.      John   Huss— The  Hussite  War        -        -        -        -  477 

CHAPTER  V. 

CONSTITUTION   AND   DISCIPLINE. 

Section  LXIX.     Religious  Life 481 

Section  LXX.     Ecclesiastical  Legislation — Penitential  Discipline — Study 

and  Versions  of  the  Bible  ------  435 

Section  LXXI.     New  Religious  Orders         -         -         -        -        -        -  488 

Section  LXXII.     The  Mendicant  Orders 490 

Section  LXXUI.     The  Military  Orders — Other  Religious  Congregations  494 


THIRD  PERIOD. 

MODERN  CHURCH  HISTORY. 

PROM  THE  BEGINNING  OP  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY   TO    THE  BCUMBNICAI* 
COUNCIL   OF   THE   VATICAN,    OR, 

FROM   A.    D.     1500    TO     A.    D.    1870. 

FIRST  EPOCH. 

FROM  THE  BEGINNING  OF  THE  SIXTEENTH  CENTURY  TO  THE    MIDDLB    OP     THE 

SEVENTEENTH.    OR, 

PROM   A.    D.    1500   TO   A.    D.    1650. 

Introductory  Remarhs. 
CHAPTER  I. 

PROPAGATION   OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

Section  I.    Missions  to  the  Heathen  in  Asia — St.  Francis  Xavier      -      -      501 
Section  II.     The  Successors  of  St.  Francis  Xavier — Christianity  in  China 

and  the  adjacent  Countries 504 


CONTENTS.  xvii 

PAGE. 

Section  III.     Missions  in  the  West  Indies      -        .        i        -        -        -  507 

Section  IV.     Missions  in  Mexico  and  South  America      -        -         _         -  510 

Section  V.     IVIissions  in  South  America — Continued        -        -        .        .  515 

Section  VI.     Missions  in  North  America — The  United  States        -        -  519 

Section  VU.     Missions  in  Canada  and  North- Western  United  States      -  523 

CHAPTER  II. 

BISE    AND   PKOGRESS    OF  PROTESTANTISM. 

/.      The  Reformation  in  Germany. 

Section  VIII.     Martin  Luther — His  Theses  against  Indulgences      -        -  526 

Section  IX.     Disputation  at  Leipzig — Luther's  Condemnation        -        -  530 

Section  X.  The  Diet  of  Worms — Luther's  Religious  System  -  -  533 
Section  XI .     Disturbances  and  Insurrections  of  the  Lutherans — Org}»ni- 

zation  of  the  Lutheran   Church 536 

Section  XH.     Progress  of  Protestantism  in  Germany — Events  from  A.  D. 

1530  to  A.  D.  1555 .        .  54I 

IT.     The  Reformation  in  Switzerland. 

Section  Xin.     The  Zwinglian  Movement  -------  545 

Section  XIV.     The  Calvinistic  Movement 549 

///.      The  Reformation  in  England. 

Section  XV.  Henry  VEIL  (1509-1547)— The  Divorce  Question  -  -  553 
Section  XVI.          Henry   VIII.,    Continued  —  Establishment   of   Royal 

Supremacy  -----.-_-_  557 
Section  XVH.     Victims  of  Royal  Supremacy — Enforced  Dissolution  of 

Monasteries -561 

Section  XV  ill.   Introduction  of  Protestantism  under  Edward  VI.  (1548- 

1553) 566 

Section  XIX.  The  Restoration  under  Queen  Mary  (A.  D.  1553-1558)  -  570 
Section  XX.     Revival    of    Protestantism    under    Elizabeth — The    New 

Church  "  By  Law  Established  "  -        -----  574 

Section  XXI.     The  Sufferings  of  the  English  Catholics  under  Elizabeth  -  578 

Section  XXH.     The  Condition  of  the  Catholics  under  the  First  Stuarts  -  58? 

IV.     The  Reformation  in  Scotland  and  Ireland. 

Section  XXIH.     Protestantism  in  Scotland — John  Knox         -        -        -  587 

Section  XXIV.     Establishment  of  the  Scottish  "  Kirk "     -        -        .     -  590 

Section  XXV.     Futile  Attempts  of  the  Reformers  in  Ireland  -        -        -  594 

F.     The  Reformation  in  France  and  Northern  Europe. 

Section  XXVI.  Protestantism  in 'France — The  Huguenots  -  -  -  600 
Section  XXVII.     Protestantism  in  the  Netherlands  aud  the  Scandinavian 

Kingdoms 605 

Section  XXVIH.     Minor  Protestant  Sects  -.-,.--  609 

Bection  XXIX.     Causes  and  Effects  of  the  Protestant  Reformation         -  612 


xviii  CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER  m. 

HISTORY   OP   THE    CATHOLIC   CHURCH. 

PAGB. 

Section  XXX.     The  Council  of  Trent 616 

Section  XXXI.     The  Other  Popes  of  this  Epoch 620 

Section  XXXII.     New  Religious  Orders 623 

Section  XXXIII.     Theological  Controversies 626 

Section  XXXIV.     Theological  Science  and  Religious  Life         -        -    -  629 


SECOND  EPOCH. 

PROM  THE  MIDDLE  OP  THE  SEVENTEENTH  CENTURY  TO  THK 


COUNCIL  OP  THE  VATICAN 


OR 


PROM  A.  D.  1650  TO  A.  D.   1870. 

Introductory  Bemarks, 
CHAPTER  I. 

PROPAGATION   OF    CHRISTIANITY. 

Section  XXXV.     Missions  to  the  Heathen  in  Asia  and  Africa  -        -  635 

Section  XXXVI.     Present    State    of    the    Eastern    and  other   Foreign 

Missions -        -        --  638 

Section  XXXVII.     Present  State  of  the  Greek  and  other  Schismatic 

Churches    - 641 

Section  XXXVIH.     Missions  to  the  Schismatical  Sects  of  the  East    -    -  645 

CHAPTER  H. 

HISTORY   OP   THE    CATHOLIC   CHURCH. 

/.      The  Papacy. 
Section  XXXIX.     Alexander  VII.  and  His  Successors    -        -        -        -  648 
Section  XL.     Pontificates  of  Clement  XIII.  and  Clement  XIV. — Suppres- 
sion of  the  Jesuits 651 

Section  XLI.     Pontificate  of  Pius  V.^Josephism — The  French  Revolu- 
tion   655 

Section  XLH.     Pius  VH. — His  Successors 659 

Section  XLIII.     Pius  IX. 665 

Section  XLIV.     Council  of  the  Vatican 668 

//.     The  Church  in  Europe. 

Section  XLV.     The  Church  in  France -        -      672 

Section  XL VI.     The  Church  in  Spain  and  Portugal    -        -        -        -    -      675 
Section  XL VII.     The  Church  in  Belgium,  Holland,  and  the  Scandinavian 

North -        -      67& 


CONTENTS.  xix 

PAGE. 

Section  XLVIII.     The  Church  in  Austria  and  Bavaria        -         -        .     -  680 

Section  XLIX.     The  Church  in  Switzerland  and  Protestant  Germany    .  -  685 
Section  L.     Oppression   of  the  Catholics  in  Prussia  and  Switzerland — 

The  "Kulturkampf." 690 

Section  LI.     The  Church  in  England 696 

Section  LII.     The  Church  in  Scotland 702 

Section  LIII.     The  Church  in  Ireland 705 

Section  LIV.     The  Church  in  Russia  and  Poland        -        -        -        --711 

///.      The  Church  in  America  and  Aitstralia. 

Section  LV.     The  Church  in  British  North  America        -        -        -        -  714 

Section  LVI.     The  Church  in  the  United  States— Colonial  Period      -    -  717 

Section  LVII.     The  Church  in  the  United  States,  Continued            -        -  722 

Section  LVIII.     The  Church  in  Mexico  and  South  America        -        -    -  729 

Section  LIX.     The  Church  in  Australia  -        -        -        -        -        -        -  733 

CHAPTER   m. 

SCHISMS   AND  SECTS. 

Section  LX.     Controversies  and  Heresies        ------  737 

Section  LXI.     New  Protestant  Sects 741 

CHAPTER    IV. 

CATHOLIC   SCIENCE    AND   LITERATUBE. 

Section  LXH.     The  Theological  Sciences — Distinguished   Scholars  and 

Writers       -        -        - 746 

CHAPTER  V. 

RELIGIOUS     LIFE. 

Section  LXHI.     Famous  Saints  of  this  Epoch — New  Religious  Orders    -  750 

Conclusion --  762 

List  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs          ---. 755 

General  Index -.--  759 


INTRODUCTION. 


In  all  ages  and  throughout  the  whole  world,  history  tells  us,  we 
find  amongst  men  the  belief  in,  and  the  worship  of  a  Supreme 
Being ;  in  other  words  we  find — Religion.  The  human  race,  even 
in  its  deepest  degradation,  could  not  rid  itself  of  the  idea  of  an  all 
ruling  Being,  whom  it  was  bound  to  acknowledge  and  to  worship. 
The  following  words  of  the  celebrated  Cicero  are  remarkable: 
"There  is  no  nation  existing  so  barbarous  that  it  does  not 
acknowledge  the  existence  of  a  God,  so  much  so,  that  men  will 
rather  have  a  false  god  than  no  god  at  all."  And  the  heathen 
philosopher,  Plutarch,  writes :  "  If  thou  wanderest  through  the 
earth  thou  mayest  easily  find  cities  without  walls,  without  kings, 
without  palaces,  without  money,  and  without  science ;  but  no  one 
has  ever  yet  found,  nor  ever  will  find,  a  people  without  the 
knowledge  of  a  God,  without  prayers,  without  vows,  without  relig- 
ious ceremonies,  and  without  sacrifices  whereby  to  obtain  benefits, 
or  to  avert  evil.  Nay,  I  believe  that  it  would  be  easier  for  a  city  to 
be  built  without  foundations,  than  for  a  community  to  be  organized 
or  to  continue  to  exist,  after  the  belief  in  a  Divine  Power  has  been 
discarded."  Religion,  being  inherent  in  man's  nature,  has  always 
existed  on  earth;  it  is  indispensible  to  social  life;  it  is  the  very 
foundation  and  mainstay  of  society.  Religion,  therefore,  forms 
the  basis  of  ecclesiastical  history:  for  the  history  of  the  Chris- 
tian Church  is  but  the  history  of  the  Christian  Religion. 

I. 

PREPARATION   FOR    THE    COMING     OF    CHRIST — MORAL   CONDITION    OF 
THE   ANCIENT   WORLD. 


The  Christian  Religion  rests  on  two  fundamental  facts — the 
Fall  of  man,  and  his  Redemption  by  the  Incarnate  Son  of  God. 
For  this  reason,  the  history  of  the  Church  of  God  on  earth  does  not, 
properly  speaking,  begin  with  the  Birth  of  Christ,  but  reaches 


xxii  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CHURCH. 

back  to  the  days  of  the  First  Parents  of  mankind,  as  the  great 
Doctor,  St.  Augustine,  beautifully  remarks :  "What  is  now  called 
the  Christian  Religion,  has  existed  from  the  Creation  of  the  human 
race ;  but  it  was  only  when  Christ  appeared  in  the  flesh,  that  men 
gave  the  name  of  Christianity  to  the  true  religion  which  was 
already  existing."  Retract.,  i.  I.  c.  12. 

Christ  is  the  centre  of  the  history  of  mankind ;  He  is  the  "Alpha 
and  Omega,  the  beginning  and  end,"  Apoc.  i.,  8 ;  He  is  "the  Lamb 
which  was  slain  from  the  beginning  of  the  world."  Apoc.  xiii.,  8. 
Therefore,  the  history  of  mankind  before  Christ  is.  the  history  of  the 
preparation  of  mankind  for  the  coming  of  the  Saviour  of  the 
world ;  and  the  history  after  Christ^  is  the  history  of  the  develop- 
ment of  God's  kingdom  on  earth.  All  historical  events,  the  rise 
and  fall  of  kingdoms  and  empires;  barbarian  invasions;  the 
rise  and  decline  of  philosophical  schools  and  heresies ;  commerce, 
inventions,  and  even  bloody  persecutions,  are  more  or  less  directly 
guided  by  Divine  Providence  for  the  welfare  of  God's  spiritual 
kingdom  on  earth.  His  Church,  of  which  the  Civilta  Cattolica 
(Jan.  1875)  has  well  remarked :  "  God  has  made  this  kingdom  (His 
Church)  the  centre  of  His  providential  operations  in  the  world." 

The  preparation  of  mankind  for  the  coming  of  Christ  may 
be  said  to  have  been  two-fold,  a  negative  and  a  positive  prepara- 
tion. As  a  negative  preparation  for  Christianity,  the  ancient 
world,  having  fallen  away  from  God,  was  obliged  by  long  and 
painful  experience  to  learn  that  "  it  is  an  evil  and  bitter  thing  to 
have  left  the  Lord."  Jerem.  ii.  19.  Man  had  said  to  God  in  his 
arrogance,  '*  Leave  us,  we  desire  not  the  knowledge  of  Thy  way!" 
and  therefore  God,  as  the  Apostle  St.  Paul  says,  "suffered  all 
nations  to  walk  in  their  own  way."  Acts.  xiv.  15.  Gradually  the 
knowledge  of  the  One  Personal  God  was  lost,  and  mankind  fell 
into  the  most  degrading  idolatry.  This  was,  indeed,  according 
to  the  Fathers,  the  greatest  crime  of  the  heathens,  that  they  would 
not  acknowledge  Him,  whom  it  was  impossible  for  them  to  ignore. 
"Although  they  discerned  God,"  says  St.  Paul,  "they  did  not 
honor  Him,  but  corrupted  the  truth  of  God  with  falsehood,  and 
prayed  to  creatures  instead  of  the  Creator."     Rom.  i.,  25. 

With  the  belief  in  the  true  God,  the  foundation,  on  which  true 
morality  must  rest,  was  also  lost.  In  heathen  worship  the  most 
disgraceful  vices  were  stamped  with  the  seal  of  relig^ion ;  the  tern- 


INTRODUCTION.  xxiii 

pies  of  the  gods  were  made  the  scenes  of  the  most  unbridled  lust ; 
and  immorality  of  the  most  abominable  nature  formed  the 
essence  of  the  heathen  religious  rites.  *'  Why,"  asks  St.  Justin  of 
the  heathen,  ''why  art  thou  wrath  with  thy  son  for  planning 
treachery  against  thee,  whilst  thou  honorest  Jupiter,  who  did  the 
like  ?  Thou,  who  bowest  down  in  the  temple  of  Venus,  what  right 
hast  thou  to  complain  of  thy  spouse  that  she  leads  a  dissolute  life  ?" 
St.  Paul  writing  to  the  Romans  (c.  i.  24-32)  briefly,  but  forcibly^ 
describes  the  depth  of  moral  degradation  into  which  the  most 
highly  civilized  and  polished  nations— the  Greeks  and  Romans — 
at  the  time  of  the  coming  of  the  Messiah, had  sunk. 

Cruelty,  the  inseparable  companion  of  base  lusts,  showed  itself 
everywhere  in  human  society — in  the  endless  bloody  wars,  in  the 
degraded  condition  of  woman,  in  the  treatment  of  slaves,  in  the 
sanguinary  combats  of  gladiators,  and  in  the  barbarous  so-called 
right  of  fathers  to  kill  their  own  children.  Satan  and  his  fellow- 
demons,  indeed,  ruled  supreme  in  the  ancient  world.  While  on 
the  whole  earth  the  One  True  God  possessed  but  one  sanctuary, 
in  Jerusalem ;  the  temples  of  the  heathen  gods  and  goddesses  w^ere 
innumerable.  To  win  their  favor,  even  human  victims  were 
mercilessly  slain  on  their  altars. 

Such,  then,  was  the  moral  degradation  and  darkness  into  which 
the  ancient  world  had  sunk.  It  had  become  evident,  even  to  the 
heathen  themselves,  that  no  real  help  could  come  from  man,  but 
from  above  only,  that  is,  from  God  Himself.  Socrates  had  already 
declared,  that  "  unless  some  one  came  to  put  aside  the  thick  mist, 
man  could  not  know  how  he  was  to  comport  himself  tovvards  God 
and  man."  Mankind  had  to  taste  the  full  bitterness  of  its  rebellion 
against  God  in  order  the  better  to  appreciate  the  blessings 
and  happy  tidings  which  the  Expected  of  the  nations  was  to  bring 
unto  fallen  mankind.  Before  He  would  give  to  man  a  Redeemer, 
God  wished  first  to  teach  him,  by  long  and  painful  experience, 
how  essential  to  his  well-being  was  this  promised  Messiah. 

But  although  God  justly  suffered  all  nations  to  walk  their  own 
way,  "He, nevertheless, left  not  Himself  without  testimony."  Acts 
xiv.  16.  He  did  not  cease  to  manifest  Himself  to  man,  but,  on 
the  contrary,  spoke  to  him  on  many  occasions  and  in  various 
ways,  and  from  time  to  time  renewed  the  promise  of  a  Redeemer 
and  Deliverer  made  to  our  First  Parents  in  Paradise.     To  keep 


xxiT  HIST  or.  Y  OF  THE  CHURCH 

alive  among  men  the  hope  in  the  promised  Redeemer,  God  called 
the  people  of  Israel  to  prepare  the  way  for  His  coming,  and  for 
the  propagation  of  His  Gospel  among  the  other  nations  of  the 
earth.  To  train  His  people,  the  Israelites,  for  their  high  calling. 
He  conducted  them  into  the  land  of  Canaan,  where  they  lived 
secluded  from  the  surrounding  Gentile  nations  for  many  centuries. 
He  guided  and  protected  them  in  a  truly  wonderful  manner,  until 
the  fullness  of  time  was  completed,  when  the  promised  Redeemer 
of  the  world  was  to  appear. 

The  scattering  of  the  Israelites  among  the  heathen,  which  was 
the  just  punishment  of  their  sins,  served  to  bring  the  heathen 
nations,  sunk  in  error  and  vice,  to  the  knowledge  of  the  true  God. 
"Give  glory  to  the  Lord,"  said  Tobias,  speaking  to  the  exiled 
Israelites,  "  and  praise  Him  in  the  sight  of  the  Gentiles :  Because 
He  hath  scattered  you  among  the  Gentiles  who  knew  Him  not, 
that  you  may  declare  His  wonderful  works,  and  make  them  know 
that  there  is  no  other  almighty  God  besides  Him."  Tob.  xiii.  3, 4. 
From  their  intercourse  with  the  Israelites,  the  heathen  learned  to 
know  the  wonderful  destiny  of  this  nation,  and  heard  of  the 
promise  of  a  Redeemer  who  was  to  come  from  Heaven  into  this 
world  to  deliver  mankind  from  error  and  sin. 

The  five  great  empires  recorded  in  ancient  history — the 
Assyrian,  the  Babylonian,  the  Persian,  that  of  Alexander  the 
Great,  and  the  Roman — successively  came  in  contact  with  God's 
chosen  people,  and  without  knowing  it,  helped  to  "  prepare  the 
way  of  the  Lord."  About  the  time  of  the  Birth  of  Christ,  Jews 
were  to  be  found  throughout  the  whole  extent  of  the  Roman 
Empire.  Wherever  they  settled,  they  kept  up  their  religious 
customs ;  remaining  faithful  to  the  law  of  Moses,  they  continued 
to  meet  in  their  synagogues  and  to  read  the  inspired  writings  of 
their  Prophets ;  and  many  of  these  synagogues,  as  we  read  in  the 
Acts  of  the  Apostles,  became  starting  points  for  Christian  congre- 
gations. 

Here  may  be  mentioned  a  remarkable  saying  of  Clement  of 
Alexandria :  "  As  the  Law  was  given  to  the  Jews,  so  Philosophy 
was  given  to  the  Greeks  until  the  coming  of  the  Lord."  Greek 
philosophy  contained  many  precious  truths  which  helped  to 
prepare  the  way  of  the  Lord  among  Gentiles,  by  nourishing  in 
nobler  minds,  a  desire  for  supernatural  truths.     Plato,  especially, 


INTRODUCTION.  xxt 

was,  in  the  words  of  the  Fathers,  a  teacher  who  prepared  the  way 
for  Christ  among  the  Pagans,  by  his  philosophy,  which  had,  among 
the  heathen,  the  same  office  that  the  law  of  Moses  performed  among 
the  Jews.  Never  had  the  expectation  of  a  Saviour  been  so  great 
among  men,  as  at  the  time  when  the  promise  made  to  man  in 
Paradise  was  about  to  he  fulfilled.  The  sacred  writings  and 
traditions  of  the  Jews,  as  well  as  the  mythologies  of  the  heathens 
handed  down  from  the  earliest  times,  had  spread  throughout  the 
whole  extent  of  the  then  known  world  the  knowledge  of  a  great 
Redeemer  and  Saviour,  who  was  to  appear  in  Judea  and  restore  to 
mankind  a  reign  of  peace,  happiness,  and  justice.  The  Pagan 
writers,  Tacitus  and  Suetonius,  who  lived  in  the  first  century  of 
the  Christian  era,  pointed  out  Judea  as  the  land  in  which  the 
long-expected  Ruler  was  to  arise. 

Thus  we  see  how  under  God's  guiding  providence,  the  human 
race  was  gradually  prepared  to  receive  Him  who  was  to  be  the 
fairest  flower  on  the  tree  of  mankind,  and  of  whom  we  read  in  the 
Prophet  Isaiah  xi.  1 :  "  There  shall  come  forth  a  rod  out  of  the  stem 
of  Jesse,  and  a  flower  shall  rise  out  of  his  root."  The  time  had 
arrived  when  it  pleased  God  to  send  His  angel  to  that  chosen 
unspotted  Lily  of  Israel,  the  Virgin  Mary,  to  announce  to  her: 
"Behold  thou  shalt  bring  forth  a  Son ;  and  thou  shalt  call  His 
name  Jesus.  He  shall  be  great,  and  shall  be  called  the  Son  of  the 
Most  High:  and  the  Lord  God  shall  give  Him  the  throne  of 
David,  His  father ;  and  He  shall  reign  over  the  house  of  Jacob 
forever,  and  of  His  kingdom  there  shall  be  no  end."  Lukei.  31-33. 


II. — OBJECT   AND   DIVISION   OF   CHURCH   HISTORY. 

The  Greek  '' ehklesia,'^  rendered  by  the  word  '^  church,"  taken 
in  a  general  sense,  means  an  assembly,  or  congregation,  whether 
religious  or  political.  In  the  Scriptures  and  the  Fathers  it  is 
commonly  rendered  by  **  house,  or  congregation  of  the  Lord,""  and 
by  ^*^  Church  of  God,"  and  ^'Church  of  Christ.''  Every  religious 
community  may,  in  a  certain  sense,  be  termed  a  Church  ;  but  the 
name  is  commonly  restricted  to  those  religious  societies  which  were 
established  by  the  Lord  Himself — the  Jewish  Church  of  the  Old 
Testament,  and  the  Christian  Church  of  the  New.     In  the  Scriptures 


xxvi  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHIRCH. 

the  name  of  "  Church  of  the  Lord,"  and  '^  Congregation  of  the  Lord  " 
is  given  to  the  Jewish  Synagogue,  Deut.  xxiii.  1-2.  ;  whilst  the 
Church  founded  by  Christ,  in  the  New  Testament,  is  expressly  called 
''the  Church  of  God."    Acts,  xx.  20,  28.     1.  Cor.  xi.  16,  28. 

By  the  Church,  we  understand,  then,  when  taken  in  its  widest 
sense,  the  whole  congregation  of  true  believers,  comprehending  the 
faithful  of  the  Old  Testament  as  well  as  those  of  the  New.  But 
when  taken  in  a  limited  sense,  the  Church  is  defined  by  Catholic 
writers  to  be:  ''  The  society  of  the  faithful,  who,  being  united  under 
one  head,  Christ,  profess  the  same  faith,  participate  in  the  same 
sacraments  and  in  the  same  worship,  and  are  governed  under  the 
guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost  by  the  bishops,  as  the  lawful  successors 
of  the  Apostles,  and  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  the  Vicar  of  Christ  on 
'earth."  In  Scripture  the  Church  is  called  ''the  kingdom  of  God  on 
earth." 

Hence,  ecclesiastical  history  is  the  history  of  the  kingdom  of 
God  on  earth,  showing  its  origin  and  establishment  among  men, 
its  progress  and  spread  from  age  to  age,  the  blessings  it  brought  to 
the  nations,  as  well  as  the  adversities  and  persecutions,  which,  in 
all  ages,  it  had  to  endure.  Church  History,  in  particular,  is  a 
statement  of  the  foundation,  development,  and  varied  fortunes  of 
the  Catholic  Church — the  true  Church  of  Christ.  The  subject- 
matter  of  ecclesiastical  history  is  furnished  by  those  events  and 
institutions,  those  conflicts  and  victories,  those  graces  and  benefits 
which  mark  the  history  of  the  Catholic  Church  since  her  foundation 
by  Christ. 

The  object  of  church  history  being  to  give  a  statement  of  the 
progress  and  workings  of  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth,  the  fol- 
lowing come  naturally  within  its  province:  1.  To  state  the 
establishment  and  propagation  of  the  Church  in  the  world,  as  well 
as  her  relations  to  the  various  nations  with  which  she  came  in 
contact;  2.  To  explain  the  development  of  her  dogmas  occa- 
sioned by  her  conflicts  with  schism  and  heresy ;  3  To  exhibit  her 
inner  life  and  working  as  manifested  in  her  public  worship ;  4. 
To  point  out  the  origin  and  development  of  ecclesiastical  consti- 
tution which  embraces  the  members  of  the  whole  body  and 
defines  the  rights  and  duties  of  all ;  5.  To  show  how  the  Church 
adapts  her  discipline  to  the  requirements  of  every  age  and 
country.  ^ 


INTRODUCTION.  *3^*» 

Church  history  is  either  universal  or  particular.  Universal 
church  history  describes  the  working  of  the  Church,  under  various 
attitudes  and  relations,  in  every  age  and  country,  and  shows  that 
her  whole  aim  is  steadily  directed  to  the  one  definite  end — the 
glory  of  God  and  the  salvation  of  man.  Particular  church 
history,  on  the  contrary,  is  limited  to  a  single  country,  or  a  dis- 
tinct period,  or  takes  up  one  or  another  of  the  various  branches 
of  general  church  history. 

It  remains  for  us  to  give  the  division  of  ecclesiastical  history 
according  to  time.  The  history  of  the  Church  from  its  first 
establishment  to  the  present  time,  is  usually  divided  into  three 
periods — ancient,  mediaeval  and  modern. 

The  First  Period  extends  from  the  Birth  of  our  Lord  to  the 
close  of  the  seventh  century,  or  from  A.  D.  1  to  A.  D.  680.  It 
comprises  what  is  called  Christian  Antiquity.  During  this  period 
the  Greeks  and  Romans  were  the  chief  representatives  of  civiliza- 
tion and  Catholic  Christianity. 

The  Second  Period  extends  from  the  close  of  the  seventh  cen- 
tury to  the  rise  of  the  Protestant  religion  in  the  sixteenth  century, 
or  from  A.  D.  680  to  A.  D.  1500.  It  embraces  the  whole  of  the 
Middle  Ages,  during  which  period  all  Western  Christendom  was 
united  in  one  Church  under  one  head,  viz.,  the  Pope. 

The  Third  Period  extends  from  the  sixteenth  century  to  the 
Ecumenical  Council  of  the  Vatican,  or  from  A.  D.  1500  to  A.  D. 
1870.  During  this  period  a  great  part  of  Western  Christendom 
separated  from  the  Catholic  Church,  who,  however,  repairs  her 
losses  by  the  conversion  of  new  nations  in  Asia,  Africa,  and 
America. 

These  periods  are  again  divided  each  into  two  epochs : 

FIRST  PERIOD. 

CHRISTIAN    ANTIQUITY. 

First  Epoch:  From  the  Birth  of  Christ  to  the  Edict  of  Milan, 
or  from  A.  D.  1  to  A.  D.  313.  Foundation  and  Progress  of  the 
Church — Age  of  the  Apostles,  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  of  the 
Martyrs,  and  of  the  Christian  Apologists. 

Second  Epoch:  From  the  Edict  of  Milan  to  the  close  of  the 
seventh   Century,   or  from  A.   D.  313  to   A.    D.    680.      Age   of 


.:xviii  BISTORT  OF  THE  CHVRCU. 

Heresies;  of  the  Great  Councils  and  Fathers  of  the   Church — 
Rise  of  Mohammedanism. 

SECOND  PERIOD. 

MEDIAEVAL   CHURCH   HISTORY. 

First  Epoch:  From  the  close  of  the  seventh  Century  to 
the  final  establishment  of  the  Greek  Schism,  or  from  A.  D.  680  to 
A.  D.  1054.  Conversion  of  the  German  and  Sclavonic  nations — 
Foundation  of  the  Temporal  Power  of  the  Popes — Restoration  of 
the  Western  Empire — Enslavement  of  the  Papacy — Separation  of 
the  Greek  from  the  Latin  Church. 

Second  Epoch :  From  the  Greek  Schism  to  the  beginning  of 
the  sixteenth  century,  or  from  A.  D.  1054  to  A.  D.  1500.  Con- 
tests about  Investitures — The  Papacy  at  the  height  of  its  author- 
ity— The  Crusades — Great  Schism  of  the  West — Monastic  Orders 
— Scholasticism — Precursors  of  the  Protestant  Reformation. 

THIRD  PERIOD. 

MODERN   CHURCH   HISTORY. 

First  Epoch  :  From  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century  to  the 
middle  of  the  seventeenth,  or  from  a.  d.  1500  to  a.  d.  1650.  Rise 
and  Spread  of  Protestantism — Establishment  of  the  Anglican  Church 
— True  Reformation  by  the  Catholic  Church — Religious  Wars — 
Treaty  of  Westphalia — Martyr-Church  of  Ireland — Catholic  Mis- 
sions. 

Second  Epoch :  From  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century  to 
the  Council  of  the  Vatican,  or  from  a.  d.,  1650  to  1870.  Age  of 
Religious  IndifFerentism  and  Infidelity — French  Revolution — 
Revival  of  Religious  Life — Catholic  Missions — Vatican  Council. 


FIRST  PERIOD. 


Christian  Antiquity 


FROM  CHRIST  TO  THE  END  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY, 

OR, 
FROM    A.  D.     1     TO    A.  D.     680. 


FIRST    EPOCH. 


FROM     THE     BIRTH     OF     CHRIST     TO     THE     EDICT     OF     MILAN, 

OR, 
FROM    A.  D.    1     TO    A.  D.    313. 


CHAPTER  I. 


HISTORY  OF  JESUS  CHRIST,  THE  DIVINE  FOUNDER  OF 
THE  CHURCH. 


SECTION  I. BIRTH  AND  EARLY  LIFE  OF  CHRIST. 


Christian  Era— Year  of  Our  Lord— Political  Condition  of  the  Jews— Table 
of  the  Herodian  Family — Division  of  Judea — Birth  of  Our  Lord — His 
Hidden  Life. 

1.  All  civilized  nations  follow  the  Christian  era  and  reckon  time 
and  dates,  not  as  the  Jews,  from  the  Creation,  nor  as  the  ancient 
Romans,  from  the  foundation  of  their  city,  but  from  the  Birth  of 
Jesus  Christ,  the  Saviour  of  the  world.  The  Roman  Abbot  Diony- 
sius  Exiguus  was  the  first,  who,  in  the  sixth  century,  introduced  this 
method  of  dating  from  the  Birth  of  Christ.  According  to  his 
computation,  which  is  now  generally  followed,  the  Birth  of  Our  Lord 
occurred  in  the  year  of  Rome  754.  But  it  is  generally  conceded  that 
he  placed  this  blissful  event  from  four  to  seven  years  too  late.  Christ 
was  born  several  months,  at  least,  before  the  death  of  Herod  the  Great, 
which,  according  to  Jes^phus  Flavins,  occurred  in  April,  750  U.  C. 
From  other  considerations,  it  is  more  than  probable  that  the  Nativity 
took  place  in  the  year  747  or  748  U.  C. 

2.  The  Jews  then  lived  under  the  dominion  of  the  Romans,  who, 
under  Pompey,  in  the  year  63  B.  C,  had  subjugated  their  country. 
Thus,  the  independence  of  the  Jews  disappeared  forever.  In  the 
year  48  B.  C,  Antipater,  an  Idumean,  was  appointed  Roman  pro- 
curator of  Judea  by  Caisar,  and,  finally,  in  the  year  40  B,  C,  his  son 


2  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Herod,  who,  as  if  in  irony,  has  been  called  the  Great,  was  made  king 
of  Judea  by  the  Roman  Senate  and  forcibly  installed  by  the  Roman 
army.  This  cruel  and  bloodthirsty  prince,  who  put  to  death  the  whole 
house  of  the  Amosneans,  including  his  own  wife,  the  noble  and  much 
beloved  Mariamne,  her  mother  Alexandra,  and  his  two  sons  by  Mari- 
amne,  ruled  thirty-seven  years  over  Judea,  i.  e.,  from  the  year  40  B.  C. 
to  theyear  3  B.  C.i 

4.  Thus  was  fulfilled  the  prophecy  of  the  Patriarch  Jacob  :  "  The 
sceptre  shall  not  be  taken  away  from  Juda,  nor  a  ruler  from  his  thigh, 
till  He  come  Who  is  to  be  sent,  and  He  shall  be  the  expected  of 
nations."  Gen.  xlix.  10.  Augustus,  emperor  of  the  newly  founded 
Roman  Empire,  who  reigned  from  the  year  30  B.  C.  to  A.  D.  14, 
divided  the  kingdom  of  Judea  among  the  three  surviving  sons 
of  Herod.  Archelaus  as  ethnarch,  received  Judea,  Samaria,  and 
Idumea;  Herod  Antipas  and  Philip  were  made  tetrarchs,  the 
former  of  Galilee  and  Perea,  and  the  latter  of  Batanea,  Trachonitis, 
Iturea,  and  Auranitis. 

5.  Such  was  the  political  condition  of  the  Jews,  when  Jesus  Christ, 
the  Son  of  God  and  Redeemer  of  the  World,  was  born  of  Mary,  a  Yirgin 
of  the  royal  race  of  David,  in  a  stable  at  Bethlehem.  The  great  event 
is  expressed  by  St.  Luke,  ii.  7,  in  these  simple  words  :  "  And  she 
brought  forth  her  first  born  Son,  and  wrapped  Him  up  in  swaddling 
clothes  and  laid  Him  in  a  manger."  The  Birth  of  the  Saviour  was 
announced  by  a  star  to  the  Wise  Men  in  the  East.  Their  inquiries  in 
Jerusalem  excited  the  suspicion  of  King  Herod,  and  he,  fearing  the 
loss  of  his  throne,  sought  the  Divine  Child  to  destroy  Him.  But 
Joseph,  the  foster-father  of  Jesus,  being  warned  in  a  dream,  fled  with 
the  Child  and  His  Mother  Mary  to  Egypt,  where  he  remained  until 
after  the  death  of  Herod,  750  U.  C,  when  Jesus  was  brought  by  His 
parents  to  Nazareth. 

6.  Of  the  early  life  of  Our  Lord  at  Nazareth,  nothing  is  known, 
except  the  summary  statement  given  by  St.  Luke  ii.  40,  that  "  He  grew 


1.    TABLE  OF  THE  HERODIAN  FAMILY. 

Herod  the  Great  (+  750  U.  C.)  had  many  wives,  the  principal  of  whom  were: 
1.  Mariamne,  the  Asmonean. 


Alexander  and  Arlstobolus, 
both  put  to  death  by  order  of 
Herod,  750  U.  C.  | 

Herod  A^rippa  I.  who  behead- 
ed St.  James  the  Elder,  was  the 
brother  of  the  notorious  Hero- 
dias  (+  A.  D.  44.)         | 


Herod  Agrippa  II.  before 
whom  St.  Paul,  a  prisoner,  stat- 
ed his  case.  His  sisters  were 
Drusilla  and  Berenice. 


3.  Mariamne,  daugh- 
ter of  the  high  priest 
Simon.      | 


Philip    I.,    husbund 
of  Herodias. 


3.    Malthace. 


Archelaus,    ethnarch    of  Judea, 

and  Philip  II.,  tetrarch  of  Ituria, 

and  Trachonitis  (+  A.  D.  37).  Arche- 
laus was  exiled  750  U.  C. 


4.    Cleopatra. 


Herod  Antipas,  te- 
trarch of  Galilee, 
who  took  Herodias, 
wife  of  his  half- 
brother  Philip  I., 
beheaded  John  the 
Baptist,  and  mocked 
Our  Lord.  He  was 
exiled  A.  D.  39. 


PUBLIC  LIFE  OF  GHBIST.  3. 

and  waxed  strong,  was  full  of  wisdom,  and  the  gi'ace  of  God  was  in 
Him."  At  the  age  of  twelve,  Jesus  went  up  to  Jerusalem,  with  His 
parents,  to  the  Paschal  feast.  He  remained  there  three  days,  astonish- 
ing even  the  doctors  by  the  wisdom  of  His  questions  and  answers. 
Returning  to  Nazareth,  He  lived  in  private  with  His  Virgin-mother 
and  Joseph,  His  foster-father,  "  and  was  subject  to  them."  Of  the  . 
following  eighteen  years,  till  the  commencement  of  His  public  min- 
istry, no  account  is  given  in  the  Gospels.  Jesus  continued  to  live  in 
retirement  "  advancing  in  wisdom  and  age  and  grace  with  God  and 
men.     Luke  ii.  32. 

SECTION    II. PUBLIC    LIFE    OF    OUR    LORD. 

John  the  Baptist— His  Mission — Baptism  of  Christ— His  Public  Ministry- 
Testimony  of  Christ  Concerning  Himself — Foundation  and  Organization 
of  the  Church. 

7.  Thirty  years  had  elapsed  from  the  Birth  of  our  Lord  to  the 
opening  of  His  ministry,  when  John  the  Baptist  appeared  on  the 
banks  of  the  Jordan,^  preaching  the  baptism  of  penance  for  the  remis- 
sion of  sins.  In  the  fifteenth  year  of  the  reign  of  Tiberius  Cfesar, 
778  U.  C.  or  A.  D.  25,  reckoning  from  his  joint  rule  with  Augustus 
764  U.  C.  or  A.  D.  11,  the  holy  Precursor  of  our  Lord  began  to  preach 
publicly.  He  was  the  last  representative  of  the  prophets  of  the  old 
covenant ;  his  work  was  to  announce  the  way  for,  and  to  prepare  the 
advent  of  the  promised  Messiah.  Such  was  the  fame  and  authority  of 
John,  whom  the  Lord  Himself  declared  the  "  greatest  of  those  born  of 
women,"  that  it  led  men  to  suspect  that  he  himself  might  be  the  Mes- 
siah. But  John  openly  confessed  that  he  was  not  the  Christ,  and  an- 
nounced the  approach  of  "  one  mightier  than  himself,  who  should  bap- 
tize with  the  Holy  Ghost  and  with  fire,  and  the  latchet  of  whose  shoes 
he  was  not  worthy  to  loose."     Luke  iii.  16. 

8.  Jesus  also  came  to  the  Jordan  to  be  baptized  by  John,  who, 
recognizing  in  Him  the  Messiah,  publicly  declared  Him  to  be  "  the 
Lamb  of  God,  who  taketh  away  the  sins  of  the  world,"  and  testified 
"  that  He  was  the  Son  of  God."  John  i.  29,  34.  It  was  by  the  testi- 
mony of  John  that  the  divine  mission  of  Jesus  was  autenticated,  as 
at  this  baptism  the  holy  Precursor  received  the  miraculous  token  that 
Jesus  was  indeed  the  "  Anointed  of  God."  For  the  heavens  were 
opened,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  descended  upon  Him,  and  a  voice  from 
heaven  said  :  "  This  is  my  beloved  Son  in  whom  I  am  well  pleased." 
Matt.  iii.  17.  The  valley  of  Jericho  is  marked  out  as  the  probable 
scene  of  our  Lord's  baptism,  which  is  supposed  to  have  taken  place  in 


4  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

January,  7V9  U.  C,  or  A.  D.  26.  Immediately  after  this  inauguration 
of  His  ministry,  Jesus  retired  into  the  wilderness,  subjecting  Himself 
to  a  fast  of  forty  days,  and  suffering  Himself  to  be  tempted  and  led 
about,  even  by  the  Devil,  as  He  afterwards  permitted  himself  to  be 
crucified  by  the  minions  of  Satan. 

9.  After  this,  Jesus  began  His  public  ministry,  which  embraced  a 
period  of  three  years  and  three  months,  from  'F'ZQ  U.  C,  or  A.  D.  26, 
to  March  25,  782  U.  C,  or  A.  D.  29.  He  preached  the  Gospel,  i.  e. 
the  good  tidings  of  the  Kingdom  of  God,  first  in  Galilee,  and  then  in 
Judea  and  Samaria.  He  went  about  doing  good  to  all,  healing  the 
sick,  casting  out  devils,  and  working  the  most  stupendous  miracles  to 
prove  His  divine  mission  and  show  that  He  was  the  Messiah  promised 
to  mankind  from  the  beginning.  In  His  wonderful  sermon  on  the 
Mount,  He  set  forth  the  spirit  of  His  doctrine  and  the  conditions  of 
participation  in  the  Kingdom  of  God,  and  in  the  "  Lord's  Prayer  "  He 
gave  an  example  of  how  we  should  pray  to  God.  Multitudes  of  peo- 
ple followed  Him,  and  all  who  heard  Him  were  in  admiration  at  His 
doctrine  and  the  authoritative  manner  of  His  teaching.  "  He  was  a 
prophet,  mighty  in  work  and  word  before  God  and  all  the  people." 
Luke  xxiv.  19.,  "and  was  teaching  them  as  one  having  power,  and  not 
as  their  Scribes  and  Pharisees."     Matt  vii.  29. 

10.  Concerning  Himself,  Jesus  often  declared  in  the  plainest 
terms  that  He  was  the  Son  of  God,  one  with  the  Father,  and  that  His 
doctrine  was  the  word  of  God,  and  divine  truth.  "  I  and  the  Father 
are  one.  Believe  that  the  Father  is  in  Me,  and  I  in  the  Father." 
John  X.  30,  38.  "He  that  seeth  me,  seeth  the  Father  also."  "The 
words  that  I  speak  to  you,  I  speak  not  of  Myself,  but  the  Father  who 
abideth  in  Me."  John  xiv.  9,  10.  The  incomparable  holiness  of  His 
life,  the  numberless  and  undeniable  miracles  He  wrought,  the  fulfil- 
ment of  His  own  propheci'es  as  well  as  those  of  the  ancient  prophets, 
— all  these  are  sufficient  proof  of  His  divine  Mission  and  the  truth  of 
His  words.  Challenging  His  fiercest  enemies.  He  could  say:  "Which 
of  you  shall  convince  Me  of  sin?"  John  iii.  46.  "The  works  that  I 
do  in  the  name  of  My  Father,  they  give  testimony  of  Me.  If,  there- 
fore, you  will  not  believe  Me,  believe  My  works,  that  you  may  know 
and  believe  that  the  Father  is  in  Me,  and  I  in  the  Father."  John  x. 
25,  38.  And  finally.  He  sealed  His  testimony  with  His  death  on  the 
cross.  Being  adjured  by  the  living  God  before  the  tribunal  of  the 
high-priest.  He  solemnly  confessed  that  He  was  "  The  Christ,  the  Son 
of  God,"  and  on  account  of  this  confession  He  suffered  death.  Matt. 
xxvi.  63,  66. 


PUBLIC  LIFE  OF  CHRIST.  5 

11.  As  Christ  our  Lord  came  into  this  world  to  give  light  and 
salvation,  not  to  one  people  only,  but  to  all  men  of  all  countries  and 
ages,  the  blessings  of  the  mission  which  He  had  from  His  Father, 
were  not  to  be  limited  to  the  Jewish  people  alone.  He  Himself 
expressly  declared  to  His  disciples,  that  He  was  the  Saviour  of  the 
world,  and  that  His  Gospel  should  be  preached  throughout  the  whole 
world  and  to  all  nations.  He,  therefore,  founded  a  visible  Church, 
that  through  her  He  might  insure  to  all  ages  the  fruit  of  His  divine 
doctrine  and  the  integrity  of  the  Sacraments  which  He  instituted,  and 
through  Her  lead  all  men  to  eternal  salvation. 

12.  For  this  purpose  He — 1.  Chose  from  among  His  followers 
twelve,  whom  He  called  Apostles.  These  were  destined  to  establish 
among  all  nations  the  One  Saving  Church  which  He  had  come  to 
found.  With  them  He  associated  seventy-two  Disciples,  and  these 
He  sent  before  Him,  two  by  two,  into  places  whither  He  Himself  was 
going.  2.  With  amazing  zeal  and  patience.  He  instructed  and  trained 
both  of  these,  particularly  His  Apoostles,  whom  He  initiated  more 
fully  into  the  spirit  of  His  doctrine  and  of  the  divine  mysteries.  3. 
To  His  Apostles  He  entrusted  the  execution  of  His  teaching  office, 
and  the  power  both  to  administer  His  Sacraments  and  to  rule  His 
Church.  He  gave  them  the  power  of  binding  and  of  loosing,  of  for- 
giving and  of  retaining  sins,  saying  :  "  All  power  is  given  to  Me  in 
heaven  and  on  earth.  Go  ye,  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations."  Matt, 
xxviii.  19.  "As  the  Father  hath  sent  Me,  I  also  send  you.  Whose  sins 
you  shall  forgive,  they  are  forgiven  them  :  and  whose  sins  you  shall 
retain,  they  are  retained."  John  xx.  21-23.  "  He  that  receiveth  you, 
receiveth  Me  :  and  he  that  receiveth  Me,  receiveth  Him  that  sent  Me." 
Matt.  x.  40.  4.  That  this  Kingdom,  His  Church,  might  be  held  to- 
gether by  some  visible  bond,  and  that  unity  might  be  ever  maintained 
in  it,  Christ  appointed  Peter  to  be  the  supreme  visible  head  of  His 
Church.  Him  He  made  the  sure  foundation-stone  of  His  Church  : 
"  Thou  art  Peter,  and  upon  this  rock  I  will  build  My  Church  ;  and 
the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it."  Matt.  xvi.  18.  To 
Peter  He  gave  full  and  absolute  authority  and  jurisdiction  in  the 
government  of  His  Church  :  "  And  I  will  give  to  thee  the  keys  of 
the  kingdom  of  heaven.  Whatsoever  thou  shalt  bind  upon  earth,  it 
shall  be  bound  also  in  heaven  ;  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt  loose  opon 
earth,  it  shall  be  loosed  also  in  heaven."  Matt.  xvi.  19.  In  the 
Church,  Peter  should  be,  next  to  Christ  Himself,  the  chief  foundation- 
stone,  •  in  quality  of  chief  pastor  and  governor,  and  should  have, 
accordingly,  all  fullness  of  ecclesiastical  power.  5.  And  in  order  to 
shield  His  Apostles  against  all  error  and  dangers,  and  to  insure  the 


6  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

permanent  existence  of  His  Church,  our  Lord  gave  them  the  solemn 
promise  that  He  Himself  would  be  with  them  to  the  end  of  the  world, 
and  that  the  Paraclete,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  would  abide  with  them 
forever,  "  Who  would  teach  them  all  truth."     John  xiv.  and  xvi. 

13.  Thus  was  established  by  Christ  the  "Kingdom  of  God  upon 
earth,"  that  is,  the  Church,  which,  although  small  in  the  beginning, 
was  destined  to  spread  over  the  whole  world,  embracing  all  nations 
and  uniting  them  into  one  great  spiritual  Kingdom.  The  small  society 
consisting  then  of  only  the  Apostles  and  Disciples  of  our  Lord,  and 
some  pious  women,  who  ministered  to  Him  in  His  daily  rounds  and 
travels,  was  the  commencement,  the  fruitful  bud,  as  it  were,  of  the 
"  Church  of  Christ."  Christ  calls  His  Church  indifferently  "  the  King- 
dom of  God  "  and  "  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven^  She  is  a  Kingdom, 
indeed,  not  of  this  world,  yet  founded  in  this  world,  and  for  the  salva- 
tion of  the  world.  In  her  alone  are  fulfilled  the  predictions  of  the 
prophets  concerning  the  perpetual  Kingdom  of  the  Messiah. 

SECTION    III. PASSION    AND    DEATH    OP    OUR    LORD. 

Jesus  and  His  Enemies— Divine  Decree— Institution  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
—Our  Lord's  Final  Discourse— His  Passion— His  Death— His  Resurrection 
— His  Ascension— The  Four  Gospels — Apocryphal  Gospels  and  Writings. 

14.  During  the  three  years  of  His  public  ministry,  Jesus  bestowed 
upon  the  Jewish  people  the  greatest  benefits  and  blessings  ;  the  count- 
less miracles  which  He  wrought  in  the  name  of  God  the  Father,  were 
a  sufficient  and  convincing  proof  of  His  divine  Mission,  and  of  His 
being  the  promised  Messiah.  Many  of  the  people,  indeed,  believed  in 
Him,  confessing  Him  to  be  "  the  Prophet  who  was  to  come  into  this 
world,"  John  vi.  14,  and  "that  when  the  Christ  cometh,  He  would 
work  miracles  neither  greater  nor  more  numerous  than  those  of  Jesus." 
John  vii.  31.  Nevertheless,  our  Lord  had  many  enemies,  who  were 
found  chiefly  among  the  Scribes  and  Pharisees.*  These  were  bitterly 
opposed  to  Him,  because  of  His  severe  reproaches  against  them,  and 
because  walking  in  the  way  of  humiliation  and  contempt  of  the  world. 
He  appeared  in  a  guise  which  ill  suited  their  pride  and  the  carnal  views 

1.  The  Jewish  Theologrians,  we  find  at  this  time,  divided  into  three  sects,  who  were 
more  or  less  opposed  to  each  other— tlie  Pharisees,  the  Sadducees  and  the  Essenes.  The 
Pharisees,  whose  name  implies  separation  from  the  unholy,  atfected  the  g-reatest  exact- 
ness in  every  reliKious  observance,  and  attributed  jfreat  authority  to  traditional  precepts 
relatiuK  principally  to  external  rites.  They  were  the  leading-  sect  among-  the  Jews,  and 
had  g-reat  intiuence  with  the  common  people.  The  Sadducees,  on  the  contrary,  disre- 
garded all  the  traditional  and  unwritten  laws  which  the  Pharisees  i)rized  so  hig-hly;  they 
denied  the  doctrine  of  the  resurrection,  and  the  existence  of  the  ang-els.  The  Essenes 
were  a  society  of  piousty  disposed  men,  who  had-  withdrawn  themselves  from  the  strife 
of  theological  and  ])olitical  parties  to  the  western  side  of  the  Dead  Sea,  where  they  lived 
tog-ether,  leading  an  ascetic  and  retired  life. 


PASSION  OF  CHRIST.  7 

they  had  formed  of  the  Messiah.  They  con^antly  watched  His  words 
and  actions,  but  could  not  detect  any  fault  wherewith  to  impeach 
His  character. 

15.  Full  of  malice,  the  Jewish  leaders  continually  sought  to 
destroy  Him,  and  decreed  to  excommunicate  every  one  who  should 
confess  Jesus  of  Nazareth  to  be  the  Messiah.  John  x.  22.  Finally, 
when  Jesus  raised  Lazarus  from  the  dead,  and  soon  after  made  His 
regal  entry  into  Jerusalem,  the  high-priests  summoned  a  council,  and, 
under  pretence  of  providing  for  the  welfare  and  security  of  the  nation, 
resolved  to  put  Him  to  death.  John  xi.  47-53.  Yet  so  long  as  it 
pleased  Him,  His  enemies  could  do  Him  no  harm,  "for  though  they 
sought  to  apprehend  Him,  yet  no  man  laid  hands  on  Him,  because  His 
hour  was  not  yet  come."  John  vii.  30.  All  the  intrigues  and  violence 
of  His  enemies  would  have  availed  nothing,  had  it  not  been  His  will 
to  suffer  and  die  for  the  salvation  of  the  world.     "  No  man"  He  said, 

*taketh  My  life  from  Me,  but  I  lay  it  down  of  Myself;  and  I  have 
f»ower  to  lay  it  down,  and  I  have  power  to  take  it  up  again."  John  x.  18. 

16.  But  when  His  time  was  come,  Jesus  said  to  His  disci- 
ples, on  His  way  to  Jerusalem:  "Behold  we  go  up  to  Jerusalem; 
and  the  Son  of  man  shall  be  betrayed  to  the  chief  priests  and  to  the 
Scribes,  and  they  shall  condemn  Him  to  death."  Matt.  xx.  18.  In 
the  eternal  counsels  of  God  it  had  been  decreed  that  Jesus  should 
become  a  victim  and  sacrifice  of  expiation  for  the  sins  of  the  world, 
and  by  His  sufferings  and  death  on  the  cross  redeem  mankind.  Our 
Lord,  therefore,  resigned  to  the  will  of  His  heavenly  Father,  steadily 
looked  forward  to  the  consummation  of  that  sacrifice  in  His  ignomin- 
ious death.  And  He  not  only  died  because  He  so  willed,  but  when  He 
willed.  He  chose  to  die  at  the  time  of  the  Paschal  feast ;  and  He 
carried  out  His  purpose  in  spite  of  all  the  efforts  of  His  enemies  to  the 
contrary.  In  vain  had  the  high  priests  and  Pharisees  resolved  not  to 
seize  and  slay  Him  until  after  the  Pasch,  lest  there  might  be  a 
tumult  amongst  the  people  who  shortly  before  had  welcomed  Him 
with  such  enthusiasm.  Matt.  xxvi.  5.  Jesus  had  expressly  said  to 
His  Apostles  :  "  After  two  days  will  be  the  Pasch,  and  the  Son  of 
man  will  be  given  up,  that  He  may  be  crucified."     Matt.  xxvi.  2. 

IV.  On  the  eve  of  His  bitter  Passion,  after  having  eaten  the  Pas- 
chal lamb  with  His  Apostles,  and  having  washed  their  feet,  Jesus 
proceeded  to  institute  the  blessed  Sacrament.  Taking  bread  He 
blessed  it  and  gave  it  to  His  Apostles,  with  the  words  :  "  Take  ye 
and  eat.  This  is  My  Body  which  shall  be  delivered  for  you."  In 
like  manner  taking  the  chalice  with  wine.  He  blessed  and  gave  it  to 
His  Apostles,  saying  :     "  Drink  ye  all  of  this,  for  this  is  My  Blood, 


8  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CHURCH. 

the  blood  of  the  New  Testament,  which  shall  be  shed  for  you  and  for 
many  for  the  remission  of  sins."  Matt.  xxvi.  26-28.  Our  Lord  in 
this  most  sacred  mystery  instituted,  not  a  sacrament  only,  but  a  sacri- 
fice also,  the  unbloody  sacrifice  of  the  New  Law, — when,  witl^  the 
words  :  "  Do  this  for  a  commemoration  of  Me,"  He  gave  to  the 
Apostles  the  command  and  power  to  offer  this  sacrifice.  Matt,  xxvi ; 
Luke  xxii. 

18.  After  this,  Jesus  plainly  announced  His  denial  by  Peter  that 
very  night,  and  as  clearly  designated  His  immediate  betrayal  by 
Judas  Iscariot,  though  all  present  understood  not  the  sign  as  referring 
to  the  traitor.  He  then  delivered  that  memorable  final  discourse 
recorded  by  St.  John  the  Evangelist,  addressing  His  disciples  in  tones 
of  the  most  fervent  love.  He  promised  them  the  Holy  Ghost  for  a 
comforter,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  who  should  abide  with  them  forever. 
Lastly  He  admonished  them  to  live  in  Him,  as  the  branch  in  the  vine; 
to  pray,  and  to  persevere  patiently  and  confidently  in  suffering  and 
persecution.  "  In  the  world,"  He  said,  "  you  will  have  persecution  ; 
but  have  confidence,  I  have  overcome  the  world."     John  xvi.  33. 

19.  When  Jesus  had  thus  spoken  to  the  Apostles,  and  in  a 
fervent  prayer  recommended  them  to  His  Father  in  heaven, .  He 
went  out  to  the  Mount  of  Olives  to  pray.  A  mortal  anguish 
seized  His  soul,  and  His  sweat  became  as  drops  of  blood,  trickling 
down  to  the  ground.  Strengthened  by  an  angel  from  heaven.  He 
arose  to  meet  the  traitor  Judas,  who,  with  a  kiss,  betrayed  his  Master 
to  His  enemies.  Jesus  permitted  Himself  to  be  bound  and  led  before 
the  court  of  the  Sanhedrim ;  and  because  He  afiirmed  that  He  was 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  the  council  pronounced  Him  guilty  of 
blasphemy,  and  then,  as  being  worthy  of  death,  delivered  Him  to 
Pontius  Pilate,  the  Roman  Governor  of  Judea.  Pilate  in  vain  sought 
to  release  Jesus.  Yielding  to  the  threatening  demands  of  the  Jews, 
who  in  terrible  blindness  exclaimed  :  "  His  blood  be  upon  us  and 
upon  our  children,"  he  delivered  Him  up  to  them  to  be  crucified. 
The  Death  of  the  Saviour  occurred  in  the  year  782  U.  C,  and,  accord- 
ing to  an  ancient  tradition,  on  the  25th  day  of  March — the  same  day 
on  which  the  Word  was  made  flesh. 

20.  Extraordinary  signs  in  nature  followed  the  Death  of  our 
Lord.  The  sun  miraculously  hid  its  light,  and  a  fearful  darkness 
covered  the  earth ;  rocks  split  asunder ;  graves  were  opened, 
and  of  the  Saints  that  had  slept  many  arose  and  appeared  in  Jeru- 
salem. It  was  about  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  that  Jesus  died. 
His  body  was  taken  down  from  the  cross  by  Nicodemus  and  Joseph 
of  Arimathea,  and  laid  in  a  new  grave  hewn  in  a  solid  rock.     With  a 


PASSION  OF  CHRIST.  9 

view  to  frustrate  the  prediction  of  our  Lord  concerning  his  Resurrec- 
tion, the  leaders  of  the  Jews  made  His  grave  secure  by  sealing  it  and 
setting  a  guard  around  it.  But  early  on  the  third  day  the  Crucified 
Lord,  by  His  own  power,  rose  gloriously  from  the  dead  and  showed 
Himself  alive  to  His  Apostles  and  disciples.  During  the  forty  days 
that  He  still  remained  on  earth,  Jesus  constantly  appeared  to  His 
disciples  and  instructed  them  concerning  the  kingdom  of  God — His 
Church.  He  gave  them  the  power  to  forgive  sins,  and  installed 
Peter  as  head  of  the  Church. 

21.  Before  departing  from  this  world,  our  Lord  solemnly  ratified 
the  mission  of  His  Apostles;  and  assigning  the  whole  world  to  them 
as  the  field  of  their  labors.  He  said  :  "  All  power  is  given  to  Me, 
in  heaven  and  on  earth.  Go  ye  therefore,  and  teach  all  nations,  bap- 
tizing them  in  the  name  of  the  Father,  and  of  the  Son,  and  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  teaching  them  to  observe  all  things  whatsoever  I  have 
commanded  you.  "  Matt,  xxviii.  16.  He  commanded  them  not  to  leave 
Jerusalem  before  the  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  while  blessing 
them  ascended  triumphantly  before  their  eyes  into  heaven,  from  the 
Mount  of  Olives,  where  His  Passion  was  begun.  ^ 

The  only  reliable  and  authentic  records  respecting  the  life  and  teachings 
of  our  Lord,  are  the  four  Gospels  of  Matthew,  Mark,  Luke  and  John.  Other 
Gospels  and  accounts  relating  to  the  life  of  Christ  must  be  rejected  as 
apocryphal,  many  of  which  were  written  by  heretics  in  the  interests  of  their 
sects.  The  best  known  of  these  are:  1.  "The  Gospel  of  the  twelve  Apos- 
tles, "  also  called  Evangelium  juxta  Hebraeos,  which  was  used  by  the  Na- 
zarenes  and  Ebionites;  2.  "The  Gospel  of  Peter,"  which  probably  was  a  Greek 
translation  of  the  foregoing  ;  3.  "  A  Gospel  of  the  Egyptians  "  is  mentioned 
by  Origen  and  others.  The  foregoing  are  all  lost;  but  still  extant  are:  4.  The 
Proto-evangelium  of  James  the  Less;  5.  "Evangelium  Pseudo-Matthaei"  or 
"Liber  de  ortu  B.  Mariae  Virginis  et  infantiaSalvatoris;"  6.  "  Evangelium  de 
Nativitate  Mariae,  "  an  abridgement  of  the  preceding  work,  as  far  as  the 
Birth  of  Christ;  7.  The  Arabic  "  History  of  Joseph  the  Carpenter;  "  8.  The 
"Gospel  of  the  Infancy  of  Jesus,"  also  of  Arabic  origin;  9.  "Evangelium 
Thomae  Isaelitae,  "  the  authorship  of  which  is  attributed  to  Thomas,  a  disciple 
of  Manes;  10.  The  work,  "De  dormitione  Mariae, "or  "Transitu Mariae."  The 
following  works  pretend  to  relate  to  the  Passion  of  Christ:  11.  "  The  Gospel 
of  Nicodemus,"  which  includes  the  "  Acta  sen  Gesta  Pilati,"  and  "Descensus 
Christi  ad  inferos;"  12.  The  correspondence  of  Herod  and  Pilate  to  the  Ro- 
man senate.    To  these  may  be  added:  15.    A  Syriac  letter  of  Mara  to  his  son 

1.  The  Jewish  historian  Josephus  Flavius,  who  flourished  in  the  second  half  of  the 
first  century  gives  the  following-  remarkable  testimony  concerning-  Christ:  "  There  was 
at  this  time  a  wise  man  whose  name  was  Jesus,  if,  indeed,  ho  may  be  properly  called  a 
man,  for  he  wroujrht  wonderful  works,  taug-ht  the  truth  to  those  willing- to  hear  Him, 
and  ha<l  among-  His  followers  a  g-reat  number  ot  Jews  and  Gentiles.  This  was  the  Christ. 
When,  at  the  suggestion  of  our  leading-  men,  Pilate  condemed  Him  to  death  on  the  cross: 
those  Avho  loved  Him  from  the  beginning  did  not  forsake  Him,  and  He  appeared  alive  to 
them  on  the  third  day.  All  this,  and  much  more,  the  prophets  foretold  concerning  Him, 
and  the  Christians,  who  iire  nt^med  after  Him,  exist  at  this  day."  Aatiquitiesof  the  Jews, 


10  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Serapion  written  about  the  year  73,  in  which  Christ  is  praised  as  a  wise  King; 
and  16.  The  correspondence  between  Christ  and  Abgar,  king  of  Edessa,wliich 
Eusebius  found  in  the  archives  of  the  church  of  Edessa  and  translated  from 
the  Syriac.    The  two  last  mentioned  are  by  some  considered  authentic. 


CHAPTER  11. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  APOSTLES. 


SECTION    IV. PENTECOST.       PREACHING    OF    THE    APOSTLES. 


Preparations  for  the  Outpouring  of  the  Holy  Ghost — Election  of  St.  Matthias 
— Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost — Preaching  of  St.  Peter— Its  eflfects — 
Formation  of  the  first  Christian  Congregation — Manner  of  life  of  the 
first  Converts — Primitive  Churches — Animosity  of  the  Jews — Imprison- 
ment of  the  Apostles — Election  of  the  seven  Deacons. 

22.  When  our  Lord  ascended  into  heaven,  His  Church  destined  to 
become  the  common  mother  of  all  nations,  numbered  only  "five 
hundred  Brethren"  in  Galilee,  1.  Cor.  xv.  6,  and  one  hundred  and 
twenty  disciples,  including  the  Apostles  at  Jerusalem.  In  obedience 
to  the  command  given  them  by  their  divine  Master,  the  Apostles, 
with  Mary,  the  Mother  of  Jesus,  and  other  holy  women  who  had 
followed  our  Lord  during  His  mortal  life,  remained  together  in 
Jerusalem,  where,  "persevering  with  one  mind  in  prayer,"  they 
awaited  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  In  the  meantime,  at  the 
instance  of  Peter,  Matthias  was  chosen  to  fill  the  place  of  the  traitor 
Judas.  St.  Matthias  was  thenceforth  associated  with  the  eleven,  and 
ranked  among  the  Apostles. 

23.  On  the  tenth  day  after  the  Ascension  of  our  Lord,  being  the 
feast  of  Pentecost,  the  Holy  Ghost,  in  the  form  of  fiery  tongues, 
descended  upon  the  Apostles  and  disciples  who  were  assembled  in 
the  cenacle,  the  place  hallowed  by  the  institution  of  the  Holy 
Eucharist.  Endowed  with  celestial  strength,  the  Apostles  at  once 
entered  upon  their  mission,  publicly  preaching  the  Gospel. and  the 
Resurrection  of  Jesus  crucified,  and  "  speaking  with  divers  tongues 
according  as  the  Holy  Ghost  gave  them  to  speak."  Acts  ii.  3-4. 
This  gift  of  languages  made  the  strongest  impression  upon  the  Jews 
and  proselytes,  who  were  assembled  from  all  quarters  of  the  globe  to 
celebrate  the  feast  of  Pentecost  at  Jerusalem.  The  powerful  dis- 
course of  Peter  declaring  to  the  assembled  multitude,  that  Jesus, 
whom  they  had  crucified,  was  truly  the  promised  Messiah,  converted 
on  this  day  three  thousand  to  the  faith.     This  number  was  increased 


PREACHING   OF  THE  APOSTLES.  11 

soon  after  to  five  thousand  by  a  miracle  of  the  same  Apostle,  who 
healed  a  man  in  the  name  of  Jesus  at  the  golden  gate  of  the  temple. 

24.  The  new  converts  in  Jerusalem,  with  those  of  the  surrounding 
country,  formed  the  first  Christian  congregation ;  they  were  distin- 
guished for  their  singular  piety,  their  mutual  love  and  their  entire 
detachment  from  temporal  possessions.  Forming  one  single  com- 
munity of  believers,  they  all  confessed  the  same  faith,  joined  in  the 
same  worship  and  listened  to  the  same  doctrine,  "  persevering  in  the 
doctrines  of  the  Apostles,  in  the  communion  of  the  breaking  of  bread, 
and  in  prayer."  Acts  ii,  42.  They  were  all  led  and  guided  invisibly 
by  the  Holy  Spirit,  and  visibly  by  the  Apostles,  and  by  St.  Peter  their 
common  head.  The  new  believers  "  having  one  heart  and  one  soul 
held  everything  in  common."  There  were  no  poor  among  them,  for 
they  willingly  divided  their  goods  for  the  support  of  those  in  need. 
They  sold  their  lands  and  houses  and  brought  the  price  to  the  Apostles 
for  distribution  among  the  needy.     Acts  iv,  32-35. 

25.  In  exterior  things,  the  first  Christians  continued  to  frequent 
the  temple  and  observe  the  Jewish  rites,  which  hitherto  had  not  been 
forbidden.  They  soon  began,  however,  to  hold  separate  assemblies 
for  worship,  at  which  the  Apostles  celebrated  the  sacred  mysteries. 
God  confirmed  the  preaching  of  the  Apostles  by  many  miracles.  Such 
was  the  fame  of  their  miracles,  that  the  people  of  the  surrounding 
cities  brought  their  sick  and  those  tormented  by  evil  spirits,  to  be 
healed.  Even  the  shadow  of  Peter  healed  all  those  on  whom  it  fell. 
A  holy  fear  came  over  all  the  faithful  at  the  sight  of  these  wonders, 
particularly  when  Ananias  and  his  wife  Saphira,  who  conspired  to 
deceive  St.  Peter  and  defraud  the  Holy  Ghost,  were  punished  with 
sudden  death.     Acts  v. 

26.  The  memorable  feast  of  Pentecost,  which  for  the  Jews  was 
the  anniversary  of  the  day  on  which  God  gave  the  Law  to  their 
fathers  on  Mount  Sinai,  is  for  Christians,  ever  since  the  Descent  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  the  anniversary  of  the  promulgation  of  the  Evangel- 
ical Law.  It  is  the  Birthday  of  the  Christian  Church.  This  feast,  as 
well  as  the  general  expectation  which  then  prevailed,  that  the  reign  of 
the  Messiah  would  soon  be  established,  had  brought  numbers  of  Jews 
and  proselytes  to  Jerusalem  from  all  parts  of  the  world.  Many  of 
these  were  among  the  first  converts,  who  on  their  return  to  their 
homes,  brought  with  them  the  first  tidings  of  the  Gospel.  Hence  it 
was,  that  many  of  the  Primitive  Churches  dated  their  origin  from  the 
very  witnesses  of  the  miraculous  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost  on 
Pentecost. 


12  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

27.  Tho  Sanhedrim,  or  high  council  of  the  Jews,  at  first  affected 
to  ignore  the  marvelous  growth  of  the  Christian  commimity,  believing 
that  Avith  the  death  of  its  Founder,  His  cause  also  liad  been  A^anquish- 
ed.  But  tlie  Jewish  leaders  soon  liad  the  mortification  of  seeing  the 
number  of  His  Disciples  increasing,  and  they  themselves  were  looked 
upon  as  the  murderers  of  tlie  Messiah.  Tliey  began  to  be  alarmed  at 
the  rapid  increase  of  the  sect  of  the  Nazareiws^  as  they  called  the 
Christians,  and  dreaded  the  abolition  of  the  Mosaic  law. 

28.  When  after  the  cure  of  the  man  born  lame,  Peter  and  John 
were  found  preaching  in  the  temple,  the  Jewish  authorities  command- 
ed that  the  two  Apostles  should  be  seized  and  brought  before  the  high 
council.     Being  asked  by  what  riglit  and  in  whose  name  they  had  done 

this,  Peter  boldly  replied,  that  the  sick  man  was  cured  through  the 
name  of  Jesus  Crucified,  by  whose  authority  they  also  preached — 
adding  that  in  no  other  name  under  heaven  was  salvation  to  be  found. 
Upon  the  command  of  the  council  not  to  teach  again  in  the  name  of 
Jesus,  the  Apostles  promptly  answered  that  they  must  obey  God  rather 
than  men,  and  that  they  could  not  but  speak  the  things  they  had  seen 
and  heard.  Not  able  to  obviate  the  truth  nor  to  shake  the  firmness  of  the 
•  Apostles,  and  being  in  fear  of  the  people,  the  Jewish  rulers  were  con- 
tent to  repeat  their  warning,  not  to  teach  again  in  the  name  of  Jesus, 
nnder  pain  of  severe  punishment.     Acts  iv,  3-21. 

29.  Notwithstanding  these  threats,  the  Apostles,  with  great  power, 
gave  testimony,  as  before,  of  the  Resurrection  of  Jesus  Christ.  The 
high  priests  seeing  their  prohibition  disregarded,  ordered  them  to  be 
oast  into  prison;  but  an  angel  delivering  them,  commanded  the  Apos- 
tles to  preach  the  word  of  God  in  the  temple  without  fear.  While 
preaching  in  the  temple  they  were  again  seized  and  led  before  the 
council.  When  the  Jewish  chiefs  deliberated  about  putting  them  to 
death,  Gamaliel,  a  famous  Rabbi  and  highly  esteemed  member  of  the 
Sanhedrim,  counseled  moderation,  representing  that  if  this  work 
were  of  men,  it  would  inevitably  come  to  naught;  but  if  it  were  of 
God,  they  would  strive  in  vain  to  overthrow  it.  Upon  this,  the  Apostles, 
after  having  been  scourged,  were  set  at  liberty,  and  charged  not  to 
speak  at  all  any  more  in  the  name  of  Jesus.  They,  however,  went 
forth  rejoicing,  that  they  had  been  found  worthy  to  suffer  for  the 
name  of  Jesus ;  "and  they  ceased  not  to  teach  daily  in  the  temple." 

30.  The  multitude  of  believers,  as  well  as  the  complaints  of 
certain  Hellenistic  Jews  necessitated  the  appointment  of  co-laborers 
to  the  Apostles  in  the  ministry.  Seven  men  full  of  the  Holy  Spirit 
and  wisdom,  were  chosen  by  the  faithful  and  presented  to  the 
Apostles,   who   imposing  hands   on  them    ordained   them   deacons. 


GROWTH  OF  THE  CHUBCH.  13 

These  deacons  whose  names  are  recounted  in  the  Acts  vi.  5,  were 
charged  with  tlie  administration  of  the  temporalities  and  the  care  for 
the  poor.  The  most  prominent  of  the  seven  was  Stephen.  Of  him 
the  author  of  the  Acts  bears  witness  "  that  he  was  a  man  full  of  faith 
and  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  one  who  did  great  signs  and  wonders 
among  the  people."  Acts  vi.  8.  The  Apostles  being  no  longer  dis- 
tracted by  other  cares,  devoted  themselves  wholly  to  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel. 

SECTION    V. GROWTH    OF    THE    INFANT    CHURCH. 

First  Persecution  in  Jerusalem— Martyrd.om  of  St.  Stephen— Dispersion 
of  the  Christians— Conversion  of  the  Samaritans— Simon  the  Magician 
— The  Ethiopian  Eunuch — Conversion  of  Saul — Call  of  the  Gentiles — 
Visitation  of  the  Churches  by  St.  Peter  — Cornelius  the  Centurion- 
Formation  of  a  Gentile  Community  at  Antioch— The  name  "Christians" 
lirst  given  to  Believers — Second  Persecution  in  Jerusalem — Martyrdom  of 
James  the  Elder — Dispersion  of  the  Apostles. 

31.  The  numerous  conversions  to  the  Christian  faith,  including 
also  many  of  the  Jewish  priests,  greatly  incensed  the  leaders  of  the 
Synagogue,  particularly  the  Pharisees  and  Sadducees  who  joined  in 
exciting  a  violent  persecution  against  the  infant  Church.  Stephen, 
one  of  the  seven  deacons  made  himself  particularly  odious  to  them 
by  his  zeal  and  the  marvelous  success  which  accompanied  his  preach- 
ing. The  Jewish  doctors  disputing  with  him  were  unable  to  resist 
his  wisdom  and  the  Divine  Spirit  that  spoke  through  him.  Stirring 
up  a  great  tumult,  they  dragged  him  out  of  the  city  and  stoned  him 
to  death.  The  holy  Levite  praying  for  his  enemies:  "  Lord,  lay  not 
this  sin  to  their  charge,  "  died  like  a  true  disciple  of  Jesus.  The  death 
of  St.  Stephen,  who  was  the  first  of  the  glorious  martyrs  of  Christ, 
occured  about  the  year  35.  In  consequence  of  this  persecution,  most 
of  the  faithful  were  scattered  abroad,  but  the  Apostles  who  contrived, 
to  conceal  themselves,  remained  in  Jerusalem  or  in  other  parts  of 
Judea  caring  for  such  of  the  faithful  as  had  not  fled. 

32.  The  persecution  raging  in  Jerusalem  was  the  occasion  of 
spreading  the  faith  abroad;  for  the  Christian  refugees  dispersing  over 
the  adjacent  cities  of  Judea  and  Samaria,  and  even  as  far  as  Phoeni- 
cia, Syria  and  Cyprus,  everywhere  announced  the  word  of  God. 
Philip  the  deacon,  being  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  Samaria,  by  his 
preaching  and  miraculous  cures  converted  a  great  number  of  its 
inhabitants  to  the  faith;  among  others,  Simon  the  Magician.  On  hearing 
that  Samaria  had  received  the  Word  of  God,  Peter  and  John  came  to 
confirm    the     new    converts     in    the   faith     by     calling    the     Holy 


14  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

Ghost  down  upon  them.  By  the  command  of  an  angel,  Philip  also  in- 
structed and  baptized  the  Ethiopian  eunuch,  a  proselyte,  who  had  come 
to  Jerusalem  to  worship.  The  zealous  deacon,  called  in  the  Acts  xxi. 
8,  the  evangelist,  then  preached  along  the  maritime  coast,  extending  his 
missionary  labors  south  as  far  as  Azotus. 

33.  During  the  persecution  in  Jerusalem,  one  Saul,  a  Ilelenistic 
Jew  from  Tarsus  in  Cilicia,  made  himself  particularly  remarkable  by 
his  zeal  and  unceasing  activity  against  the  Christians.  He  was  a 
rigid  adherent  of  Pharisaism,  and  had  obtained  his  education  at 
Jerusalem  under  the  famous  Gamaliel.  Saul  had  taken  part  in  the 
stoning  of  St.  Stephen,  by  keeping  watch  over  the  garments  of  those 
who  stoned  the  holy  martyr;  and  not  content  with  persecuting  the  faith- 
ful in  Jerusalem,  he  obtained  a  commission  from  the  Sanhedrim  to 
bring  to  trial  the  disciples  who  had  taken  refuge  in  Damascus. 
But  while  on  his  way  to  that  city,  he  was  converted  by  a  vision,  the 
Lord  Jesus  appearing  to  him.  Struck  with  temporary  blindness,  he 
was  brought  to  Damascus,  and  there,  after  three  days,  recovering  his 
sight  was  baptised  by  Ananias.  Acts  xi.  1-18.  The  time  of  this 
wonderful  conversion  of  Saul  is  believed  to  be  the  year  36  or  37,  or 
the  third  after  the  death  of  Christ. 

34.  To  the  great  mortification  of  the  Jews,  Saul  the  violent  per- 
secutor of  the  Christians,  was  now  heard  "  preaching  Jesus  in  the  syn- 
agogues," and  proclaiming  Him  to  be  the  Son  of  God  and  the  long 
promised  Messiah.  Soon  after  his  wonderful  conversion,  he  with- 
drew into  Arabia,  where  he  passed  about  three  years  in  retirement, 
to  prepare  himself  for  his  apostleship.  He  then  returned  to 
Damascus;  but  as  his  life  was  threatened  by  the  machinations  of 
the  Jews,  he  was  obliged  to  consult  his  safety  by  flight.  Saul  thereupon, 
for  the  first  time  after  his  conversion,  visited  Jerusalem  "  to  see  Peter," 
the  head  of  the  Church.  He  was  introduced  to  the  Apostles  by  Bar- 
nabas and  remained  at  Jerusalem  fifteen  days,  when,  being  warned 
by  a  vision,  he  left  the  city  and  returned  to  Tarsus. 

35.  The  admission  of  the  Samaritans  into  the  Church  was  the 
immediate  step  to  the  call  of  the  Gentiles  to  the  faith.  About  the 
year  38,  Peter  as  head  of  the  Apostles,  made  a  general  visitation 
from  Jerusalem  to  the  neighboring  churches.  At  Lydda,  the  Apos- 
tle healed  Eneas  a  palsied  man,  in  the  name  of  Jesus;  and  at  Joppe, 
recalled  to  life  the  virtuous  and  benevolent  widow  Tabitha.  In  con- 
sequence of  these  miracles  many  were  converted  to  Christianity.  In 
the  last  named  city,  the  Pripce  of  the  Apostles  while  occupied  in  pray- 
er, was  instructed  by  a  vision  that  Jews  and  Gentiles  alike  were  called 
to  the  faith.     The  Centurion  Cornelius  of  Caesarea  and  his  family 


GROWTH  Oy  THE  CHURCH.  15 

were  the  first  Gentiles  received  into  the  Church.  The  wall 
which  separated  the  Jewish  from  the  Gentile  world,  was  thus 
broken  down.  These  conversions  to  the  Christian  faith  also  decided 
the  question  afiirmatively,  as  to  whether  or  not  the  Gentiles  were  to 
be  admitted  into  the  Church  without  the  exaction  of  the  ceremonial 
observances.  On  complaint  of  some  of  the  Christian  Jews,  for 
having  received  Gentiles  into  the  Church,  Peter  assured  them  that  he 
had  acted  only  in  obedience  to  a  divine  revelation.  "  Since  God, "  he 
replied,  "gave  the  same  grace  to  vhe  Gentiles  as  even  to  us  who 
believed  in  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  how  was  I  to  withstand  God  ?  " 
Acts  xi.  lY. 

36.  About  this  time  also  the  first  Gentile  church  was  organ- 
ized by  St.  Peter  at  Antioch;  for  according  to  Eusebius,  the  Prince  of 
the  Apostles  extended  his  visiting  tour  as  far  as  Syria.  The  Christian 
refugees  from  Jerusalem  everywhere  announced  the  word  of  God,  but 
only  to  Jews  and  proselytes.  Those  of  Cyprus  and  Cyrene  were  the 
first  who  preached  "  the  Lord  Jesus  to  the  Gentiles  at  Antioch,  many  of 
whom  embraced  the  Christian  faith.  It  was  at  Antioch  that  the  new 
believers  who  called  themselves  "Disciples  of  the  Lord"  and  "Brethren" 
were  first  named  "  Christians^  "  a  name  given  them  probably  by  the 
Romans,  since  the  Jews  contemptuously  called  them  Nazarenes  or 
Galileans. 

37.  On  learning  of  the  numerous  conversions  among  the  Gentiles, 
the  Apostles  sent  Barnabas  to  Antioch  to  advance  the  work  so  success- 
fully begun.  Barnabas,  with  Saul  whom  he  had  brought  thither  from 
Tarsus,  labored  there  for  a  whole  year  with  great  success.  When 
about  the  year  44,  a  great  famine  visited  Judea,  the  Christians  at 
Antioch,  felt  themselves  bound  to  assist  their  suffering  brethren  of 
Jerusalem  ;  Barnabas  and  Saul  were  deputed  to  convey  their  contribu- 
tions, after  which  they  returned  to  Antioch,  to  continue  their  mission- 
ary labors. 

38.  King  Herod  Agrippa  I.  A.  D.  41-44,  from  a  desire  of  pleasing 
the  Jews,  stirred  up  a  persecution  against  the  infant  Church.  He 
caused  James  the  Elder,  a  brother  of  the  Apostle  St.  John,  to  be  put  to 
death,  A.  D.  42.  Pie  also  cast  St.  Peter  into  prison,  intending  that  he 
should  meet  the  same  fate.  In  this  calamity,  "  prayer  was  made  with- 
out ceasing  by  the  Church  to  God  for  him. "  Acts  xii.  5.  Peter  was 
delivered  from  prison  by  an  angel,  and  the  death  of  the  king  which 
shortly  after  followed,  gave  peace  once  more  to  the  Church.  During  the 
first  seven  or  eight  years  after  the  Ascension  of  our  Lord,  the  Apos- 
tles labored  chiefly  in  Palestine.      In  consequence  of   the  persecution 


16  EISTOBY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

raised  by  Agrippa,  they  dispersed  among  all  nations;  James  the  Less, 
who  was  appointed  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  alone  remained. 

SECTION    VI. APOSTOLIC   LABORS  OF     ST.    I^TEK.        THE    POUNDING    OF 

THE  SEE  OF  ROME. 

St,  Peter's  Arrival  at  Rome — Cathedra  St.  Petri  Antiochena  and  Romana — 
Scene  of  his  Apostolic  Labors — His  Death — Exercise  of  the  Primacy — Evi- 
dences respecting  Peter's  Visit  to  Rome  and  the  Founding  of  the  Roman 
See. 

39.  After  his  miraculous  deliverance  from  the  hands  of  Herod, 
Peter  immediately  left  Jerusalem,  and,  in  all  probability,  proceeded  to 
Rome,  where  by  divine  dispensation,  he  was  to  establish  the  center  of 
unity  of  Christ's  Church.  Eusebius  and  St.  Jerome  mark  the  second 
year  of  the  reign  of  Claudius,  or  A.  D.  42,  as  the  period  of  the  arrival 
of  Peter  at  Rome.  The  edict  of  Claudius  expelling  the  restless  Jews  from 
Rome  about  A.  D.  50,  probably  compelled  our  Apostle  also  to  leave 
that  city,  since  he  next  appears  at  Jerusalem,  presiding  over  the 
Council  held  by  the  Apostles  and  the  Elders  of  the  mother  Church. 
Shortly  after  the  Council,  he  went  to  Antioch,  and  it  was  then  that  he 
drew  upon  himself  the  censure  of  Paul,  for  declining  to  associate  with 
the  converted  Grentiles.  Gal.  ii.  11-19.  The  remainder  of  the  history 
of  this  Apostle  is  chiefly  derived  from  allusions  in  his  Epistles  and 
from  the  traditions  of  the  early  Fathers. 

40.  An  ancient  and  generally  received  tradition,  given  in  the  works  of 
Eusebius  and  St.  Jerome,  attests  that  Peter  founded  the  Sees  of  both  An- 
tioch and  Rome,  holding  the  former  seven  years,from  A.D.  35  or  36  to  42, 
and  the  latter  twenty-five  years,  from  A.  D.  42  to  67.^  Evodius  succeeded 
Peter  in  the  See  of  Antioch,  and  he  was  followed  by  St.  Ignatius  Martyr. 
Yet,  while  holding  the  See  of  Antioch  and  afterwards  that  of  Rome, 
Peter  made  frequent  excursions  to  carry  the  faith  into  other  countries. 
As  appears  from  his  first  Epistle  and  the  works  of  St.  Jerome,  he 
preached  the  Gospel  in  Pontus,  Galatia,  Cappadocia,  Bithynia,  and 
other  parts  of  Asia  Minor.  That  he  also  preached  in  Achaia,  is 
attested  by  Dionysius  of  Corinth. 

41.  The  general  tradition  of  antiquity  attests  that  Peter  together 
with  Paul,  was  martyred  at  Rome  in  the  Neronian  persecution, 
A.  D.  67.  At  his  own  request  he  was  crucified  with  his  head 
downward.  Peter  is  the  author  of  two  canonical  Epistles,  the  first  of 
which  was  probably  written  about  the  beginning  of  the  Neronian 


1.    The  Church,  for  this  reason,  celebrates  the  feasts  of  Cathedra  St.  Petri  Antiochena 
and  Komana. 


LABORS    OF  ST.  PETER.  17 

persecution,  and  the  second  from  his  prison,  shortly  before  his  death: 
they  were  both  addressed  to  the  Asiatic  churches  with  a  view  to  pre- 
pare the  faithful  for  impending  trials  and  persecutions,  and  to 
caution  them  against  false  teachers. 

42.  The  various  acts,  and  the  entire  conduct  of  Peter,  after  the 
xVscension  of  our  Lord,  plainly  prove  that  our  Apostle  both  acted  and 
was  recognized  as  head  of  the  entire  Church  by  the  other  Apos- 
tles and  the  faithful.  From  the  moment  of  our  Lord's  Ascension  into 
heaven,  Peter  appears  the  first  on  all  occasions,  and  takes  the  lead  in 
every  affair  of  importance.  We  find  him  the  first,  when  there  was 
question  of  completing  the  number  of  the  Apostles;  the  first  to  address 
the  assembled  multitude  on  Pentecost ;  the  first  who  confirmed  the 
faith  by  a  miracle  ;  the  first  to  convert  the  Jews  ;  and  again,  the  first 
to  receive  the  Gentiles  into  the  Church.  On  all  occasions  he  appears 
as  spokesman  of  the  other  Apostles  before  the  Sanhedrim  at  Jerusa- 
lem ;  and  it  is  he  that  pronounces  the  terrible  sentence  upon  Ananias 
and  Sapphira,  and  ejects  a  heretic,  Simon  Magus.  He  makes  a  gen- 
eral visitation  of  the  churches,  is  visited  by  St.  Paul,  who  wished  to 
take  counsel  with  him,  and  presides  over  the  Council  of  the  Apostles 
at  Jerusalem ;  and  when  in  prison,  prayers  are  offered  up  for  him  by 
the  Church.  From  these  examples  it  is  evident  that  the  superior 
authority  of  Peter  was  acknowledged  by  even  the  Apostles  themselves. 

43.  That  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles  visited  Rome,  honoring  that 
city  by  his  preaching  and  martyrdom,  and  that  he  was  the  original 
founder  of  the  Roman  See,  is  an  incontestable  historical  fact.  Hence, 
ever  since,  Rome  is  styled  by  the  ancient  Councils  "the  See  of 
Peter."  Of  the  numerous  testimonies  which  corroborate  these 
undeniable  facts,  it  will  sufiice  to  adduce  the  following  : 

1.  As  is  generally  admitted,  St.  Peter  himself,  in  his  First 
Epistle,  intimated  his  presence  and  preaching  at  Rome.  When  he 
says  in  this  Epistle  to  those  whom  he  addressed  it:  "  The  Church  in 
Babylon  salutes  you,"  he  undoubtedly  meant  the  Church  in  Home. 
Every  Christian  at  the  time,  and  all  ancient  writers,  such  as  Papias, 
Eusebius,  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Augustine  gave  this  meaning  to  the 
word  "Babylon,"  as  does  likewise  St.  John  in  the  Apocalypse. 
Besides,  it  is  a  well  known  fact  that  Peter  never  was  at  Babylon, 
neither  at  the  old  city  on  the  banks  of  the  Euphrates  nor  at  the 
Egyptian  place  of  that  name.  2.  A  tradition  of  the  Roman  Church 
of  great  antiquity  makes  Peter  on  his  first  arrival  at  Rome,  the 
guest  of  the  Senator  Pudens,  in  whose  house  he  also  celebrated  the 
holy  mysteries,  using  on  such  occasions  the  wooden  altar  or  table, 
still  kept  in  the  Lateran  Basilica.     There  is  also  still  extant  at  Rome 


18  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

a  "  Cathedra  of  St.  Peter,"  or  senatorial  chair  which  the  same  Pudens 
is  reported  to  have  presented  to  our  Apostle  for  his  use  at  divine 
service.  This  Pudens,  whom  St.  Paul  mentions  in  his  "  Second 
Epistle  to  Timothy,"  is  not  to  be  confounded  with  another  Pudens  who 
lived  a  century  later,  and  who  was  the  husband  of  St.  Priscilla  and 
the  father  of  the  two  holy  virgins  Pudentiana  and  Praxedes.  This 
second  Pudens  probably  was  the  grand-son  or  grand-nephew  of  the 
former.  3.  The  presence  and  martyrdom  of  St.  Peter  in  Rome  are 
attested  by  no  less  than  three  disciples  of  the  Apostles  :  St.  Clement 
of  Rome  who  was  a  disciple  of  Peter  and  his  third  successor  in  the 
papacy,  in  his  first  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians,  clearly  testifies  to  the 
presence  and  the  martyrdom  of  Peter  at  Rome.  He  does  not 
indeed  expressly  say  that  this  martyrdom  took  place  at  Rome,  but 
the  author  writes  from  Rome,  and  relates  what  he  witnessed  with  his 
own  eyes.  Moreover,  he  relates  this  remarkable  event  in  connection 
with  the  great  multitude  of  martyrs  who  suffered  in  the  Neronian 
persecution,  which,  as  is  known,  did  not  extend  beyond  the  limits  of 
Rome.  Tacitus  also  speaks  of  a  great  multitude  of  martyrs  under 
Nero  (ingens  multitudo),  thus  corroborating  in  point  of  time,  by  his 
testimony  that  of  St.  Clement.  St.  Ignatius  Martyr,  second  successor 
of  St.  Peter  in  the  See  of  Antioch,  also  alludes  in  his  second  Epistle 
to  the  Romans,  to  the  preaching  of  that  Apostle  at  Rome.  Papias  of 
Hierapolis  in  Phrygia,  likewise  attests  the  presence  and  preaching  of 
St.  Peter  at  Rome.  According  to  Eusebius,  he  testified  that  Mark 
wrote  his  Gospel  at  the  request  of  those  who  had  heard  Peter  at 
Rome,  relating  in  it  what  that  Apostle  preached  to  the 
Roman  Christians  :  he,  moreover,  relates  that  Peter  wrote  his 
First  Epistle  from  Rome,  calling  it  Babylon.  4.  The  cele- 
brated Dionysius  of  Corinth  in  his  Epistle  to  Pope  Soter, 
about  A.  D.  170,  remarks  that  Rome  and  Corinth  were  united  in  the 
faith  which  had  been  planted  in  both  places  by  the  Apostles  Peter 
and  Paul,  who  consummated  their  course  by  martyrdom  at  the  same 
time  and  in  the  same  place.  5.  St.  Irenaeus  a  disciple  of  St.  Polycarp,  in 
his  work  against  the  Gnostics,  mentions  the  preaching  of  Peter  and  Paul 
at  Rome,  and  calls  the  Roman  Church  the  greatest  and  the  most  an- 
cient, having  been  founded  by  the  glorious  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul; 
he  also  made  a  list  of  the  Roman  Bishops,  from  Peter  to  his  own  time. 
6.  Cajus,  a  Roman  priest,  living  at  the  close  of  the  second 
and  the  beginning  of  the  third  century,  testifies  that  the  graves  of  the 
two  Apostles,  Peter  and  Paul,  were  still  to  be  seen  in  his  time;  the 
one  of  St.  Peter  on  the  Vatican  hill,  and  that  of  St.  Paul  on  the  Via 
Ostiensis.     This  accords  with  the  tradition  which  says  that  the  first 


LABORS   OF  ST.  PAUL.  19 

was  crucified  and  entombed  on  the  Janiculus  ( Vatican  hill )  ;  and  the 
second  was  beheaded  and  buried  outside  of  the  walls  on  the  road  lead- 
ino-  to  Ostia,  where  later  on  St.  Paul's  church  was  built.  That  Peter 
was  crucified  at  Home  with  his  head  downward,  is  likewise  attested 
by  Origen  and  Eusebius.  7.  Again  the  general  traditions  of  the  churches 
in  Greece,  Gaul,  Egypt  and  Palestine,  unanimously  agree  in  designat- 
ino-  Rome  as  the  place  where  the  two  Apostles,  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
suffered  martyrdom  and  were  buried;  neither  has  any  other  place  ever 
claimed  to  possess  their  graves  or  relics.  8.  Lastly,  the  ancient  cat- 
alogues of  the  Bishops  of  Rome,  given  by  Irenaeus,  Hippolytus,  Euse- 
bius, Optatus  and  Augustine,  unanimously  name  Peter  as  the  Founder 
and  First  Bishop  of  the  See  of  Rome.  That  Peter,  and  not  Paul,  as 
has  been  injudiciously  asserted,  was  the  original  founder  of  the  Roman 
Church  is  confirmed  by  the  constant  tradition  of  antiquity,  and  is  evi- 
dent from  the  fact  that  the  former  preached  the  faith  at  Rome  long 
before  Paul  addressed  his  letter  to  the  Romans,  which  is  generally 
assio^ned  to  the  year  58. 


SECTION    VII. APOSTOLIC    LABORS    OF    ST.    PAUL — HIS     MISSIONARY 

JOURNEYS    AND    HIS    EPISTLES. 

Paul,  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles— His  first  Missionary  Journey— Conversion 
of  the  Proconsul  Sergius  Paulus— Paul's  Return— Disturbances 
at  Antioch — Council  of  Jerusalem — Apostolic  Decree — Paul's  sec- 
ond Missionary  Journey — Churches  in  Asia  Minor— Paul  in  Macedonia 
and  Achaia — Conversion  of  Dionysius  the  Areopagite— Paul's  third 
Missionary  Journey — Ephesus,  the  Central  Point  of  his  Apostolic  Labors 
— His  Epistles — Paul  visits  Jerusalem — His  first  Imprisonment — His  Re- 
moval to  Rome — Epistles  written  from  Rome — Second  Imprisonment  of 
Paul— His  Martyrdom. 

43.  The  missionary  life  of  the  great  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles,  St. 
Paul,  was  chiefly  confined  to  Greece  and  the  Greek  speaking  coun- 
tries. Paul  or  Saul,  as  he  is  still  called  in  the  Acts,  began  his  Apos- 
tleship  probably  eight  or  ten  years  after  the  descent  of  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Palestine  and  a  great  part  of  Syria  had  already  received  the 
Gospel,  and  Peter  had  preached  at  Antioch  and  fixed  his  see  there 
before  Paul's  first  arrival  in  43,  and  also  preceded  him,  as  he  intimates 
in  his  First  Epistle,  in  evangelizing  a  part,  at  least,  of  Asia  Minor 
which  he  probably  visited  from  Antioch.  At  the  solicitation  of  Bar- 
nabas, Paul,  leaving  his  native  city  Tarsus,  came  to  Antioch  to  aid 
him  in  the  organization  of  the  Gentile  congregation.  He  remained 
there  a  whole   year,  when  he  and  Barnabas  were  deputed  to  convey 


20  HISTOKY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

pecuniary  aid  to  the  suffering  Christians  of  Jerusalem.  Chosen  by 
the  Holy  Ghost  for  the  great  work  of  the  conversion  of  the  heathens, 
the  two  Apostles  on  their  return  to  Antioch  received  episcopal  ordi- 
nation.   Acts  xiii.  3. 

44.  Paul  then  began  his  unexampled  missionary  tour  through 
Asia  Minor  and  Europe.  We  have  in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  a  sum- 
mary account  of  three  distinct  journeys  wliich  the  great  Apostle,  set- 
ting out  each  time  from  Antioch,  devoted  to  "the  conversion  of  the 
Gentile  world.  His  first  expedition  extended  from  A.  D.  45  to  A.  D. 
48.  Accompanied  by  Barnabas,  and,  for  a  portion  of  the  journey  by 
John  Mark,  a  nephew  of  Barnabas,  he  travelled  by  way  of  Cyprus 
through  Pamphylia,  Pisidia  and  Lycaonia  in  Asia  Minor.  At  Paphos 
on  the  island  of  Cyprus,  he  converted  the  Proconsul  Sergius  Paulus, 
from  whom  our  Apostle  is  believed  to  have  taken  the  name  of  Paul; 
St.  Luke,  at  least,  henceforth  usually  so  calls  him. 

45.  Landing  at  Perge  in  Pamphylia,  Paul  and  Barnabas  succes- 
sively visited  Antioch,  Iconium,  Lystra,  Derbe  and  other  towns  of 
Asia  Minor.  Among  the  converts  at  Iconium  was  St.  Thecla,  who  be- 
came the  first  martyr  of  her  sex.  At  Lystra  happened  the  cure  of  a 
man  who  had  been  lame  from  his  birth.  In  all  of  these  places  the  two 
Apostles  organized  Christian  congregations,  ordaining  priests  and 
bishops  in  every  church.  After  an  absence  of  about  three  years,  they 
returned  to  Antioch.  During  the  four  years  following,  Paul  preached 
throughout  Syria  and  Judea. 

46.  Soon  after  the  return  of  Paul  and  Barnabas  from  their  first 
missionary  tour  through  Asia  Minor  to  Antioch,  the  question  of  the 
positive  obligation  of  the  Mosaic  Law  began  to  agitate  the  Christians 
of  that  city,  and  the  growing  Church  appeared  to  be  threatened  with 
a  dangerous  schism.  Jewish  Christians  from  Palestine  strove  to  im- 
pose the  rite  of  circumcision  on  the  Gentile  converts,  as  being  neces- 
sary* to  salvation.  The  disturbance  which  followed  showed  the  neces- 
sity of  an  authoritative  decision  on  that  point. 

47.  That  the  question  might  be  definitely  settled,  it  was  determin- 
ed to  refer  it  to  the  Apostles  at  Jerusalem;  therefore,  Paul  and  Barnabas, 
accompanied  by  Titus,  were  sent  thither  as  deputies.  The  five  Apostles, 
Peter,  John,  James,  Paul  arid  Barnabas,  with  the  priests,  at  Jerusalem 
held  the  first  Council,  known  as  the  Council  of  Jerusalem,  between 
the  years  50  and  52.  After  Peter  had  explained  the  counsel  of  God 
with  regard  to  the  heathens,  the  assembly  rejected  the  demand  of  the 
Judaizing  Christians  and,  at  the  instance  of  James,  it  was  unanimously 
determined  to  reduce  the  obligations  of  the  Gentile  Christians  to  the 
following:     To  abstain — 1.    From  meats  offered  to  idols;  2.  From  the 


LABORS    OF  ST.   PAUL.  21 

flesh  of  strangled  animals;  3.  From  the  use  of  blood;  and  4.  From 
all  kinds  of  impurity.  Judas,  Barsabas  and  Silas  were  sent  with  Paul 
and  Barnabas  to  Antioch  as  bearers  of  a  letter  containing  the  Aposto- 
lic decrees. 

48.  Some  time  after  his  return  to  Antioch,  Paul  set  out  on  his 
second  mission,  accompanied  this  time  by  Silas.  Barnabas,  with  his 
nephew  Mark,  went  to  his  native  place,  Cyprus.  Paul  first  visited 
the  churches  of  Northern  Syria,  Cilicia  and  Lycaonia.  At  Lystra, 
being  joined  by  the  young  Timothy,  he  traveled  with  his  two  com- 
panions over  the  whole  of  Phrygia,  Galatia  and  Mysia.  It  was  then, 
probably,  that  the  churches  of  Colossae,  Laodicea  and  Hierapolis 
were  founded  by  our  Apostle.  At  Troas,  he  met  with  Luke  the 
physician,  whom  he  had  converted,  and  who  from  this  time  was  his 
inseparable  companion  in  his  missionary  labors.  By  a  vision  in  which 
a  Macedonian  appeared  calling  on  him  for  aid  in  behalf  of  his  nation, 
Paul  was  invited  to  pass  over  to  Europe,  which  he  was  now  to  see  for 
the  first  time. 

49.  Sailing  from  Troas,  he  came  with  his  three  companions  to 
Neapolis  in  Macedonia.  Thence  they  went  to  Phillippi  where  he 
baptized  Lydia,  together  with  her  household,  and  converted  also  the 
keeper  of  the  prison  with  his  whole  family.  Paul  and  Silas,  after 
they  had  been  publicly  scourged,  were  cast  into  prison  for  curing  a 
slave  who  was  possessed  by  an  evil  spirit,  but  were  honorably  released 
the  next  day.  From  Philippi  Paul  proceeded  to  Thessalonica,  the 
largest  city  of  Macedonia.  He  dwelt  there  with  a  citizen  named 
Jason,  who  is  reported  as  the  first  bishop  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia,  the 
native  city  of  the  Apostle.  Paul  labored  at  Thessalonica  for  the  most 
part  among  the  Gentiles,  of  whom  a  great  number  were  converted  to 
the  faith  ;  but  the  fanatical  opposition  of  the  Jews  caused  him  to 
leave  the  place,  when  he  proceeded  to  Beroea,  not  far  distant. 
Here  also,  a  great  number  of  both  Jews  and  Gentiles  received  the 
faith. 

50.  A  tumult  raised  by  Jews  from  Thessalonica  forced  Paul  to 
leave  Beroea  almost  immediately,  when  he  directed  his  course  to 
Athens,  the  parent  city  of  Grecian  culture  and  philosophy.  Seeing 
among  the  many  altars  and  temples  of  the  gods,  one  which  was  erect- 
ed to  an  "  unknown  God, "  Paul  took  occasion  to  announce  to  the 
Athenians  the  true  God.  A  few  only  embraced  the  faith,  among 
them  the  celebrated  Dionysius,  the  Areopagite,  who  afterwards  be- 
came the  first  bishop  of  Athens,  and  who,  in  all  probability,  was 
the  same  that  Pope  Clement  I.  sent  to  Gaul,  and  was  the  first  bishop 
of  Lutetia  ( Paris  ). 


22  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUBCH 

51.  From  Athens  Paul  traveled  to  Corinth,  the  voluptuous  me- 
tropolis of  Achaia.  Here,  with  the  assistance  of  Silas  and  Timothy, 
he  formed  a  community  of  believers,  which  became  one  of  the  most 
flourishing  churches.  Our  Apostle  there,  too,  had  much  to  suffer  from 
the  Jews.  They  accused  him  before  the  Proconsul  Gallio,  a  brother 
of  Seneca,  the  philosopher,  of  teaching  a  religion  prohibited  by  law. 
But  the  proconsul,  a  man  of  mild  disposition,  dismissed  them,  saying 
that  he  was  no  judge  of  religious  controversies.  It  was  from  Corinth 
that  Paul,  in  the  year  54,  wTote  his  two  Epistles  to  the  Thessalonians. 
He  remained  at  Corinth  eighteen  months,  when  he  resolved  to  revisit 
Jerusalem.  He  then  returned  to  Antioch.  This  second  voyage  of 
St.  Paul  continued  about  two  years,  from  A.  D.  53  to  55,  extending  over 
an  area  of  more  than  4,000  miles. 

52.  After  a  short  stay  at  Antioch,  St.  Paul  entered  upon  his  third 
great  journey.  He  visited  once  more  the  churches  in  Phrygia  and 
Galatia,  and  then  proceeded  to  Ephesus  where  he  had  previously 
promised  to  go.  Owing  to"  its  favorable  situation,  he  resolved  to  fix 
his  permanent  ab«de  at  Ephesus,  making  it  the  starting-point  of  his 
labors  for  the  spreading  of  the  Gospel.  According  to  his  custom, 
our  Apostle  preached  first  to  the  Jews,  and  then  to  the  Gentiles. 
Many  of  both  nations  were  converted  to  Christianity;  among  them 
were  several  magicians,  who,  seeing  the  folly  of  their  superstitions, 
burned  their  books  of  magic,  valued  at  50,000  silver  drachmas. 

53.  During  his  sojourn  at  Ephesus,  Paul  wrote,  A.  D.  55,  his 
"  Epistle  to  the  Galatians, "  and  on  hearing  of  the  dissensions  in  the 
church  of  Corinth,  he  sent  thither  Timothy  and  Erastus  with  his 
"  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians, "  A.  D.  56.  In  consequence 
of  a  tumult  excited  by  the  silver-smith  Demetrius,  the  Apostle  left 
Ephesus  after  having  appointed  Timothy  bishop  of  that  city.  He 
again  visited  the  churches  in  Macedonia  whence  he  addressed  to  the 
Corinthians  his  "  Second  Epistle,  "  and  his  "  First  to  Timothy.  "  From 
Macedonia,  by  way  of  Illyria,  he  went  to  Corinth.  From  this  city  he 
wrote  his  admirable  "  Epistle  to  the  Romans, "  sending  it  by  the 
deaconess  Phebe,  who  was  going  to  Rome,  A.  D.  58. 

54.  After  laboring  for  three  months  in  Greece,  Paul  prepared 
to  return  to  Syria.  At  Miletus  he  was  met  by  the  bishops  of  Ephe- 
sus and  the  neighboring  churches,  to  whom  he  communicated  his 
parting  instructions.  He  embarked  by  way  of  Rhodes  and  Tyre  for 
Caesarea ;  thence,  he  proceeded  to  Jerusalem,  notwithstanding  the 
warning  of  the  prophet  Agabus  foretelling  him  many  afflictions. 
By  this  visit  to  Jerusalem,  Paul  concluded  his  third  and  last  mission 
recorded  in  the  Acts,  which  lasted  from  A.  D.  55  to  58. 


I 


LABORS  OF  ST.  PAUL.  23 

55.  In  order  to  conciliate  the  Jews  and  to  refute  practically  their 
accusation  that  he  was  an  enemy  of  their  nation  and  their  religion,  the 
Apostle  consented  to  put  himself  under  the  Nazarite  vow, — an  observ- 
ance which  was  highly  esteemed  by  pious  Jews.  While  performing 
the  customary  rites  in  the  temple,  he  was  recognized,  and  a  violent 
tumult  instantly  arose.  He  was  rescued  from  the  enraged  multitude 
only  by  the  intervention  of  the  Roman  tribune  Lysias  who,  upon  dis- 
covering a  conspiracy  against  the  life  of  the  Apostle,  sent  him  under 
a  strong  guard  to  the  Procurator  Felix  at  Caesarea. 

56.  Though  satisfied  of  the  Apostle's  innocence,  still,  to  please 
the  Jews,  and  hoping  to  extort  money  from  Paul  for  his  release,  Felix 
retained  him  in  custody  for  two  years,  from  A.  D.  59  to  61.  At  the  expira- 
tion of  this  time,  Paul  was  sent  to  Rome  by  Portius  Festus,  the 
successor  of  Felix,  the  Apostle  having  himself  appealed  to  the  empe- 
ror. At  Rome,  though  under  constant  military  guard,  he  was  allowed 
to  receive  visits,  and  to  preach  the  Gospel  without  hindrance. 
Among  his  converts  he  counted  even  members  of  the  imperial  family. 
Here,  St.  Luke  ends  his  history  of  the  "  Acts  of  the  Apostles,"  and 
says  nothing  of  the  subsequent  career  of  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles. 

57.  There  is  a  well  founded  and  widely  accepted  tradition  that  St. 
Paul,  after  a  two  years  imprisonment  at  Rome,  from  A.  D.  61  to  63,  re- 
gained his  freedom,  and  engaged  in  a  fourth  missionary  journey,  pro- 
ceeding as  far  as  Spain,  whither  he  had  longed  to  go.  Rom.  xv.  24,  28. 
St.  Clement  of  Rome,  who  must  have  known  our  Apostle  personally,  says 
that  his  apostolic  career  extended  as  far  as  the  extreme  limits  of  the 
"  West,"  which  words  seem  to  refer  to  Spain.  St.  Paul's  mission  in 
Spain  is  expressly  asserted  in  the  Muratorian  Canon  whose  origin  is 
traced  to  the  year  165. 

58.  At  this  time,  Paul  also  visited  Crete,  and  there  left  as  bishop 
of  that  island  his  disciple  Titus.  He  again  repaired  to  Ephesus  and 
thence,  after  visiting  Troas  and  Miletus,  to  Macedonia.  At  Corinth 
he  met  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  St.  Peter,  with  whom  he  returned 
to  Rome  to  comfort  the  faithful  who  were  then  suffering  all  the  hor- 
rors of  Xero's  persecution.  Here  Paul  was  again  sent  to  prison,  and 
at  the  end  of  nine  months  suffered  death  by  decapitation,  A.  D.  67 
or  68. 

59.  During  his  first  imprisonment  at  Rome,  Paul  wrote  his  Epis- 
tles to  Philemon,  to  the  Collossians,  to  the  Ephesians,  and  to  the  Philip- 
pians.  In  all  these  Epistles  he  represents  himself  as  a  prisoner.  About 
this  time,  A.  D.  63  or  64,  he  also  probably  wrote  his  "Epistle  to  the 
Hebrews,"  addressed  to  the  Jews  in  Palestine,  and  his  "  Epistles  to 


24  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Titus,"  while  the  "  Second  Epistle  to  Timothy,"  in  which  he  distinctly 
states  the  expectation  of  his  imjjending  martyrdom,  was  Avritten  from 
the  Mamertine  prison. 

SECTION     VIII LABORS    OF     THE    OTHER     APOSTLES DISCIPLES     OF 

APOSTLES. 

St.  James,  the  Less — His  Martyrdom — St.  John — His  Disciples— The  Apocaly- 
pse— St.  Andrew — St.  Philip — St.  Bartholomew — St.  Thomas— St.  Mat- 
thew— St.  Jude — St.  Simon — St.  Matthias — St.  Barnabas — St.  Mark — St. 
Luke — SS.  Timothy  and  Titus — Other  Go-laborers  of  the  Apostles — 
The  Mother  of  Jesus— Mary  Magdalen. 

60.  Whilst  the  other  Apostles  were  laboring  to  advance  the  cause 
of  Christ  among  the  Gentiles,  James  the  Less,  cousin  of  our  Lord  and 
son  of  Alpheus  and  Mary,  the  sister  of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  was  left 
alone  to  direct  the  Christian  communities  in  Palestine,  and  particular- 
ly the  Church  in  Jerusalem,  which  city  he  probably  never  left.  On 
account  of  his  eminent  sanctity  and  austerity  of  life,  he  was  called  the 
"  Just, "  and  was  held  in  universal  esteem  by  both  Jews  and  Chris- 
tians. According  to  Josephus  Flavins,  James,  with  some  other  Chris- 
tians, was  stoned  by  order  of  the  high-priest  Ananus,  A.  D.,  62  or  63; 
while  Hegesippus  tells  us  that  he  was  cast  down  from  the  pinnacle  of 
the  temple  and  struck  dead  with  a  fuller's  club  about  the  year  "69. 
Ananus  continued  to  persecute  the  Christians  until  he  was  deposed  by 
Herod  Agrippa  11.  St.  James,  called  by  St.  Paul  one  of  the  "  Pillars 
of  the  Church,  "  has  left  a  canonical  Epistle,  which  he  addressed  shortly 
before  his  death,  "  To  the  twelve  tribes  which  are  dispersed.  "  James 
was  succeeded  in  the  bishopric  of  Jerusalem  by  his  brother  Simon, 
who  occupied  that  See  until  the  year  107,  when  he  suffered  martyr- 
dom under  Trajan.  The  commonly  received  opinion  holds  James  the 
Apostle,  son  of  Alpheus,  and  James  the  brother  of  our  Lord,  i.  e.  a  sis- 
ter's son  of  the  Mother  of  Jesus,  a  son  of  Cleophas  and  first  bishop  of 
Jerusalem,  to  be  identical. 

61.  John,  the  youngest  of  the  Apostles,  son  of  Zebedee  and 
Salome,  and  brother  of  James  the  Great,  labored  first  in  Judea  and 
Samaria.  Shortly  after  the  feast  of  Pentecost,  we  find  him  in  the 
temple  with  Peter  curing  the  lame  man;  and  later  on  in  Sam- 
aria, imposing  hands  on  the  new  converts.  He  seems  to  have  remain- 
ed in  Palestine  probably  until  the  death  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  '  He 
assisted  at  the  Council  of  Jerusalem,  after  which  he  is  reported  to  have 
preached  the  Christian  faith  to  the  Parthians.     About  the  year  58,  he 


LABORS   OF  OTHER  APOSTLES.  25 

went  to  Asia  Minor  to  assume  the  government  of  the  churches  found- 
ed in  that  country  by  St.  Paul.  He  abode  in  Ephesus,  where  he  made 
many  disciples,  among  wdiom  were  Papias,  Ignatius  Martyr  and  Poly- 
carp. 

62.  According  to  a  widely  spread  tradition,  the  Apostle  St.  John  was 
brought  to  Rome  under  Domitian  in  the  y  ear  95,  and  cast  into  a  cal- 
dron of  boiling  oil,  whence  he  came  forth  unhurt.  He  was  subsequent- 
ly banished  to  the  island  of  Patmos  in  the  Archipelago,  where  about 
A.  D.  96,  he  wrote  the  Apocalypse.  Returning  to  Ephesus,  he  wrote, 
at  the  request  of  the  Asiatic  bishops,  his  Gospel  to  oppose  the  errors 
of  Cerinthus  and  Ebion,  about  A.  D.  97.  His  three  Epistles  were  writ- 
ten at  a  later  period.  John,  who  survived  all  the  other  Apostles,  died, 
A.  D.  100  or  101,  at  a  very  advanced  age. 

63.  Of  the  missionary  labors  of  the  other  Apostles,  excepting  those 
already  mentioned,  nothing  is  related  in  the  Acts.  St.  Andrew,  the 
brother  of  St.  Peter,  and  the  first  whom  Christ  called  to  the  apostleship, 
is  said  to  have  preached  in  Cappadocia,  Galatia  and  Bithynia.  Ac- 
cording to  Origen,  he  also  evangelized  Scythia,  that  is,  the  country 
north  of  the  Euxine  Sea  ;  and  probably,  after  the  imprisonment  of  St. 
Paul,  passed  south  into  Greece,  and  finally  was  crucified  by  order  of  the 
Proconsul  Aegeas  at  Patrae,  in  Achaia  or  Greece  proper.  He  died 
on  a  cross  of  the  form  of  an  X,  hence  called  St.  Andrew's  cross. 

64.  St.  Philip,  a  townsman  of  SS.  Peter  and  Andrew,*  is 
mentioned  in  the  Gospel  as  the  fourth  called  by  our  Lord  to  the  apos- 
tleship. He  preached  the  faith  iji  Scythia,  and  also  in  Phrygia  where 
he  suffered  martyrdom  by  crucifixion  at  Hierapolis.  Papias,  and  Poly- 
crates  of  Ephesus  who  lived  toward  the  close  of  the  second  century, 
tell  us  that  Philip  was  married  before  being  called  by  Christ,  and  had 
three  daughters  who  were  distinguished  for  their  great  sanctity. 
On  this  account,  this  Apostle  is  sometimes  confounded  w^ith  Philip, 
the  deacon,  also  called  the  Evangelist.     Acts  xxi.  8-9. 

65.  St.  Bartholomew,  who  is  generally  supposed  to  be  identical 
with  Xathanael,  carried  the  Gospel  into  India,  that  is,  Arabia  Felix  or 
modern  Yemen.  A  century  later,  traces  of  Christianity  were  found 
in  those  countries  by  Pantaenus  of  Alexandria,  who  also  discovered  a 
copy  of  St.  Matthew^'s  Gospel  in  Hebrew  which  had  been  left  there 
by  St.  Bartholomew.  Armenian  writers  inform  us  that  he  afterwards 
traversed  Persia,  Babylonia,  Mesopotamia,  Assyria  and  Asia  Minor. 
Thence  he  passed  into  Greater  Armenia,  and  there,  after  making  nu- 
merous conversions,  suffered  a  cruel  martyrdom  at  Albanopolis.  By 
order  of  King  Astyages,  whose  predecessor  and  brother  Polymius  had 
been  converted  by  him,  the  Apostle  was  flayed  alive  and  beheaded. 


26  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

66.  St.  Thomas,  also  called  Didymus,  is  rarely  mentioned  in  the 
New  Testament.  According  to  Origen  and  Sophronius,  he  preached 
in  Parthia,  Media,  Persia,  Carmania,  Hyrcania  and  Bactria,  extending 
his  missionary  labors  as  far  as  India.  The  Persian  Magi,  who  adored 
Christ  our  Lord  in  Bethlehem,  are  also  numbered  among  those  who 
were  baptised  by  this  Apostle.  The  Roman  martyrology  represents 
him  as  suffering  martyrdom  by  a  lance  at  Calamina  near  Madras  in 
India.  The  "Christians  of  St.  Thomas"  in  East  India,  claim  the 
Apostle  Thomas  as  their  founder. 

67.  St.  Matthew  the  Evangelist  is  the  same  as  Levi  mentioned 
in  the  Gospel  of  St.  Luke.  Tradition  relates  that  he  labored  for  some 
time  in  Palestine  after  the  Ascension  of  Christ,  and  then  preached 
the  Gospel  in  Syria,  Persia,  Parthia  and  Ethiopia.  In  the  last  named 
country  he  is  said  to  have  ended  his  course  by  martyrdom.  Matthew 
was  the  first  of  the  Evangelists  who  wrote  the  Gospel  which  appeared 
between  the  years  64  and  67,  or  according  to  others,  in  the  year  42, 
about  the  time  of  the  dispersion  of  the  Apostles.  He  wrote  in  Hebrew 
or  Syro-Chaldaic,  the  language  spoken  in  Palestine  at  that  time. 
The  original  is  no  longer  extant,  but  the  Greek  version,  even  in 
the  time  of  the  Apostles,  was  of  equal  authority. 

68.  St.  Jude,  also  called  Thaddeus,  was  the  brother  of  James  the 
Less  and  one  of  the  "  Brethren, "  or  cousins  of  Jesus.  His  name  oc- 
curs only  once  in  the  Gospel  of  St.  John,  xiv.  22.  Nothing  certain  is 
known  of  the  later  history  of  this  Apostle.  Nicephorus  tells  us,  that, 
after  preaching  in  Judea,  Galilee,  Saiharia  and  Idumea,  Jude  labored 
in  Arabia,  Syria,  Mesopotamia  and  Persia.  According  to  the  BoUan- 
dists,  he  also  preached  the  Gospel  in  Great  Armenia.  The  Armeni- 
ans, at  least,  claim  him  and  St.  Bartholomew  as  their  first  Apostles. 
He  is  said  to  have  suffered  martyrdom  in  Phoenicia,  either  at  Beyruth 
or  Arad.  General  tradition  regards  this  Apostle  as  the  author  of  the 
"  Catholic  Epistle  of  St.  Jude  "  in  the  New  Testament. 

69.  St.  Simon  of  Cana,  surnamed  the  Zealot,  was  most  probably 
a  brother  of  St.  James  the  Less  and  St.  Jude.  Matt.  xiii.  55.  Mark  vii. 
13.  He  has  been  confounded  by  some  writers  with  St.  Simon,  w*ho  be- 
came bishop  of  Jerusalem  after  the  death  of  his  brother  James  the 
Less.  According  to  Nicephorus,  he  planted  the  faith  in  Egypt, 
Cyrene,  Lybia,  Mauritania  and  even  in  Britain.  Other  accounts  rep- 
resent him  as  laboring  with  St.  Jude  in  Persia  and  Babylonia.  He  is 
said  to  have  suffered  death  by  crucifixion  at  Suanir,  in  Persia. 

70.  The  Apostle  St.  Matthias,  who  was  elected  to  fill  the  place  of 
the  traitor  Judas,  according  to  Nicephorus,  after  having  preached  in 


LABORS   OF  OTHER  APOSTLES.  27 

Judea,  evangelized  Ethiopia  where  he  ended  his  apostolic  career  on 
the  cross.  According  to  another  tradition,  he  returned  to  Judea  and 
there  was  stoned  and  beheaded. 

71.  Of  the  apostolic  labors  of  St.  Barnabas,  beyond  what  is  con- 
tained in  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles,  nothing  certain  is  known.  He  was 
early  a  follower  of  Christ,  having  been  one  of  the  seventy-two  discip- 
les. He  accompanied  St.  Paul  on  his  first  missionary  journey  to  Cyprus 
and  Asia  Minor,  A.  D.  45-48.  In  the  year  53,  Barnabas  and  Paul  propos- 
ed another  missionary  expedition.  Barnabas  wished  to  take  with  him  his 
nephew  John,  surnamed  Mark,  to  which  Paul  objected.  The  two  Apos- 
tles thereupon  parted,  and  Barnabas  taking  Mark  with  him,  sailed  to 
Cyprus,  his  native  island.  Here  the  Acts  say  nothing  further  about 
him.  He  is  reported  to  have  finished  his  life  by  martyrdom  between 
A.  D.  55  and  57. 

72.  St.  Mark  the  Evangelist,  was  probably  the  same  as  John 
Mark,  mentioned  in  the  Acts  xii.  25.  He  was  the  nephew  or  cousin 
of  St.  Barnabas.  Mark  afterward  became  the  favorite  companion  and 
disciple  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome.  Sent  on  a  mission  to  Egyptby  St.  Peter, 
Mark  there  founded  the  Church  of  Alexandria,  which  he  governed  till 
the  year  62  when  he  appointed  Annianus  his  successor.  He  ended 
his  life  by  martyrdom  in  the  year  68.  Mark  wrote  his  Gospel  in 
Greek,  which,  as  St.  Irenaeus  tells  us,  appeared  after  the  death  of  the 
Apostles  Peter  and  Paul,  and  which  he  is  said  to  have  compiled  from 
the  preaching  of  St.  Peter,  who  also  gave  it  his  sanction.  Hence, 
ancient  writers  call  him  the  "Interpreter"  of  that  Apostle. 

73.  St.  Luke  was  the  disciple  of  St.  Paul,  whom  he  joined  at  Troas 
in  the  year  53.  He  was  a  native  of  Antioch  in  Syria,  a  physician  by  pro- 
fession, and  a  painter  of  no  mean  skill.  St.  Luke  shared  the  travels  and 
trials  of  St.  Paul,  and  attended  him  also  in  his  second  imprisonment. 
He  afterw^ards  returned  to  Macedonia  and  Achaja,  and  died  a  martyr 
at  Patrae,  at  the  age  of  seventy-four.  Luke  is  the  author  of  the  third 
Gospel  and  of  the  "  Acts  of  the  Apostles.  "  Both  works  he  wrote  in 
Greek;  his  Gospel  was  written  some  time  after  the  Gospels  of  SS. 
Matthew  and  Mark. 

74.  SS.  Timothy  and  Titus  were  among  the  other  disciples  and 
co-laborers  of  St.  Paul.  Timothy  wassentby  that  Apostle  to  Ephesus  of 
which  city  he  became  the  first  bishop.  He  died  a  martyr  in  a  popular 
outbreak  under  Nerva.  St.  Titus,  who  was  a  Greek  by  birth  and  the 
son  of  gentile  parents,  accompanied  St.  Paul  to  Jerusalem  to  the 
council,  and  on  his  various  extensive  journeys,  and  was  finally  estab- 
lished by  him  Bishop  of  Crete.  He  died  at  the  advanced  age  of  ninety- 
four  years. 


28  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH 

75.  The  other  co-laborers  of  the  Apostles  were:  Philip,  the  dea- 
con, who  abode  atCa3sarea;  Joseph  Barsabas,  proposed  with  Matthias 
as  worthy  to  fill  the  place  in  the  Apostolic  college  from  which  Judas 
Iscariot  had  fallen;  Silas,  the  companion  of  St.  Paul  on  his  second 
journey  to  Asia  Minor  and  Greece;  Apollo,  an  Alexandrian  Jew  of 
Ephesus,  a  learned  and  eloquent  man,  who,  through  the  Scriptures 
and  the  ministry  of  John  the  Baptist,  became  a  Christian;  Sosthenes, 
who,  before  embracing  the  Christian  faith,  was  ruler  of  a  synagogue; 
Philemon,  Archippus,  Epophroditus  and  others. 

76.  Nothing  certain  is  known  respecting  the  holy  women,  Mary 
Magdalen  and  others,  who  are  recorded  among  the  Disciples  of  Jesus. 
Sacred  Scripture  makes  no  further  mention  of  them  after  the  Ascension 
of  our  Lord.  Even  his  blessed  Mother  is  passed  over  in  silence  after 
the  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  St.  Luke  mentions  her  for  the  last 
time,  when  he  states  that  she  remained  at  Jerusalem,  with  the  Apos- 
tles awaiting  the  coming  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  There  are  two  different 
accounts  concerning  the  place  of  her  death.  One  tradition  makes  her 
journey  with  St.  John  to  Ephesus,  and  there  die  in  extreme  old  age; 
but  according  to  another  more  probable  account,  she  spent  the  rest  of 
her  life  in  Jerusalem,  where  she  died  surrounded  by  the  Apostles,  on 
Mount  Sion,  between  the  years  45  and  50.  At  this  day  her  tomb  is 
shown  at  Jerusalem,  in  the  valley  of  Jehoshaphat. 

SECTION    IX OVERTHROW    OF    JUDAISM  AND  TRIUMPH    OF    THE    INFANT 

CHURCH. 

Obstinacy  and  Rebellion  of  the  Jews — Their  Punishment— Siege  and  Destruc- 
tion of  Jerusalem — Second  Revolt  of  the  Jews  under  Hadrian — Aelia 
Capitolina — Consequences  of  the  Downfall  of  Judaism — Subsequent  His- 
tory of  the  Church  of  Jerusalem — Sad  Fate  of  Persecutors. 

77.  Whilst  the  Gospel  was  carried  by  the  Apostles  to  all  nations, 
and  Christ's  Church'wassteadily  growing  and  strengthening,  the  Jews, 
in  senseless  blindness,  were  advancing  with  rapid  strides  toward  their 
own  destruction.  The  time  was  come  when  the  terrible  judgments 
foretold  them  by  the  Prophets,  and  to  which  Christ  Himself  addressing 
them  with  tears  of  compassion,  had  so  strongly  adverted,  should  be  ac- 
complished against  the  City  and  Temple  of  Jerusalem.  Misinterpret- 
ing the  predictions  of  the  ancient  Prophets,  the  Jews  looked  every 
day  for  the  appearance  of  a  conquering  Messiah,  who  was  not  merely 
to  deliver  them  from  bondage,  but  make  them  lords  and  rulers  of  all 
nations.     False  prophets  were  also  continually  appearing  and  leading 


I 


OVERTHROW  OF  JUDAISM.  29 

the  people  into  destruction.  From  these  causes  insurrections  were 
frequent  in  Judea,  which  finally  brought  about  the  ruin  of  the  whole 
nation. 

78.  The  yoke  of  the  Romans,  which  the  Jews  had  always  detested, 
became  extremely  oppressive  under  Xero,  owing  to  the  cruelty  and 
extortions  of  Gessius  Florus,  the  last  p,rocurator.  In  the  year  66,  the 
general  discontent  burst  out  into  open  rebellion.  Under  the  leader- 
ship of  Eleazar  and  Simon  of  Gergesa,  the  Jews  expelled  the  Romans 
from  Jerusalem,  took  possession  of  the  castle  Antonia  and  defeated 
the  Roman  army,  commanded  by  Cestins  Gallus.  This  was  the  begin- 
ning of  a  disastrous  war,  which  ended  in  the  entire  overthrow  of  the 
Jews,  and  in  the  demolition  of  their  city  and  temple.  The  Christians, 
mindful  of  the  warning  of  their  Divine  Lord,  left  the  doomed  city, 
and  under  Simon,  their  bisjiop,  migrated  to  Pella,  a  city  of  the  Decapo- 
lis,  beyond  the  Jordan. 

79.  On  hearing  of  the  defeat  of  Cestius  Gallus,  Nero  sent  Ves- 
pasian, his  bravest  general,  to  quell  the  Jewish  revolt  by  force.  In  67, 
Vespasian  entered  Galilee  with  a  strong  army,  and  within  a  short  time 
subdued  nearly  the  w^hole  of  Galilee  and  Judea.  The  fall  of  Gotopata, 
the  strongest  of  the  Galilean  cities,  was  followed  by  the  massacre  of 
40,000  Jews.  Josephus  Flavins,  who  wrote  the  "  History  of  the  Jew- 
ish AVar,  "  succeeded  in  escaping  the  slaughter. 

80.  Vespasian,  in  the  meantime  having  been  proclaimed  emperor, 
entrusted  his  son  Titus  with  the  prosecution  of  the  war.  Titus  en- 
camped before  the  unhappy  city  of  Jerusalem,  about  Easter,  in  the 
year  70,  when  numberless  Jews  from  all  countries  were  shut  up  with- 
in its  walls.  The  siege,  which  lasted  about  six  months,  entailed  a 
tribulation  "  such  as  hath  not  been  from  the  beginning  of  the  world 
until  now,  neither  shall  be.  "  Matt.  xxiv.  21,  Titus,  who  bad  repeat- 
edly, but  vainly,  offered  pardon  on  condition  of  surrender,  resolved 
upon  conquering  by  famine,  and  this  brought  pestilence  to  his  assis- 
tance. The  castle  Antonia,  and  with  it  the  second  wall  were  finally 
taken  by  the  Romans.  On  the  l7th  of  July,  the  daily  sacrifice 
ceased  to  be  offered,  and  on  the  10th  of  August  the  temple  was 
stormed,  and  notwithstanding  the  strict  command  of  Titus,  that  it 
should  be  saved,  it  became  a  prey  to  the  flames.  In  September  the 
upper  city  on  Mount  Sion  also  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  Romans. 
Jerusalem  was  raized  to  the  ground,  and  as  Christ  had  foretold,  "  not 
a  stone  was  left  upon  a  stone."  A  few  towers  alone  were  left  stand- 
ing, as  memorials  of  the  great  siege.  According  to  Josephus,  over 
one  million  Jews  perished  during  the  siege,  and  about  ninety-seven 
thousand  were  sold  as  slaves  or  reserved  for  the  amphitheatres.     The 


30  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

seven  branched  golden  candlestick,  the  golden  table  of  the  shewbread, 
the  rolls  of  the  law,  together  with  the  robes  of  the  high-pa-iest,  were 
saved  from  the  general  destruction  and  adorned  the  triumph  of  Titus 
into  Rome.^  Josephus  concludes  his  narration  of  this  calamitous  war 
with  the  following  remarkable  reflection  :  "The  unhappy  people  then 
allowed  themselves  to  be  only  deluded  by  deceivers  who  dared  to  lie 
in  the  name  of  God.  But  they  paid  no  regard  to  the  clear  miracles 
which  announced  impending  destruction,  and  believed  them  not,  but 
like  men  utterly  confounded,  and  as  if  they  had  neither  eyes  nor 
understanding,  they  heard  nothing  which  God  himself  proclaimed." 

8 1 .  The  unfortunate  Jews,  having  lost  their  national  independence, 
and  being  now  without  sacrifice  or  altar,  were  forced  to  disperse 
among  the  nations  of  the  earth.  Yet  their  spirit  was  unsubdued.  The 
scattered  people  continued  in  rebellion  against  the  Romans.  Furious 
risings  occurred  in  the  reign  of  Trajan  in  Cyrenaica,  Egypt  and  Cy- 
prus. In  181,  when  the  Emperor  Hadrian  prohibited  circumcision 
and  resolved  to  rebuild  Jerusalem  as  a  heathen  city,  the  Jews  of  Pal- 
estine again  revolted.  The  insurrection  was  headed  by  the  impostor 
Simon  Bar-Cochba,  who  calling  himself  "  Son  of  the  Star,"  claimed 
to  be  the  Messiah,  and  was  acknowledged  as  such  by  the  celebrated 
Rabbi  Akiba. 

82.  The  Romans,  exasperated  by  these  repeated  rebellions,  devas- 
tated the  whole  country,  destroying  over  one  thousand  villages  and  fifty 
cities,  with  480  synagogues.  Over  half  a  million  Jews  perished  in  this 
war,  which  lasted  about  five  years,  from  A.  D.  131  to  135.  The  ruin  of 
the  Jewish  nation,  with  its  expulsion  from  its  own  country  and  capital, 
was  to  be  yet  far  more  complete  and  final.  On  the  grounds  of  the 
Holy  city,  rose  Hadrian's  "Aelia  Capitolina,"  which  the  Jews,  under 
pain  of  death,  were  forbidden  to  enter.  Even  those  sacred  spots  ven- 
erated by  the  Christians  were  desecrated.  Over  the  Sepulchre  of  Our 
Lord  was  erected  a  Statue  of  Jupiter,  and  on  Mount  Calvary,  a  fane 
of  Venus.  The  very  name  of  Jerusalem  fell  into  oblivion  until  Con- 
~8tantine  restored  it. 

83.  The  destruction  of  Jerusalem  and  its  temple  became  an  event 
of  vast  importance  to  the  Christian  Church.  For:  1.  It  afforded  a 
striking  proof  of  the  Divinity  of  her  Founder  who  had  predicted  it ; 
2#  It  completed  the  final  separation  between  Christianity  and  the 
Mosaic  Law,  thus  accomplishing  the  enfranchisement  of  the  Church 
from  the  bonds  of  the  Synagogue  ;     3.  In  its  necessarily  concomitant 

1.  The  triumphal  arch  of  Titus  still  exists  in  Rome,  as  if  a  special  providence 
watched  over  it,  to  remind  posterity  of  the  terrible  accomplishment  of  God's  judg- 
ments against  Jerusalem  and  the  Jewish  nation. 


I 


PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  31 

abolition  of  the  Jewish  sacrifices  and  rites,  it  entailed  and  assured 
the  abrogation  of  all  distinction  between  Jewish  and  Gentile  Chris- 
tians. The  Judaic  Christians  now  disappeared  as  a  distinct  element 
in  the  Church ;  they  were  absorbed  into  the  universal  community  of 
believers. 

84.  When  the  Jewish  war  was  over,  Simon,  and  part  of  his 
flock  returned  from  Pella  to  the  ruins  of  Jerusalem.  The  first  thir- 
teen bishops  who  succeeded  him  were  all  Jews,  and  probably  all  mar- 
tyrs, for  they  followed  one  another  in  rapid  succession.  Their  names 
are  mentioned  by  Eusebius.  The  congregation  over  which  they  pre- 
sided continued  to  observe  the  Mosaic  Law.  When  Hadrian  ex- 
cluded all  Jews  from  his  Aelia  Capitolina,  the  Gentile  Christians, 
who  were  allowed  to  remain,  elected  Marcus  for  their  bishop.  He,  as 
well  as  his  immediate  successors  were  of  gentile  origin,  and  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  Caesarea,  which  was  then  the  Christian  metropolis 
of  Palestine.  Eight  months  before  the  fall  of  Jerusalem,  the  temple 
of  Jupiter  Capitolinus  at  Rome,  with  the  shrines  of  Juno  and  Minerva, 
had  also  been  destroyed  by  fire.  This  strange  coincidence  seemed  to 
predict  the  final  triumph  of  Christianity  over  both  Judaism  and  Pa- 
ganism. 

85.  The  Church  by  this  time  had  already  triumj^hed  over  her  per- 
secutors, who  perished  miserably.  Herod  the  Great,  who  had  thirsted 
for  the  blood  of  the  infant  Jesus,  was  consumed  by  a  most  painful 
disease  ;  Pilate  is  said  to  have  been  banished  by  Caligula  to  Gaul, 
and  there,  after  spending  years  in  remorse  and  despair,  to  have  died 
by  his  own  hand.  The  year  after,  Herod  Antipas,  the  murderer  of 
St.  John  the  Baptist,  who  derided  and  mocked  Jesus,  was  de- 
posed and  exiled  to  Gaul ;  and  Herod  Agrippa  I.,  who  had  beheaded 
St.  James  and  persecuted  the  infant  Church,  died  miserably,  "  eaten 
up  by  worms,"  A.  D.  44.  The  Emperor  Nero,  in  order  to  evade 
a  seemingly  more  disgraceful  death,  ended  his  scandalous  life  by 
his  own  hands. 

SECTION    X. RAPID    PROPAGATIOX    OF    CHRISTIANITY.      ITS    CAUSES. 

Rapid  and  universal  Diffusion  of  Christianity— Testimony  of  early  Writers 
— The  Gospel  embraced  by  men  of  all  classes— Causes  of  the  rapid  Spread 
of  the  Gospel. 

86.  Most  wonderful  success  crowned  the  labors  of  the  Apostles, 
for  the  Lord  was  with  them.  Even  during  their  lifetime,  the  Church 
of  Christ  became  firmly  established;  and  at  the  close  of  the  first  cen- 
tury, Christian  congregations  were  to  be  found  in  well  nigh  all  the 
countries  bordering  on   the   Meliterranean,   especially   in    Palestine, 


32  ,  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

Syria,  Asia  Minor,  Greece,  Macedonia,  lUyricum,  Italy  and  Egypt. 
The  Fathers  and  Christian  writers  of  the  early  ages,  such  as  Justin, 
Origen,  Tertullian  and  Lactantius,  in  their  apologetical  works  refer 
to  the  universal  diffusion  of  Christianity,  and  to  the  countless  number 
of  Chistians  in  nearly  all  the  cities  of  the  Roman  Empire,  as  to  a  well- 
known  fact.  Tertullian,  for  instance,  in  his  Apology,  represents  the 
faithful  as  very  numerous  among  all  nations  and  classes  of  society, 
and  in  all  positions — even  in  the  palace,  the  Senate,  the  Forum  and 
the  camps  of  the  Empire — "  except  the  temples.  " 

87.  The  same  is  attested  by  Tacitus,  Celsus,  Lucian,  Pliny  and 
other  pagan  writers,  who  relate  that  in  their  time  Christians  were  to 
be  found  in  all  the  provinces  of  the  Roman  Empire.  Tacitus,  for 
example,  informs  us  that  those  alone  who  were  put  to  death  by  Nero, 
formed  an  immense  multitude — "  ingens  multitudo.  "  That  the  num- 
ber of  believers  was  keeping  pace  with  the  march  of  the  Church  into 
every  land,  is  also  evident  from  the  multitude  of  bishops  we  find  labor- 
ing in  the  second  and  third  centuries;  and  from  the  many  heresies 
that  sprang  up  in  those  times,  as  well  as  from  the  protracted  persecu- 
tions which  could  not  even  weaken,  much  less  destroy,  the  Christian 
Church. 

88.  And  Christianity  was  not  confined  to  the  cities  or  towns.  We 
know  from  Pliny's  report  to  Trajan,  and  from  the  accounts  of  Clemens 
Romanus  and  Justinus  Martyr,  that  in  many  country-districts  Chris- 
tian communities  were  formed  very  early.  The  numerous  country 
bishops  in  isolated  spots  are  also  a  proof  of  this.  And  not  the  poor  and 
humble  only,  but  the  noble,  and  members  of  patrician  families,  of  senato- 
rial rank,  even  high  officials  of  the  "  household  of  Caesar,"  St.  Paul  says 
"professed  the  Christian  faith."  Such  were  :  the  chamberlain  of  the 
Ethiopian  queen;  Manahen,  foster-brother  of  King  Herod;  Sergius 
Paulus,  the  governor  of  Cyprus;  the  Senator  Pudens,  and  the  Cen- 
turion Cornelius.  Again,  Dionysius,  a  member  of  the  Athenian 
Areopagus,  Crispus,  ruler  of  the  synagogue  at  Corinth,  and  Erastus, 
treasurer  of  that  city;  even  a  nephew  of  the  Emperor  Vespasian — the 
Consul. Flavins  Clemens,  with  his  wife  and  niece,  Domitilla,  the  elder 
and  younger — became  converts  to  the  faith.  As  the  humble  faith  of 
Christ  diffused  itself  through  all  classes,  it  was  embraced  by  even  phil- 
osophers and  men  of  learning,  such  as  Aristides  of  Athens,  Justinus 
Martyr,  Tertullian,  Clement  of  Alexandria,  and  Julius  Africanus. 

89.  The  wondrous  growth  of  the  Church  cannot  be  regarded  as 
the  result  of  human  efforts.  It  was  not  by  natural  means  that  the 
Christian  faith  obtained  so  remarkable  a  victory  over  the  established 
religious  systems  of  the  earth.      External  circumstances,  such  as  the 


PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY.  33 

vast  extent  of  the  Roman  Empire,  the  almost  universal  usage  of  the 
Greek  language,  the  active  trade  carried  on  between  the  different 
nations,  greatly  favored  indeed,  and  assisted  the  spread  of  Christianity; 
but,  in  themselves,  they  were  utterly  inefficient  to  produce  so  marvel- 
ous a  result.  The  rapid  and  universal  diffusion  of  Christianity  there- 
fore, must  be  attributed  to  other  than  merely  natural  agents. 

90.  The  causes  of  this  standing  marvel,  according  to  the  Fathers 
and  Christian  writers  of  the  early  ages,  were:  1.  The  divine  insti- 
tution of  the  Church,  which  at  once  proved  itself  to  men  as  the 
Avork  of  God  ;  2.  The  convincing  evidence  of  the  Christian  doctrine 
itself,  recommending  itself  as  a  divinely  revealed  religion  which  fully 
satisfied  the  religious  cravings  of  all  mankind,  the  poor  and  ignorant 
as  well  as  the  wealthy  and  learned;  3.  The  miraculous  powers  with 
which  the  Apostles  and  many  of  the  early  Christians  were  gifted. 
"  If  the  Apostles  had  not  wrought  miracles,  "  says  Origen,  "  the  world 
would  never  have  believed  on  the  strength  of  their  word. "  4.  The 
admirable  results  which  Christianity  produced  among  its  followers, 
particularly  the  pure  and  holy  life  of  the  early  Christians,  so  much  in 
contrast  with  the  tendencies  and  practices  of  heathenism,  was  one 
standing  miracle;  their  benevolence  and  charity,  which  embraced  all 
men,  even  the  heathen  and  their  very  enemies;  their  earnestness  and 
inflexible  zeal  in  spreading  the  doctrine  of  Christ;  their  patience  and 
fortitude  in  enduring  every  conceivable  loss  and  torture,  even  death, 
for  their  faith.  Truly,  the  conversion  of  the  world  is  in  itself  the 
greatest  miracle,  and  the  best  proof  that  the  Church  of  Christ  is  the 
true  kingdom  of  God  upon  earth. 

SECTIOX     XI PROPAGATION    OF     CHRISTIANITY     IN     PARTICULAR     COUN- 
TRIES. 

Christianity  in  Palestine — Caesarea — Churches  in  Phoenicia — In  Syria — In 
Mesopotamia — In  Asia  Minor — Ephesus — In  Armenia — In  Cyprus- 
Christianity  in  Africa — St.  Mark,  the  Founder  of  the  Patriarchal  See  of 
Alexandria — Churches  in  Lybia,  Cyrenaica,  Nubia,  Lower  and  Upper 
Egypt  and  Ethiopia — Christianity  in  Northern  Africa — St.  Peter  the  first 
to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Europe— Rome  the  chief  Center  for  the  spreading 
of  the  Gospel  throughout  Italy,  Gaul  and  Spain — Churches  founded  by 
St.  Peter  and  his  Disciples— Christianity  in  Britain  and  Germany. 

91.  The  marvelous  growth  of  the  Church  will  appear  more 
clearly,  if  we  survey  the  many  episcopal  sees  founded  during  this  epoch, 
in  the^  three  then  known  continents  —  Asia,  Africa  and  Europe. 
In  Asia.  In  Palestine  and  Syria  Christianity  achieved  its  first  con- 
quests ;  but  after  the  complete  destruction  of  Jerusalem  under  Had- 


34  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

rian,  it  became  almost  ignored  in  the  place  of  its  birth,  and  the  church 
of  Aelia  Capitolina  sunk  to  a  condition  of  utter  insignificance.  In- 
stead of  Jerusalem,  Caesarea  became  the  Christian  metropolis  of  Pal- 
estine. In  Phoenicia,  flourishing  churches  existed  at  Tyre,  Sidon, 
Ptolemais,  Berytus,  Byblos  and  Tripolis.  Gaza  also,  in  the  country  of 
the  ancient  Philistines,  was  a  bishopric.  The  most  influential  church 
in  Syria  was  Antioch,  the  first  see  of  St.  Peter.  There  were  besides, 
flourishing  churches  at  Beroea  or  Aleppo,  Seleucia,  Samosata  and 
Cyrus. 

92.  At  Edessa,  the  capitol  of  Osrhoene  in  Mesopotamia,  where 
the  reigning  dynasty  of  the  Abgars  had  embraced  the  Christian 
faith  as  early  as  the  year  160,  a  magnificent  church  was  erected  in 
228.  Besides,  there  existed  in  Mesopotamia  the  churches  of  Amida, 
Cascar  and  Nisibis.  Maris,  who  is  said  to  have  been  a  disciple  of 
Thaddeus  the  Apostle,  was  the  first  bishop  of  Seleucia  (Ktesiphon)  in 
Chaldea.  Bozra  became  the  metropolitan  see  of  Arabia,  where  as  early 
as  the  third  century  councils  were  held.  In  244,  at  a  Synod  of  Bozra, 
the  great  Origen  refuted  the  errors  of  Beryllus,  bishop  of  that  city. 

93.  Asia  Minor,  particularly  that  part  which  had  been  evangelized 
by  the  Apostles  SS.  Peter,  Paul,  Barnabas  and  John,  abounded  in  flour- 
ishing churches.  Of  these,  the  churches  in  Cilicia,  Lycaonia,  Isauria,  Pi- 
sidia  and  those  in  Asia  Proconsularis,  which  included  Mysia,  Lydia, 
Caria  and  Phrygia  were  of  apostolic  origin  (Ecclesiae  Apostolicae). 
Ephesus,  which  had  been  rendered  famous  by  the  preaching  of  St. 
Paul  and  the  residence  of  St.  John,  was  the  centre  of  Christianity 
for  all  !A.8ia  Minor. 

94.  Other  prominent  churches  existed:  1.  In  Ionia,  Miletus,  and 
Smyrna  famously  known  as  the  see  of  St.  Poly  carp;  2.  In  Mysia, 
Pergamum  and  Cyzicus;  3.  In  Lydia,  Sardes,  the  see  of  the  holy 
and  learned  bishop  Melito;  4.  In  Bithynia,  the  sees  of  Nicomedia, 
Caesarea,  Nicaea,  Prusa  and  ApoUonias ;  5.  In  Phrygia  were  the 
churches  of  Laodicea,  Colossae  and  Hierapolis  over  which  Papias, 
and  later  on  St.  Apollinaris,  the  apologist,  presided.  Philemon,  a  dis- 
ciple of  St.  Paul,  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  bishop  of  Colossae.  6. 
In  Lycia  we  find  the  churches  of  Patara,  Olympus  and  Myra.  7.  Be- 
sides, there  are  recorded  in  the  annals  of  the  Church  the  bishoj^rics  of 
Gangra  in  Paphlagonia,  Ancyra  in  Galatia,  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia 
and  Neo-Caesarea,  the  see  of  the  celebrated  Gregory  Thaumaturgus, 
and  Amasea  in  Pontus.  Tarsus,  the  native  city  of  St.  Paul  in  Cilicia, 
was  a  metropolitan  see,  and  Iconium  in  Lycaonia,  is  famous  for  the 
Synod,  held  there  in  the  year  235,  which  declared  the  baptism  of  her- 
etics valid.  To  these  are  to  be  added  the  churches  of  Sinope  and 
Sebaste  in  Lesser  Armenia,  and  Salamis  in  Cyprus. 


PROPAGATION  OF  GHRI8TIANITT.  35 

95.  In  Africa.  St.  Mark  the  Evangelist,  as  Eusebius  informs 
us,  was  sent  by  St.  Peter  to  establish  the  Church  in  Egypt.  He 
was  the  founder  and  first  bishop  of  the  patriarchal  see  of  Alexan- 
dria, which  became  the  Christian  metropolis  of  all  Egypt  and  the 
neighboring  countries.  Many  other  churches  are  said  to  have  been 
founded  by  St.  Mark.  According  to  Nicephorus,  he  preached  in 
Lybia  and  Cyrenaica.  In  the  third  century  the  bishoprics  of  Pelusium, 
Thmuis,  Arsinoe  and  Nilopolis  were  known  to  exist  in  Lower  Egypt ; 
and  those  of  Lykopolis  and  Hermopolis  in  the  Thebaid  or  Upper 
Egj'pt.  And  many  more  must  have  existed,  for  in  235  a  Council  was 
held  there,  attended  by  twenty  bishops.  From  Alexandria  Christian- 
ity spread  chiefly  south  to  Kubia  and  Ethiopia,  and  east  to  Arabia, 
in  all  directions  except  west. 

96.  The  precise  epoch  when  Christianity- was  first  introduced  into 
Northern  Africa,  including  Proconsular  Africa,  Numidia  and  Mauri- 
tania, cannot  be  determined.  It  is,  however,  certain  that  the  Chris- 
tianization  of  this  part  of  Africa  came  from  Rome,  and  it  is  believed 
that  the  first  missionaries  were  sent  thither  by  St.  Peter  himself. 
About  the  year  202,  as  TertuUian  informs  us,  the  Christians  constituted 
nearly  the  majority  in  every  city.  In  256,  we  see  seventy-one,  and  again 
eighty-seven  bishops  meeting  in  council  at  Carthage  ;  whilst  a  previous 
Council  at  Lambesa  in  Numidia  consisted  of  ninety  bishops. 

97.  In  Europe.  The  first  Apostle  who  preached  the  Gospel  in 
Europe  was  the  Prince  of  the  Apostles,  St.  Peter  himself,  who  came 
to  Italy  about  the  year  42  and  founded  the  Church  of  Rome.  From 
Rome  the  faith  was  carried  by  disciples  of  St.  Peter  or  missionaries 
sent  by  him  to  other  parts  of  Italy,  to  Gaul,  Spain,  Northern  and 
Western  Africa.  The  foundation  of  the  more  prominent  churches  of 
Italy  is  ascribed  to  disciples  of  St.  Peter.  Thus  Paulinus,  sent  by 
that  Apostle  to  preach  in  Tuscia,  founded  the  see  of  Lucca.  St. 
Romulus  and  St.  Apollinaris,  likewise  disciples  of  St.  Peter,  are  called 
the  founders,  the  former  of  the  church  of  Fiesole,  the  latter  of  Ra- 
venna, whilst  St.  Anathalon,  a  contemporary  of  the  Apostles,  founded 
the  church  of  Milan.  The  church  of  Aquileja  claims  to  have  received 
the  divine  faith  from  St.  Mark,  calling  her  first  bishop  St.  Hermagoras, 
a  disciple  of  the  Evangelist. 

98.  Several  churches  of  Lower  Italy  also  claim  an  apostolic  origin, 
and  the  claim  is  supported  by  the  fact  that  St.  Paul,  upon  his  arrival  in 
Italy,  A.  D.  61,  found  a  congregation  already  established  at  Puteoli  in 
Campania,  whose  first  bishop  is  said  to  have  been  Patrobas,  mention- 
ed in  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans.  The  church  of  Bari  in  Apulia  be- 
lieves to  have  received  its  first  bishop  Maurus,  a  martyr  under  Domitian, 


36  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

from  St.  Peter,  who  is  said  to  have  appointed  also  the  bishops  Photinus 
of  Benevento,  Prisons  of  Capua,  Aspren  of  Naples,  as  well  as  to  have 
sent  into  Sicily  Philip  of  Agyrium,  who  founded  the  church  of 
Palermo,  and  St.  Marcianus,  first  bishop  of  Syracuse.  The  churches 
of  Pavia,  Urbino,  Mantua,  Verona,  Pisa,  Florence  and  Sienna  point 
to  similar  traditions. 

99.  Gaul  likewise  traces  the  origin  of  many  of  its  churches  to 
the  very  time  of  the  Apostles ;  its  first  missionaries  certainly  came 
from  Rome  and  in  all  probability  were  sent  by  St.  Peter  himself. 
These  were  :  Crescens,  whom  St.  Paul  mentions  in  his  Second  Epis- 
tle to  Timothy ;  Trophinus,  first  bishop  of  Aries,  and  Martialis,  first 
bishop  of  Limoges.  The  two  last  named  are  mentioned  among  the 
seven  missionary  bishops  who,  according  to  a  generally  received  tradi- 
tion in  France,  had  been  sent  thither  by  St.  Peter  or,  according  to  others, 
by  Pope  Fabian.  An  ancient  tradition  aflirms  that  St.  Lazarus,  and 
St.  Maximin,  one  of  the  seventy-two  Disciples,  with  Martha  and  Mary 
Magdalen,  came  to  Southern  Gaul  and  evangelized  Marseilles  and  Aix; 
and  that  St.  Denys  the  Areopagite,  sent  by  St.  Clement  I.,  founded 
the  church  of  Lutetia  (Paris).  Even  in  the  time  of  St.  Cyprian  there 
were  many  bishops  in  Gaul;  and  the  Council  of  Aries,  in  314,  was 
attended  by  thirty-three  bishops  of  that  country. 

100.  St.  Paul  was,  as  it  is  thought,  the  first  that  preached  the 
Gospel  in  ancient  Spain  comprising  then  also  what  is  now  Portugal. 
Historians  of  the  third  century  make  mention  of  seven  missionary 
bishops  whom  St.  Peter,  probably  after  the  supposed  visit  of  St.  Paul 
to  that  country,  sent  to  establish  the  faith  in  Spain.  The  more  prom- 
inent of  the  early  bishoprics  were  :  Leon,  Saragossa,  Merida  and 
Tarracona.  In  the  time  of  the  persecutions,  Spain  furnished  a  great 
number  of  martyrs.  The  Council  of  Elvira,  in  305,  was  attended  by 
nineteen  bishops ;  and  when  Constantine  gave  peace  to  the  Church, 
Spain  was  found  to  contain  vast  multitudes  of  Christians. 

101.  TertuUian  informs  us  that  Christian  communities  existed 
throughout  Britain ;  some  writers  even  claim  for  them  an  apostolic 
origin.  The  Venerable  Bede  states  that  at  the  request  of  the  British 
King  Lucius,  Christian  teachers  were  sent  by  Pope  Eleutherus  to 
Britain.  St.  Alban  became  England's  first  martyr  under  Diocletian. 
The  bishops  of  York,  London  and  Lincoln  were  present  at  the  Coun- 
cil of  Aries,  in  314.  In  Germany  along  the  Rhine,  Christianity  began 
to  spread  at  an  early  date,  and  among  the  early  churches  established 
in  that  country  were  Treves,  Cologne,  Mentz,  Spires,  Metz,  Tangres 
and  Strassburg.  The  bishops  Maternus  of  Cologne  and  Angroecius  of 
Treves  were  at  the  Council  of  Aries,  in  303.     St.  Victorinus,  bishop  of 


PERSECUTION  OF  THE  FAITHFUL.  37 

Pettaii  in  Pannonia,  died  a  martyr,  A.  D.  303  ;  and  in  the  fourth  cen- 
tury flourished  the  church  of  Sirmium.  Andronicus,  mentioned  in  the 
Epistle  to  the  Romans,  is  believed  to  have  been  its  first  bishop.  The 
Apostles  of  Noricum  were  Maximilian,  and  St.  Florian  who  died  a 
martyr  in  the  Diocletian  persecution. 


CHAPTER   III. 


RELATION  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  CHURCH  TO  THE  HEATHEN 

WORLD. 


SECTIOX    XII. HEATHEN    OPPOSITION    TO    THE    CHRISTIAN    CHURCH. 

PERSECUTION    OF    THE    FAITHFUL. 

Persecution  of  the  Christians — Their  Causes — Number  of  Persecutions. 

102.  The  Church  of  Christ  had  already  suffered  greatly  from  the 
persecutions  of  the  Jews,  who  hated  her  as  intensely  as  they  had  hated 
her  Divine  Founder.  But  a  more  formidable  foe  now  arose  that 
sought  to  crush  her  ere  she  could  have  time  to  gain  a  sure  foot-hold 
on  earth.  For  two  hundred  and  fifty  years  Paganism  assaulted  the 
Christian  Church  with  fire  and  sword  and  every  conceivable  instru- 
ment of  torture  ;  the  blood  of  her  children  flowed  in  torrents,  and  her 
martyrs  fell  by  the  thousands.  With  only  a  few  exceptions,  the  Ro- 
man emperors  of  that  period  were  all,  more  or  less,  fierce  persecutors 
of  the  Christians.  But  the  Church  had  received  the  solemn  promise 
that  "  the  gates  of  hell  should  not  prevail  against  her."  By  endur- 
ance and  patience,  armed  with  the  weapons  of  prayer,  sacrifice  and 
deeds  of  heroic  charity,  she  triumphed  over  all  her  powerful  enemies; 
and  the  blood  of  her  martyrs  served  only  to  fertilize  the  earth  that  it 
might  produce  her  new  hosts  of  children. 

103.  That  persecutions  would  arise  against  the  Church  was  fore- 
told by  her  Divine  Founder.  "  Behold  I  send  you,"  Christ  said  to  His 
Disciples,  "  as  lambs  among  wolves.  If  they  have  persecuted  Me,  they 
will  also  persecute  you."  John  xv.  20.  The  first  and  also  the  chief  cause 
of  the  hatred  that  the  world  would  bear  His  followers,  and  conse- 
quently the  secret  of  all  persecutions  against  His  Church,  He  showed 
them  in  these  words  :      "  If  you  had  been  of  the  world,  the  world 


38  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

would  love  its  own  ;  but  because  you  are  not  of  the  world,  therefore 
the  world  hateth  you."  John  xv.  1-19.  As  long  as  the  human  race 
is  composed  of  the  children  of  God  and  the  children  of  this  world, 
that  is  to  say,  of  the  reprobate  portion  of  mankind,  so  long  will  the 
former  be  attacked  and  persecuted  by  the  latter. 

104.  The  proximate  causes  of  these  persecutions  were  :  1.  The 
enmity  of  the  Jews,  who  in  their  jealous  anger  at  the  credited  advent 
of  the  Messiah,  and  at  the  inauguration  of  a  spiritual  kingdom  which 
was  not  to  their  liking,  sought  by  shameless  lies  and  calumnies  to 
counteract  the  progress  of  Christian  faith  and  to  cause  the  heaviest 
afflictions  to  its  followers.  "  Since  the  days  of  the  Apostles,"  says 
Tertullian,  "the  Synagogue  has  always  been  a  torrent  of  perse- 
cution." 2.  The  intimate  connection  existing  between  the  Ro- 
man Empire  and  Roman  idolatry.  The  whole  fabric  of  the  Ro- 
man State  rested  on  polytheism.  Religion  was  a  state  matter ; 
and  the  laws  which  related  to  religion  being  a  part  of  the  general 
civil  code,  any  violation  of  them  was  considered  a  violation  of  the  lat- 
ter. 3.  Because  Christianity  not  only  opposed  the  superstitions  of 
Paganism,  but  also  asserted  an  independent  and  absolute  authority 
and  enticed  many  Roman  citizens  from  the  religion  of  the  state,  to 
the  observance  of  which  they  were  bound  by  the  laws,  it  was  regarded 
as  subversive  of  civil  order.  Hence  it  was  that  Christians  were  per- 
secuted by  even  moderate  and  humane  emperors,  such  as  Antoninus 
Pius  and  Marcus  Aurelius,  who  regarded  the  Christian  faith  as  dan- 
gerous to  the  very  existence  of  the  Roman  Empire,  and  the  Christians 
as  a  secret  society  undermining  the  political  constitution  of  the  State, 
4.  The  repudiation  of  the  national  gods  by  the  Christians,  who  openly 
declared  the  pagan  deities  to  be  demons,  appeared  as  a  revolt  against 
an  ancient  national  religion.  Malice  and  prejudice  concurred  in  charg- 
ing the  Christians  with  the  grossest  impiety ;  they  were  denounced  as 
a  society  of  atheists,  who,  by  the  most  daring  attacks  on  the  religious 
constitution  of  the  empire,  well  merited  the  severest  penalties.  To 
Christian  ungodliness,  as  it  was  called,  that  is,  to  their  refusal  to  ac- 
knowledge the  Roman  gods,  was  ascribed  every  public  disaster.  "  If 
the  empire,"  observes  Tertullian,  "is  afflicted  by  a  famine  or  a  plague; 
if  the  Tiber  overflows  or  the  Nile  rises  not  beyond  its  banks  ;  if  the 
earth  is  shaken  or  the  heavens  stand  unmoved — the  general  cry  is  : 
"  The  Christians  to  the  lions  ! " 

105.  5.  The  refusal  of  the  Christians  to  accept  certain  public 
offices  and  to  take  part  in  the  idolatrous  worship  pajd  to  emperors. 
Since  they  could  not  acknowledge  the  emperor  as  Pontifex  Maximus, 
nor  swear  by   his   genius,   they  were  accused  of  impiety  and   high 


J 


PERSECUTION  OF   THE  CHRISTIANS.  39 

treason  (majestas  et  impietas  in  principes),  an  imputation  which  of 
course  rendered  them  particularly  obnoxious  to  the  heathen  rulers. 
They  were  called  "  irreligiosi  in  Caesares,  hostes  Csesarum  et  Populi 
Romani."  6.  Besides,  Christians  as  such  professed  a  religion  not 
allowed  by  the  laws  of  the  State  (religio  nova  et  illicita),  and  thereby 
became  arraignable  for  a  capital  crime.  One  of  the  most  ancient 
laws  of  the  Roman  Empire  forbade  the  introduction  of  a  new  religion 
and  the  worship  of  a  god  not  approved  by  the  Senate.^  By  virtue  of 
this  law,  the  offenders  were  to  be  punished  with  death.  Even  sena- 
tors were  not  exempt  from  this  severity,  as  we  see  in  the  case  of 
Apollonius,  who  suffered  martyrdom  under  Commodus. 

106.  7.  To  these  we  must  add  a  host  of  the  most  scandalous 
slanders  which  in  later  times  could  never  have  gained  credence,  but  then 
found  widespread  belief.  Christians  were  said  to  adore  the  wood  of 
the  cross  and  were  ridiculed  as  worshippers  of  an  ass.  They  were 
charged  with  sedition  and  conspiracy,  and  accused  of  incest  and  other 
unnatural  crimes.  Their  nocturnal  meetings,  which  were  the 
result  of  persecution  and  a  necessary  precaution  for  the  safe  i3er- 
formance  of  their  religious  duties,  w^ere  under  the  ban  of  the  laws 
(Hetaeriae  or  collegia  illicita).  Most  horrid  tales  were  invented 
describing  the  Disciples  of  Christ  as  the  most  wicked  of  mankind, 
who  practised  every  kind  of  abomination.  Ghastly  feasts,  resembling 
the  abominable  banquet  of  Thyestes,  it  was  alleged,  took  place  in  their 
secret  assemblies,  at  which  innocent  children  were  killed  and  devoured. 
8.  Lastly,  the  general  dislike  of  the  heathens  to  the  Christians  and 
their  ways.  The  Disciples  of  Christ  abhorred  everything  relating  to 
pagan  worship  ;  and  because  all  business  of  importance  was  transacted 
amid  heathen  ceremonies,  and  all  feasts,  civic  and  domestic,  were  ac- 
companied by  sacrificial  homage  and  invocation  of  the  gods,  the 
Christians  were  necessarily  obliged  to  keep  aloof  from  all  affairs  that 
would  compromise  their  conscience.  Hence  it  happened  that  they 
were  regarded  as  haters  of  the  gods  and  of  mankind,  as  contemners  of 
the  state  and  enemies  of  the  emperors  (Hostes  publici  deorum,  impe- 
ratorura,  legum,  morum,  naturae  totius  inimici). 

107.  The  Christians  were  often  the  victims  of  popular  fury.  Not 
unfrequently  the  heathen  populace  tumultuously  demanded  the  blood 
of  these  enemies  of  the  gods  and  of  men,  as  they  had  been  taught  to 
regard  the  Christians.  The  acts  of  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Polycarp 
exhibit  a  graphic  picture  of  the  tumults  which  were  usually  fomented 

1.  An  exception  was  made  in  favor  of  the  Jews,  the  Roman  law  securing  to  them 
the  free  and  undisturbed  exercise  of  their  religion.  The  Jews,  although  detested,  were 
not  only  tolerated  but  protected  in  the  observance  of  the  Mosaic  Law;  they  were  ex- 
empt from  services  incompatible  with  their  religion. 


40  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

by  the  malice  of  the  Jews.  The  pure  and  blameless  conduct  of  the 
Christians,  instead  of  inspiring  respect,  e'xcited  among  the  corrupt 
and  degraded  people  only  bitter  envy,  deep  hatred  and  fierce  perse- 
cution. '  The  heathen  priests,  too,  the  sooth-sayers,  magicians  and 
jugglers,  who  saw  their  professions  and  profits  in  danger,  did  every- 
thing in  their  power  to  fan  the  flame  of  popular  animosity. 

108.  All  these  causes  combined  gave  rise  to  a  series  of  bloody 
persecutions,  in  which  pagan  malice  and  prejudice  exhausted  all  their 
resources  to  exterminate,  if  possible,  the  Church  of  God.  Ecclesiasti- 
cal historians  reckon  ten  general  persecutions,  under  ten  emperors, 
not  including  the  partial  persecutions  in  various  countries  and  pro- 
vinces. According  to  the  enumeration  of  St.  Augustine,  which  is  com- 
monly followed,  the  first  persecution  occurred  under  Nero;  the  second 
under  Domitian ;  the  third  under  Trajan ;  the  fourth  under  Marcus 
Aurelius ;  the  fifth  under  Septimius  Severus ;  the  sixth  under  Max- 
imin  the  Thracian ;  the  seventh  under  Decius ;  the  eight  under 
Valerian ;  the  ninth  under  Aurelian ;  while  Diocletian  with  his  col- 
leagues Maximian  and  Galerius  raiged  the  tenth,  the  most  cruel  of  all 
the  persecutions.  These  persecutions  against  the  Christians  were  in- 
augurated and  carried  on,  sometimes  by  the  command  of  the  emperors, 
sometimes  by  solemn  decrees  of  the  Roman  Senate,  and  sometimes  by 
an  insurrection  of  the  heathen  populace,  thirsting  for  the  blood  of  the 
Christians. 

SECTION  XIII PERSECUTIONS  DURING  THE  FIRST  CENTURY. 

Christians  banished  from  Rome  by  Claudius — First  Persecution  under  Nero 
— Burning  of  Rome— Martyrdom  of  SS.  Peter  and  Paul— Other  Martyrs 
— Vespasian  and  Titus — St.  Apollinaris — Second  Persecution  under 
Domitian— Distinguished  Martyrs — St.  John,  the  Apostle— Repose  under 
Nerva— Martyrdom  of  St.  Timothy— Flavian  Family. 

109.  The  immediate  successors  of  Augustus,  Tiberius  and  Cali- 
gula, left  the  Christians  unmolested.  The  former,  as  TertuUian  relates, 
conceived  the  design  of  even  enrolling  Christ  among  the  gods 
of  Rome,  but  was  resisted  by  the  Senate.  The  same  emperor  is  said  to 
have  threatened  severe  punishments  against  any  who  should  accuse 
Christians  merely  as  Christians.  The  edict  of  Claudius,  A.  D.  49  or 
50,  banishing  the  Jews  from  home,  extended  also  to  the  Christians, 
but  only  because  they  were  then  looked  upon  as  a  sect  of  Jews,  and 
no  distinction  was  as  yet  made  between  the  two  religions. 

110.  The  first  persecution  took  place  under  Nero.  His  sec- 
ond wife,  the  intriguing  Poppaea,  who  is  said  to  have  been  a  Jew- 


PERSECUTIONS  OF  THE  CHRISTIANS.  41 

ish  proselyte,  was  the  first  who  singled  out  the  Christians  from  the 
Jews.  The  first  five  years  of  the  reign  of  No.ro,  A.  D.  54-68,  were 
distinguished  for  justice  and  prosperity,  which  was  owing  principal- 
ly to  the  wise  and  honest  administration  of  Seneca  and  Burrhus,  to 
whom  the  management  of  affairs  was  entrusted.  The  imperial  pro- 
fligate, however,  soon  displayed  his  real  character.  This  tyrant, 
whose  hands  were  stained  with  the  blood  of  his  brother,  his  mother 
and  his  wife,  and  who  also  jiut  to  death  his  tutor  Seneca  and  the 
faithful  Burrhus,  together  Avith  many  senators,  commanded,  in  the 
year  64,  a  general  persecution  against  the  Christians. 

111.  The  destruction  of  a  large  part  of  Rome  by  fire  had  brought 
great  odium  upon  Xero,  whom  the  popular  voice  loudly  accused  of 
being  the  incendiary.  To  divert  a  suspicion  which  even  the  power  of 
despotism  was  unable  to  suppress,  the  tyrant  fastened  the  charge  on 
the  much  hated  Christians,  on  whom  he  inflicted  the  most  exquisite 
tortures.  According  to  Tacitus,  a  great  multitude  of  Christians  died 
in  exquisite  torments;  some  on  the  cross,  some  sewn  up  in  the  skins  of 
wild  beasts  and  exposed  to  the  fury  of  dogs,  while  others,  covered 
over  with  inflammable  matter,  were  used  as  torches  to  illuminate  the 
imperial  gardens  during  the  night.  By  the  light  of  these  human 
torches  public  races  were  held,  and  Xero  himself  habited  as  a  char- 
ioteer, mingled  with  the  gaping  crowd. 

112.  Whether  this  first  persecution  under  Nero  was  confined  to 
Rome  or  extended  to  the  provinces,  and  whether  it  was  interrupted 
or  unremitting  from  A.  D.  64  to  68,  cannot  now  be  decided  with  per- 
fect historical  certainty.  Christian  writers,  such  as  Sulpicius 
Severus  and  Orosius,  inform  us,  however,  that  it  raged  throughout  the 
whole  empire,  and  lasted  till  the  death  of  Nero,  and  that  the  Christ- 
ians were  not  only  charged  with  incendiarism,  but,  as  it  further  ap- 
pears from  Tacitus,  they  were  also  persecuted  for  their  faith.  Among 
the  countless  martyrs  who  suffered  under  Nero  were  the  Princes  of 
the  Apostles,  SS.  Peter  and  Paul,  and  SS.  Processus  and  Martinian, 
the  keepers  of  the  Mamertine  prison. 

113.  After  the  brief  reigns  of  Galba,  Otho  and  Yitellius,  who 
succeeded  one  another  within  a  year,  A.  D.  68-69,  Vespasian,  employ- 
ed at  the  time  in  Judea  in  suppressing  the  insurrection  of  the  Jews, 
was  proclaimed  emperor,  A.  D.  69-79.  His  reign,  as  also  that  of  his 
son  Titus,  A.  D.  79-81,  was  marked  by  justice  and  clemency  towards 
the  Christians.  The  Disciples  of  Christ,  though  still  exposed  to  per- 
secution on  the  part  of  the  Jews  and  to  outbreaks  of  popular  fury, 
were  allowed  by  the  Roman  authorities  to  remain  unmolested.  But 
as  the  Christians  professed  a  religion  forbidden  by  the  statutes,  magis- 


42  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

trates  could  readily  find  occasion  for  exiling  them  or  delivering  them 
to  death.  Public  calamities  also,  such  as  the  eruption  of  MountVesuvius 
in  A.  D.  V9,  which  buried  the  cities  of  Pompeii  and  Herculaneum  be- 
neath its  ashes  and  lava,  incited  the  heathen  populace  against  the 
Christians.  Thus  St.  Apollinaris,  a  disciple  of  St.  Peter  and  first 
bishop  of  Ravenna,  fell  a  victim  to  a  popular  tumult,  A.  D.  75. 

114.  Domitian,  A.  D.  81-96,  was  the  second  emperor  who  raised 
a  persecution  against  the  Church,  A.  D.  95.  This  cruel  and  suspicious 
tyrant,  who  assumed  the  presumptuous  title  of  "  Lord  and  God," 
(Dominus  ac  Deus  noster  sic  fieri  jubet),  not  only  doomed  to  death, 
for  being  Christians,  his  cousins,  the  consul  Flavins  Clemens,  and 
Acilius  Glabrio  who  had  been  consul  together  with  Trajan,  but,  as  is 
attested  by  Dion  Cassius,  he  also  ordered  the  execution  of  a  great 
many  others  in  Rome.  The  guilt  imputed  to  the  Christians  was 
"atheism"  and  "Jewish  superstitions!"  The  two  Domitillas,  one  the 
wife  and  the  other  the  niece  of  the  consul  and  martyr  Clemens,  were 
exiled  to  the  isles  of  Pandataria  and  Pontia  respectively.  It  was  in 
this  persecution  that  the  Apostle  St.  J6hn  was  banished  to  Patmos. 
Domitian  also  summoned  before  him  two  descendants  of  David, 
grandsons  of  St.  Jude  the  Apostle,  fearing  them  as  rivals.  But  when 
they  showed  him  their  hands  hardened  by  daily  toil  and  declared  that 
Christ's  kingdom  was  purely  spiritual  and  heavenly,  he  dismissed 
them. 

115.  The  assassination  of  Domitian  put  an  end  to  this  persecu- 
tion. The  memory  of  the  tyrant  was  condemned  by  the  Senate  ;  his 
acts  were  rescinded  and  the  exiled  Christians  permitted  to  return. 
Under  the  gentle  administration  of  Nerva,  A.  D.  96-98,  the  Church 
suffered  no  persecution.  The  accusations  of  "  atheism  "  and  "  Jewish 
superstitions,"  which  it  was  usual  to  level  at  the  Christians,  were  pro- 
hibited. Nevertheless  popular  outbreaks  continued  making  martyrs, 
even  under  the  beneficent  Nerva.  Thus  St.  Timothy,  the  beloved 
disciple  of  St.  Paul  and  bishop  of  Ephesus,  was  slain,  A.  D.  97,  by  an 
infuriated  mob. 

116.  After  Domitian,  a  Christian  came  near  ascending  the  impe- 
rial throne.  The  consul  and  martyr,  St.  Clement,  had  by  his  wife 
Domitilla  two  sons,  the  yoimger  Vespasian  and  Domitian,  whom  the 
Emperor  Domitian  destined  for  his  successors.  The  father  of  St. 
Clement,  Titus  Flavins  Sabinus,  a  brother  of  the  Emperor  Vespasian, 
was  most  probably  a  Christian.  For  Tacitus  not  only  described  him 
as  a  man  of  great  virtue,  but  also  records  that  he  was  accused  of  with- 
drawing himself  from  heathen  festivities,  a  charge  which  at  that  time 
was  commonly  made  against  Christians.     He  was  Prefect  of  Rome  in 


PERSECUTIONS  OF  THE  CHRISTIANS.  43 

the  year  ^SS.  Peter  and  Paul  suffered  martyrdom.  Pomponia  Graecina 
was  likewise  a  member  of  the  Flavian  family  and,  as  we  must  infer 
from  Tacitus,  professed  Christianity.  She  was  the  wife  of  Plautius 
who,  under  Claudius,  had  subdued  Britan.  According  to  imques- 
tionably  reliable  accounts.  Pope  Clement  I.  also  belonged  to  this 
family. 

SECTION    XIV. PERSECUTIONS    DURING    THE    SECOND    CENTURY. 

Third  Persecution  under  Trajan — Report  of  Pliny— Trajan's  Answer— Mar- 
tyrs— Condition  of  the  Christians  under  Hadrian  and  Antoninus  Pius 
— Many  Christians  victims  of  popular  fury— The  Apologists  Quadratus, 
Aristides  and  Justin  Martyr — Fourth  Persecution  under  Marcus  Aure- 
lius — Repose  under  Commodus — Numerous  Conversions. 

117.  The  reign  of  Trajan,  who  succeeded  Nerva,  A.  D.  98-117, 
is  reputed  one  of  the  most  brilliant  in  the  annals  of  the  Roman  Em- 
pire. In  history,  he  is  celebrated  for  his  wisdom  and  bravery  ;  but 
injustice  and  cruelty  towards  the  Christians  disgraced  his  otherwise 
glorious  reign.  Trajan  was  the  author  of  the  third  great  Persecution. 
He  published  an  edict  against  nocturnal  or  secret  meetings  (heteriae), 
which  was  aimed  chiefly  at  the  Christians  who,  being  under  public 
ban,  could  have  no  other  time  than  night  for  the  undisturbed  celebra- 
tion of  their  sacred  mysteries.  The  imperial  order  gave  a  welcome 
pretext  to  provincial  governors  for  renewing  the  horrors  of  persecution. 

118.  The  correspondence  of  Trajan  with  Pliny  the  Younger  dis- 
plays a  singular  policy  and  mode  of  dealing  out  justice,  truly  worthy 
of  a  Pagan.  Pliny,  whilst  governor  of  Bithynia  and  Pontus,  asked 
the  emperor  as  to  the  course  of  conduct  he  should  pursue  with  regard 
to  the  Christians,  whom  he  found  to  be  very  numerous  in  his  prov- 
inces and  in  whom  he  could  discover  no  grave  crime  except  "a  perverse 
and  extravagant  superstition."  In  his  reply  to  Pliny,  Trajan  says  : 
"  The  Christians  are  not  to  be  sought  out ;  but  if  brought  before  you 
and  convicted,  they  must  be  punished ;  yet  if  any  one  denies  he  is  a 
Christian  and  proves  his  denial  by  acts,  namely,  by  worshipping  our 
gods,  he,  though  in  the  past  suspected  of  being  a  Christian,  shall  nev- 
ertheless be  pardoned." 

119.  This  incoherent  declaration  placed  the  Christians  at  the  mer- 
cy of  the  magistrates  and  heathen  populace,  and  the  consequence  was 
that  many  were  doomed  to  die  solely  on  account  of  their  faith.  In  some 
instances,  Trajan  himself  pronounced  sentence  upon  Christians,  as  in 
the  case  of  St.  Ignatius  of  Antioch,  whom  he  condemned  to  be  thrown 
to  the  wild  beasts  in  the  Roman  amphitheatre.      This  heroic  bishop, 


44  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

who  in  a  special  letter  requested  the  Roman  Christians  not  to  oppose 
his  martyrdom,  suffered  death  at  the  instigation  of  the  Jews,  with 
Zosimus  and  Rufinus,  two  priests  from  Antioch,  A.  D.  lOT.  In  the 
year  following,  St.  Simon,  second  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  was  crucified 
at  the  age  of  120.  At  Rome,  the  younger  Domitilla  and  her  two 
chamberlains,  SS.  Kerens  and  Achilleus,  were  put  to  death.  Pope 
Clement  I.,  according  to  a  very  ancient  tradition,  was  exiled  to  the 
Tauric  Chersonesus  (the  Crimea),  and  by  command  of  Trajan 
drowned  in  the  sea. 

120.  The  Emperor  Hadrian,  A.  D.  117-138,  published  no  new  edicts 
against  the  Christians  ;  but  as  the  decrees  of  Trajan  remained  in  force, 
the  persecution  was  unabated  during  the  first  years  of  his  reign.  Pub- 
lic hatred  against  the  Christians  ran  so  high  at  this  time  that  at  public 
spectacles  the  raging  multitudes  compelled  the  magistrates  by  tumult- 
uous clamors  to  apprehend  Christians  and  to  consign  them  to  death 
without  trial.  Many  suffered  death  in  this  manner,  whose  only  fault 
was  found  in  their  Christian  name.  Serennius  Granianus,  pro-consul 
of  Asia,  represented  to  the  emperor  the  monstrous  injustice  of  such 
proceedings  ;  and  when  Hadrian  was  at  Athens,  in  the  year  24,  Quad- 
ratus,  bishop  of  that  city  and  a  disciple  of  the  Apostles,  and  Aristides, 
a  distinguished  convert  from  heathenism,  presented  to  him  each  an 
apology  in  defence  of  the  Christians  and  their  faith.  This  moved 
Hadrian  to  put  a  stop  to  these  singular  executions.  By  rescript  to 
Minucius  Fundanus,  successor  of  Granianus,  he  strictly  forbade  the 
punishment  of  Christians  without  previous  trial. 

121.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  inconsistent  emperor  in  his  later 
years  allowed  the  persecutions  to  be  renewed.  He  himself  condemned 
to  death  St.  Symphorosa  and  her  seven  sons.  Among  those  who  suf- 
fered martyrdom  under  Hadrian,  we  find  St.  Sabina,  the  two  brothers 
Faustinus  and  Jovita,  and  St.  Eustachius,  an  illustrious  captain  of  the  im- 
perial army,  with  his  wife  and  children.  Under  Hadrian's  government 
the  Christians  suffered  a  severe  persecution  in  another  quarter.  When 
Bar-Cochba,  whom  the  Jews  believed  to  be  the  Messiah,  and  under 
whose  leadership  they  revolted  from  the  Romans,  could  not  induce 
the  Christians  in  Palestine  to  deny  their  faith  and  take  part  in  the 
revolt,  he  executed  all  who  fell  into  his  hands  by  cruel  and  painful 
deaths. 

122.  Antoninus  Pius,  A.  D.  138-161,  who  distinguished  himself 
by  his  moderation  and  love  of  justice,  was  also  favorably  disposed 
towards  the  Christians.  Yet,  while  this  gentle  emperor  did  not  raise 
a  new  persecution,  the  faithful  during  his  reign  had  not  a  little  to  suf- 
fer from  popular  hatred.     They  were  cruelly  persecuted  in  Asia  and 


PERSECUTIONS  OF   THE  CHRISTIANS.  45 

other  parts  of  the  Roman  Empire,  on  account  of  the  many  public 
calamities  which  the  superstitious  Pagans  ascribed  to  the  impiety  of 
the  Christians  towards  '^  the  gods.  This  caused  Justin  Martyr  to 
address  to  the  emperor  his  first  Apology,  which  appears  to  have  had 
its  desired  effect.  For,  as  Melito  of  Sardes  informs  us,  Antoninus  by 
two  rescripts  to  the  cities  of  Greece  and  the  states  of  Asia,  forbade 
that  the  Christians  should  be  any  longer  persecuted  for  their  faith, 
and  commanded  that  their  accusers  should  be  punished,  if^evertheless 
the  faithful  continued  to  be  persecuted  by  the  heathen  populace,  and 
not  a  few  were  crowned  with  martyrdom,  among  whom  were  St. 
Felicitas  and  her  seven  sons. 

123.  With  the  accession  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  A.  D.  161-180,  a 
greater  severity  was  again  shown  to  the  Christians.  This  prince,  on 
account  of  his  love  of  study  and  his  many  noble  qualities  surnamed 
the  philosopher,  is  eulogized  in  history  as  the  most  virtuous  of  heathen 
rulers.  But  in  spite  of  his  virtues  the  imperial  philosopher,  who  was 
at  the  same  time  a  most  superstitious  idolater,  commenced  a  cruel 
persecution — the  fourth  general  Persecution — against  the  Church,  in 
which,  as  Eusebius  asserts,  innumerable  martyrs  suffered  for  the  faith 
throughout  the  empire. 

124.  The  philosophical  bigotry  of  this  emperor  looked  upon  the 
Christians  as  a  sect  of  impious  fanatics  and  as  enemies  of  the  Roman 
State,  whom  he  was  bound  to  suppress.  Not  only  were  magistrates 
free  to  persecute  those  who  professed  the  Christian  faith,  but  they 
were  urged  to  do  so  by  pagan  philosophers,  such  as  Celsus  and 
Crescens.  Marcus  Aurelius  commanded  the  Christians  everywhere  to 
be  seized  and  tortured.  The  excellent  apologies  which  the  holy  and 
learned  bishops,  Melito  of  Sardes  and  Claudius  Apollinaris  of  Hier- 
apolis  and  theAthenian  philosophers,  Justin  Martyr  and  Athena- 
goras,  addressed  to  Marcus  Aurelius  in  behalf  of  the  misrepresented 
Christians,  seem  to  have   made  no  impression  on  the  stoical  emperor. 

125.  The  persecution  was  most  violent  at  Rome  and  in  Asia  Minor. 
Among  the  many  martyrs  who  suffered  at  Rome  were  Ptolemy,  Lu- 
cius, Justin  the  Apologist  and  the  illustrious  St.  Cecilia.  Poly- 
carp,  the  saintly  bishop  of  Smyrna,  a  disciple  of  St.  John  and 
the  last  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers,  refusing  to  deny  Christ  his 
Master,  whom  he  had  faithfully  served  for  eighty-six  years,  was 
burned  alive  in  the  year  167.  According  to  another  account,  this 
saint  suffered  in  the  year  155  under  Antoninus  Pius.  The  persecu- 
tion raged  with  extraordinary  virulence  in  Gaul,  principally  at  Lyons 
and  Vienne,  where  the  magistrates  and  the  people  combined  against 
the  Christians.     It  was  no  longer   safe  for   Christians  to  be  seen  in 


46  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

public.  Every  sort  of  contumely  and  cruelty  could  be  openly  perpe- 
trated against  them.  The  aged  bishop  Photinus  of  Lyons,  the  deacon 
Sanctus  of  Yienne,  the  slave  Blandina,  are  a  few  of  the  many  heroic 
martyrs  that  suffered  for  their  faith  in  Gaul.  A  detailed  narrative 
of  the  horrors  of  this  persecution  is  given  in  a  letter  of  the  churches 
of  Lyons  and  Vienne  to  the  churches  of  Asia.  In  the  year  174,  the 
Romans,  through  the  medium  of  the  Legio  fulminatrix  which  was 
composed  chiefly  of  Christians,  gained  a  remarkable  victory  over  the 
Marcomanni.  The  miracle,  however,  which  is  attested  by  even  pagan 
writers,  though  attributed  by  them  to  Jupiter  Pluvius,  failed  to  mod- 
erate the  severity  of  the  emperor  towards  the  Christians. 

126.  Under  the  reign  of  Commodus,  A.D.  180-192,  who  inherited  all 
the  vices  of  his  licentious  mother  Faustina  without  any  of  the  virtues 
of  his  father,  the  Church  was  granted  a  welcome  respite.  The  empe- 
ror even  showed  great  favor  to  the  Christians,  which,  according  to 
Dion  Cassius,  w^as  mainly  due  to  the  influence  of  the  Empress  Marcia 
who,  if  not  a  Christian,  was  at  least  favorably  disposed  towards  those 
professing  Christianity.  This  unexpected  change  of  affairs  produced 
numerous  conversions.  At  Rome  many  persons  of  distinction,  to- 
gether with  their  families,  embraced  the  Christian  faith.  However, 
some  governors  continued  to  persecute  the  faithful,  as  for  instance, 
Arrius  Antoninus,  proconsul  of  Asia.  In  Rome  the  Senator  Apol- 
lonius  was  condemned  to  death  by  the  Senate. 

SECTION    XV. PERSECUTIONS    DURING    THE    THIRD    CENTURY. 

Fifth  Persecution  under  Septimus  Severus — The  Empress  Domna — Martyrs 
— St.  Irenaeus — Repose  under  Caracalla  and  his  Successors— Alexander 
Severus  favors  the  Christians— Julia  Mammaea  and  Origen— Sixth  Per- 
secution under  Maximus  Thrax— Repose  under  Philip. 

127.  The  political  storms  which  followed  the  murder  of  Commo- 
dus and  Pertinax,  and  the  civil  war  between  Septimius,  Severus  and 
his  rivals,  like  all  other  public  calamities,  could  not  be  favorable  to 
the  Christians.  In  these  political  convulsions  the  fury  of  the  popu- 
lace or  the  malice  of  individual  governors  had  many  opportunities  of 
wreaking  their  vengeance  on  the  Christians.  Clement  of  Alexandria 
referring  to  this  period  says  :  "  We  see  daily  many  martyrs  burnt, 
crucified  and  beheaded  before  our  eyes."  From  personal  and  political 
motives  Severus  was  at  first  favorable  to  the  Christians.  He  had 
been  cured  of  a  painful  malady  by  a  Christian  named  Proculus,  who 
resided  in  the  imperial  palace.  On  several  occasions  the  emperor 
even  protected  the  Christians  against  the  fury  of  the  heathens.  The 
edicts  against  them,  however,  remained  in  force  and  they  had  to  suf- 


PERSECUTIONS  OF  THE  CHRISTIANS.  47 

fer  much  from  the  fury  of  the  people  and  the  cruelty  of  governors, 
principally  in  the  civil  wars  between  Severus  and  his  rivals.  The 
Empress  Domna  was  particularly  hostile  to  the  Christians.  From 
hatred  to  the  religion  of  Christ  she  caused  the  rhetorician  Flavins 
Philostratus  to  write  the  pretended  miraculous  life  of  the  impostor 
Apollonius  of  Tyana.  Her  influence  and  the  increasing  number  of  the 
Christians  seem  at  length  to  have  alienated  Severus  from  his  kindly 
course  toward  them. 

128.  In  A.  D.  202,  Severus  published  an  edict  forbidding  any  to 
embrace  either  the  Christian  or  the  Jewish  religion,  and  forthwith  a 
persecution  raged  throughout  Italy,  Egypt,  Northern  Africa  and  Gaul, 
so  severe  and  terrible  that  many  thought  the  time  of  Antichrist  was 
come.  Africa  then  witnessed  the  martyrdom  of  Perpetua  and  Feli- 
citas  and  the  twelve  Szilliten  martyrs.  Then  it  was  that  Origen,  a 
youth  of  seventeen  years,  desired  to  share  the  martyrdom  of  his 
father  Leonidas,  and,  as  Eusebius  tells  us,  seven  of  Origen's  disci- 
ples suffered  for  the  faith.  In  Gaul  the  Church  was  glorified  by 
the  martyrdom  of  St.  Irenaeus  and  of  a  multitude  of  other  Christ- 
ians. This  state  of  suffering  continued  for  nine  years  during  the  life 
of  Severus,  and  splendid  examples  of  Christian  championship  were 
everywhere  manifested  in  the  Church. 

129.  With  the  accession  of  Caracalla,  A.  D.  211-217,  a  time  of 
peace  returned  for  the  much-persecuted  Christians,  which  continued 
during  the  succeeding  reigns  till  the  year  235.  But  as  the  imperial 
mandates  against  the  Christian  faith  still  remained  in  force,  local  per- 
secutions occurred,  in  which  Christians  fell  victims  to  the  fanaticism  of 
the  heathen  rabble  and  magistrates.  Caracalla,  notwithstanding  his 
cruelty,  did  not  revive  the  edicts  of  persecution.  His  successor  Macri- 
nus,  A.  D.  217-218,  forbade  any  one  to  be  persecuted  on  the  charge  of 
contemning  the  gods,  and  Heliogabalus,  A.  D.  218-222,  attempting  to 
unite  all  religions  into  one — that  of  the  Syro-Phoenician  Sun-god — 
tolerated  every  kind  of  worship. 

130.  Of  all  the  heathen  emperors  of  Rome,  none  showed  greater 
favor  to  the  Christians  than  the  noble  and  virtuous  Alexander  Severus, 
A.  D.  222-235.  He  had  a  high  regard  for  the  Christian  religion  and 
its  Divine  Founder.  In  his  lararium  or  private  chapel  he  placed  be- 
side the  statues  of  his  household  gods  the  image  of  Christ,  and  would 
have  erected  a  temple  to  him,  but  he  was  prevented,  because  it  was  ob- 
jected that  the  temples  of  the  gods  would  be  soon  deserted.  The 
words  of  the  Lord:  "As  ye  would  that  men  should  do  to  you,  so  do 
ye  also  to  them,"  Luke  vi.  1-31,  he  had  engraven  on  the  walls  of  his 
palace.     These  sentiments  as  well  as  the  elevated  character  of  Alex- 


48  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

ander  in  the  midst  of  so  much  corruption,  are  attributed  to  the  care 
of  his  mother  Mammaea.  When  passing  through  Antioch,  this  no- 
ble lady  whom  Eusebius  calls  "  a  woman  distinguished  for  her  piety 
and  religion,"  sent  for  Origen  in  order  to  consult  him  on  questions  of 
religion. 

131.  The  seizure  of  the  empire  by  Maximin  the  Thracian,  A.  D. 
235-238,  the  assassin  of  the  virtuous  Alexander,  was  accompanied  by 
a  violent  persecution  of  the  Christians.  -This  imperial  barbarian 
looked  upon  them  as  the  adherents  of  his  unfortunate  predecessor. 
"This  persecution,  directed  chiefly  against  the  bishops  and  priests,  was 
unusually  violent  in  Cappadocia  under  Proconsul  Serenian.  Among 
the  martyrs  of  this  period  were  two  friends  of  Origen,  Ambrose,  a 
deacon,  and  Protoctetus,  a  presbyter  of  Caesarea.  For  their  consola- 
tion Origen  wrote  his  book  "On  Martyrdom."    Maximin,  after  reigning 

three  years  with  extraordinary  cruelty,  was  slain  by  his  own  soldiers. 

132.  After  the  nominal  reign  of  the  Gordians,  father  and  son, 
and  their  successors  Pupienus  and  Balbinus,  Gordian  III  was  pro- 
claimed Augustus,  A.  D.  238-244.  He  was  supplanted  by  Philip  the 
Arab,  A.  D.  244-249.  Like  all  the  emperors  of  Asiatic  extraction, 
Philip  showed  himself  so  favorable  to  the  Christians  that  he  was 
believed  by  some  to  be  a  Christian  in  secret ;  but  this  does  not  appear 
to  be  sufticiently  authenticated.  Yet,  under  this  emperor  also  the 
blood  of  martyrs  flowed.  Thus,  at  Alexandria,  besides  many  others, 
St.  Appolonia  suffered  martyrdom  during  an  uprising  of  the  heathen 
populace.  • 

SECTION  XVI PERSECUTIONS  DURING  THE  THIRD  CENTURY,  CONTINUED. 

Relaxation  among  Christians— Seventh  Persecution  under  Decius— Martyrs 
—Apostates — Libellatici  and  Acta  facientes — Eighth  Persecution  under 
Valerian — Martyrs— Pope  Sixtus— St.  Lawrence— St.  Cyprian — Edict  of 
Gallienus— Ninth  Persecution  under  Aurelian— Martyrs. 

133.  From  the  death  of  the  Emperor  Septimius  Severus  in  the 
year  211  to  that  of  the  Emperor  Philip,  A.  D.  249,  there  had  been, 
with  the  exception  of  the  passing  outburst  under  Maximin,  no  griev- 
ous persecutions  of  the  Christians.  During  this  peaceful  interval  of 
nearly  thirty-eight  years,  many  of  the  worst  prejudices  against  the 
Christian  religion  disappeared,  and  the  Church  witnessed  a  wonderful 
increase  of  the  faithful.  But  the  favor  which  the  Christians  had 
gained  during  this  prolonged  interval  of  peace  relaxed  the  zeal  and 
fervor  of  many,  as  we  learn  from  Cyprian's  works;  and  many  worldly- 


PERSECUTIONS  OF  THE  CHRISTIANS.  49 

minded  men  who  afforded  little  edification  entered  the  Church,.  But 
as  Eusebius  remarks,  "  Divine  Providence  sent  a  fresh  persecution 
to  chasten  and  try  His  Church." 

134.  It  is  with  the  accession  of  Decius,  A.  D.  249-251,  that  the 
severest  trials  of  the  Church  commence  in  a  series  of  most  cruel  and 
systematic  assaults,  the  aim  of  which  was  the  utter  extirpation  of  the 
Christian  name.  Convinced  that  Christianity  was  in  direct  contradic- 
tion to  the  heathen  manner  of  living  and  the  general  polity  of  the 
Roman  Empire,  which  he  desired  to  restore  to  its  former  glory,  De- 
cius immediately  ordered  a  most  violent  persecution  against  the 
Church,  which  in  extent  and  severity  surpassed  all  preceding  persecu- 
tions. He  published  an  edict,  commanding  all  Christians  throughout 
the  empire  to  abandon  their  religion  and  to  offer  sacrifices  to  the  gods. 
The  most  exquisite  tortures  were  devised  against  the  Christians  in 
order  to  induce  them  to  apostatize.  The  property  of  those  who  fled 
was  confiscated,  and  they  themselves  were  obliged  to  remain  in  exile. 
By  the  imperial  decree,  bishops  were  to  suffer  death  at  once. 

135.  Among  the  glorious  sufferers  in  this  persecution  were  Pope 
Fabian  and  the  bishops  Babylas  of  Antioch,  Alexander  of  Jerusalem, 
and  Achatius  of  Syria.  Other  bishops,  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  Greg- 
ory of  Neo-Caesarea,  Cyprian  of  Carthage,  and  Maximus  of  Nola, 
fled,  not  through  fear  of  death,  but  to  preserve  themselves  for  the  ser- 
vice of  their  flocks.  The  other  distinguished  martyrs  under  Decius 
were  the  holy  virgins  Victoria  of  Rome  and  Agatha  of  Catania  in  Si- 
cily, and  the  priests  Felix  of  Nola,  and  Pionius  of  Smyrna.  Origen  was 
also  imprisoned  at  Tyre  and  subjected  to  acute  and  gradually  increasing 
tortures,  in  consequence  of  which  he  soon  after  died  in  the  seventieth 
year  of  his  age.  Numerous  Christians  fled  to  the  mountains  and  de- 
serts, where  many  perished  by  hunger,  cold,  disease  or  wild  beasts.  It 
was  in  this  persecution  that  Paul  the  Hermit,  then  a  young  man  of 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  retired  into  the  deserts  of  Egypt,  where  he 
remained  until  his  death. 

136.  This  persecution  which  assaulted  the  faithful  with  such  vio- 
lence was  the  occasion  of  apostasy  to  some,  of  glorious  martyrdom 
to  others.  The  Church  in  these  times  of  trial  had  to  mourn  numer- 
ous defections;  many  of  her  children  basely  yielding  to  the  fear  of 
torture  renounced  the  faith.  Whilst  some  renounced  their  faith  en- 
tirely (lapsi,  apostates)  and  sacrificed  to  the  idols  (sacrificati,  thurifi- 
cati — sacrificers  or  offerers  of  incense),  others  procured  testimonials 
(libelli)  that  they  had  sacrificed,  whence  they  were  called  "  libellatici " 
(procurers  of  billets),  or  caused  their  names  to  be  entered  in  the  ofti- 


50  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

cial  lists  of  such  as  had  obeyed  the  edicts  (acta  facientes.)  Even 
some  bishops  were  found  among  the  lapsed,  as  for  instance,  the  two 
Spanish  bishops,  Basilides  and  Martialis,  who  to  evade  martyrdom 
procured  bills  or  certificates  of  safety. 

137.  Decius,  it  is  true,  was  slain  in  battle  by  the  Goths,  but  the 
persecution  continued  under  Gallus  and  Volusianus,  A.  D.  251-253, 
which,  however,  was  confined  principally  to  the  confiscation  of  prop- 
erty and  the  banishment  of  the  clergy.  The  Popes  Cornelius  and 
Lucius,  with  many  others,  were  sent  into  exile,  where  they  died  as 
martyrs.  The  Emperor  Valerian,  A.  D.  253-260,  for  a  period  of  four 
years,  was  more  kindly  disj^osed  toward  the  Christians  than  any  previ- 
ous emperor  and  even  allowed  them  to  live  in  his  palace.  But  listening 
to  his  favorite,  the  Egyptian  magician  Macrianus,  he  commenced  in 
the  year  25*7  the  eighth  general  persecution.  His  first  edict  ordained 
the  banishment  of  priests  and  bishops  and  prohibited,  under  pain  of 
death,  the  assembling  of  Christians  in  the  catacombs.  Seeing  these 
measures  of  no  avail.  Valerian  by  a  second  edict  in  the  year  258 
commanded  the  immediate  execution  of  bishops  and  presbyters,  the 
degradation  of  Christian  senators  and  knights,  also  the  confiscation  of 
their  property  and  even  their  death,  if  they  persisted  in  the  profes- 
sion of  their  faith.  By  the  same  edict.  Christian  ladies  of  rank  were 
exiled  and  members  of  the  imperial  household  condemned  to  slavery 
in  mines  for  remaining  steadfast  in  their  religion. 

138.  Among  the  first  who  suffered  in  this  persecution  were  Pope 
Stephen  I.  and  the  great  Cyprian  of  Carthage  ;  these  were  followed 
by  Sixtus  I.,  the  illustrious  deacon  Lawrence  and  by  Fructuosus, 
bishop  of  Tarragona.  Dionysius  of  Alexandria  escaped  martyrdom 
but  was  sent  into  exile.  At  Utica  in  Africa,  the  Proconsul  Galerius  Max- 
imus  had  one  hundred  and  fifty  Christians  thrown  into  a  pit  filled  with 
quicklime,  whence  they  were  called  "Massa  Candida."  The  persecution, 
which  raged  during  three  years  with  great  fierceness,  especially  in 
Egypt,  ended  with  the  capture  of  Valerian  by  the  Persian  king  Sa- 
por, who  treated  the  unfortunate  emperor  with  the  utmost  indignity. 

139.  The  accession  of  Gallienus,  A.  D.  260-268,  increased  the 
calamities  of  the  empire  but  gave  peace  to  the  Church.  By  an  edict 
addressed  to  the  bishops,  Gallienus  granted  them  the  free  exercise  of 
their  oflice  and  restored  to  the  Christians  their  places  of  worship  and 
burial.  The  imperial  edict  seemed  to  acknowledge  the  oflice  and  pub- 
lic character  of  bishops  and  granted  to  the  Christians  the  right  of 
corporate  bodies  (collegia  licita),  though  the  religion  itself  was  not 
yet  declared  to  be  according  to  the  laws  of  the  state  a  "  licit  religion  " 
(religio  licita).     Notwithstanding  the  imperial  mandate  not  to  disturb 


PERSECUTIONS  OF  THE  CHRISTIANS.  51 

the  Christians,  Macrianus,  one  of  the   so-called  "  thirty  tyrants,"  con- 
tinued the  persecution  in  the  Orient  and  in  Egypt  until  the  year  261. 

140.  The  peace  which  the  Church  enjoyed  under  Gallienus  lasted 
during  the  brief  reigns  of  Claudius  I.  and  his  brother  Quintillus,  A. 
D.  268-270,  and  during  nearly  the  whole  reign  of  Aurelian,  A.  D. 
270-275.  The  ancient  laws  against  the  Christians,  without  being 
formally  repealed,  fell  into  disuse,  and  the  existence,  the  property  and 
internal  policy  of  the  Church  were  acknowledged,  if  not  by  the  laws, 
at  least  by  the  magistrates  of  the  empire,  as  is  shown  in  the  case  of 
Paul  of  Samosata.  This  proud  and  pompous  prelate,  by  order  of  the 
Emperor  Aurelian,  was  compelled  to  relinquish  his  bishopric,  from 
which,  by  the  decision  of  the  Roman  See  and  a  Council,  he  had  been 
deposed.  "  Such,"  says  Eusebius,  "  was  the  disposition  of  Aurelian 
at  this  time,  but  in  the  progress  of  his  reign  he  began  to  cherish  dif- 
ferent sentiments  in  regard  to  us.  Influenced  by  certain  advisers,  he 
proceeded  to  raise  a  persecution  against  us." 

141.  In  the  year  275  Aurelian  published  the  edict  of  the  ninth 
persecution.  But  the  death  of  this  emperor  "  w^ho,"  as  Lactantius 
observes,  "  was  murdered  in  the  very  beginning  of  his  fury,"  prevent- 
ed the  persecution  from  becoming  universal.  Nevertheless,  the  hos- 
tile intentions  of  Aurelian  towards  the  Christians  did  not  fail  to  make 
martyrs  in  some  places,  as  for  example,  St.  Columba  at  Sens,  St.  Conon 
and  his  son  in  Lycaonia,  besides  a  number  at  Rome.  Pope  Felix  I. 
is  said  to  have  suffered  in  this  persecution.  It  is  remarkable  that  all 
the  persecutions  within  the  previous  forty  years  by  Maximin,  Decius, 
Gallus,  Valerian  and  Aurelian,  were  of  comparatively  short  duration; 
none  continuing  for  more  than  three  years. 

SECTION  XVI. THE    GREAT    PERSECUTION    UNDER    DIOCLETIAN    AND   HIS 

COLLEAGUES. 

Tranquility  and  Increase  of  the  Church  during  thirty  years — Decline  of  Piety 
among  Christians — Political  Condition' and  Division  of  the  Empire — Dio- 
cletian at  lirst  favorable  to  the  Christians — Maximian  not  so  tolerant — 
The  Thebean  Legion — Galerius  the  Instigator  of  a  new  Persecution — 
Cruel  Edicts  against  the  Christians — Traditores — Frightful  Suffering  of 
the  Christians — Distinguished  Martyrs — Constantius  Chlorus  favorable 
to  the  Christians — Heathenism  appears  to  triumph. 

142.  Under  the  immediate  successors  of  Aurelian,  the  Emperors 
Tacitus,  A.  D.  275-276,  Probus,  A.  D.  276-282,  Carus,  A.  D.  282- 
284,  and  for  a  time  even  under  Diocletian,  the  Church  enjoyed  peace 
and  prosperity  for  thirty  years.     With  the  exception  of  some  cruelties 


52  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

perpetrated  in  their  own  name  by  a  few  governors,  the  Christians  were 
left  undisturbed.  Many  of  them,  Eusebius  tells  us,  held  posts  of 
trust;  and  some  Christians,  as,  Dorotheus,  Lucius  and  Gorgonius, 
were  appointed  officers  of  the  imperial  palace,  and  others  again  gov- 
ernors of  provinces.  The  bishops  were  treated  with  distinction  and 
respect,  not  only  by  the  people  but  also  by  the  magistrates.  During 
this  period  of  tranquillity  the  number  of  Christians  greatly  increased 
and  counted  daily  accessions  from  the  higher  ranks  of  society.  The 
ancient  churches  were  everywhere  found  insufficient  to  contain  the 
increasing  multitudes  of  neophytes,  and  in  their  places  arose  more 
stately  and  capacious  edifices  for  the  public  worship  of  the  faithful. 

143.  But  among  the  multitude  of  those  who  embraced  Christi- 
anity at  a  time  when  it  required  no  struggle  to  be  and  to  remain  a 
Christian,  there  entered  into  the  Church  many  counterfeit  Christians 
w^ho  brought  with  them  heathenish  crimes.  The  consequence  of 
this  was  a  general  decay  of  piety  and  the  corruption  of  manners,  so 
forcibly  described  by  Eusebius.  To  chastise  the  irregularities  of  the 
faithful  and  to  arouse  them  from  their  supine  indifference.  Divine 
Providence  permitted  a  new  persecution,  more  violent  than  any  the 
Church  had  yet  endured. 

144.  After  the  death  of  Numerian,  in  285,  Diocletian,  a  native  of 
Dalmatia,  was  proclaimed  emperor  by  the  army,  A.  D.  284-305.  The 
Roman  Empire  was  then  besieged  with  enemies  from  without  and  torn 
by  factions  from  within.  To  provide  for  the  better  administration 
and  defence  of  this  colossal  state,  Diocletian,  in  286,  associated  with 
himself  as  ."Augustus  "  Maximian  Herculius,  a  rough  barbarian.  In 
292,  he  once  more  divided  his  unwieldy  government  by  raising  Gale- 
rius  and  Constantius  Chlorus  to  the  purple,  conferring  upon  them  the 
inferior  title  of  Cajsar.  ^o  strengthen  the  bands  of  political  by 
those  of  domestic  union,  Galerius  married  Valeria,  the  daughter  of 
Diocletian,  and  Constantius,  after  repudiating  the  virtuous  Helena, 
mother  of  Constantine  the  Great,  took  in  marriage  Theodora,  the  step- 
daughter of  Maximian.  Britain,  Gaul  and  Spain  were  assigned  to 
Constantius;  the  Illyrian  and  Danubian  provinces  to  Galerius  ;  Italy 
and  Africa  were  held  by  Maximian,  with  Milan  as  his  capital,  while 
Diocletian,  whom  the  three  revered  as  their  master,  reserved  to  him- 
self Thrace,  Egypt  and  Asia,  establishing  his  capital  at  Nicomedia 
in  Bithynia. 

145.  Diocletian  sought  to  uphold  Paganism  without,  however, 
resorting  to  violence.  From  motives  of  policy  he  left  for  eighteen  years 
the  Christians  unmolested  in  the  exercise  of  their  religion,  which 
his  wife  and  daughter  are  said  to  have  embraced  secretly.     Maximian, 


PERSECUTIONS  OF  THE  CHRISTIANS.  58 

the  other  Augustus,  following  the  policy  of  Diocletian,  also  tolerated 
them;  yet  on  certain  occasions,  especially  in  the  army,  he  put  many  to 
death  simply  on  account  of  their  faith.  Thus  by  his  orders,  in  286,  the 
Thebean  legion  consisting  principally  of  Christians  from  the  Thebaid 
(Upper  Egypt),  after  suffering  two  decimations,  was  finally  massacred 
to  the  last  man.  The  place  where  they  suffered  took  the  name  of 
St.  Maurice,  after  their  gallant  leader,  and  the  abbey  of  St.  Maurice, 
to  this  day,  bears  witness  to  the  constancy  of  this  brave  band  of  mar- 
tyrs. While  the  gentle  Constantius  spared  the  Christians  in  his  do- 
minion, Galerius,  the  other  Ciesar,  began  to  persecute  them  in  the 
provinces  under  his  jurisdiction.  This  rude  soldier,  inspired  by  his 
mother  Romula  and  by  the  philosopher  Porphyry,  entertained  the 
most  implacable  hatred  against  the  religion  and  the  Disciples  of  Christ. 
In  298,  he  obtained  a  decree  that  every  soldier  in  the  imperial  armies 
must  offer  sacrifice,  in  consequence  of  which  many  Christians  gave 
up  their  military  rank.  He  also  succeeded  finally  in  stirring  up  the 
reluctant  Diocletian  to  a  general  persecution  against  the  Christians. 

146.  The  persecution  began  with  the  demolition  of  the  church 
at  Nicomedia,  A.  D.  303.  In  a  series  of  cruel  edicts  Diocletian  de- 
clared his  intention  of  obliterating  the  Christian  name.  "  It  was," 
says  Eusebius,  "  the  nineteenth  year  of  Diocletian's  reign,  that  im- 
perial edicts  were  everywhere  published,  ordering  the  churches  to  be 
leveled,  the  Scriptures  to  be  burned.  Christians  of  rank  to  be  de- 
graded, and  the  common  people,  if  they  remained  faithful,  to  be  re- 
duced to  slavery."  A  Christian  who,  from  an  impulse  of  zeal,  dared 
to  tear  down  the  edict  when  it  first  appeared,  was  seized  and  slowly 
roasted  alive.  Insurrections  in  Syria  and  Armenia,  and  the  burning 
of  the  imperial  palace  of  Nicomedia,  which,  as  is  admitted,  was  kin- 
dled by  the  malice  of  Galerius  himself,  afforded  a  very  specious  pre- 
text for  claiming  that  the  Christians  were  the  cause  of  these  troubles. 

147.  A  second  edict  thereupon  appeared,  enjoining  that  all  priests 
and  bishops  should  first  be  imprisoned  and  then,  by  every  method  of 
severity,  be  compelled  to  sacrifice  to  the  gods;  a  third  edict  offered 
them  to  choose  between  apostacy  and  a  cruel  death.  This  rigorous 
order  was,  in  the  year  304,  extended  by  a  fourth  edict  to  the  whole 
body  of  Christians.  A  countless  number  of  Christians,  in  conse- 
quence of  these  edicts,  obtained  the  crown  of  martyrdom.  The  num- 
ber of  martyrs  in  the  first  month  of  persecution  is  said  to  have  been 
from  15,000  to  17,000.  But  there  were  likewise  many  who  purchased 
immunity  from  suffering  by  denying  their  faith,  or  by  delivering  the 
Holy  Scriptures  into  the  hands  of  the  Pagans.  Bishops  and  presby- 
ters that  proved  thus  treacherous  acquired  by  their  criminal  compli- 


54  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

ance  the  opprobious  epithet  of  "  Traditores^''  and  their  offence  was 
productive  of  much  scandal  and  discord,  particularly  in  the  African 
Church. 

148.  The  rigorous  edicts  of  Diocletian  were  strictly  and  cheer- 
fully executed  by  his  imperial  associates,  Constantius  excepted. 
"  Three  blood-thirsty  beasts  "  (tres  acerbissimae  bestiae),  Lactantius 
writes,  "  raged  from  sunrise  to  sunset,  everywhere,  except  in  Gaul, 
against  the  Church."  The  governors  of  other  districts  vied  with  one 
another  in  their  efforts  to  destroy  the  Christian  religion,  and  every 
imaginable  torture  was  practised  against  its  adherents.  What  those 
tortures  were,  Eusebius  describes:  "  Some  having  been  first  tormented 
with  scraping,  with  the  rack  and  the  most  dreadful  scourgings,  be- 
sides other  innumerable  agonies,  the  very  thought  of  which  is  enough 
to  make  one  shudder,  were  finally  committed  to  the  flames;  some 
were  drowned  in  the  sea;  others  beheaded;  some  wasted  away  by 
famine,  while  others  were  affixed  to  the  cross;  some  of  them  with 
their  heads  downward  were  kept  alive  until  they  expired  by  starva- 
tion." Speaking  of  the  martyrs  of  the  Thebaid,  the  same  author 
says,  that  "for  a  series  of  years,  ten,  twenty,  sixty  and  even  a  hund- 
red men,  with  their  wives  and  little  children,  were  slain  in  a  single 
day  with  ever  increasing  cruelty."  He  himself  had  beheld  in  one 
day  numbers  delivered  to  the  flames,  others  beheaded,  till  the  mur- 
derous weapons  were  blunted  or  broken  to  pieces;  and  the  execu- 
tioners themselves,  wearied  with  slaughter,  were  obliged  to  relieve 
one  another."  In  Phrygia,  the  soldiers  surrounded  a  town  entirely 
Christian  and  burnt  it  with  all  its  inhabitants. 

149.  A  great  number  of  persons,  distinguished  either  by  the 
offices  which  they  filled,  or  the  favors  which  they  enjoyed,  cheerfully 
gave  their  life  for  Christ.  Among  them  were  Diocletian's  most 
trusted  chamberlains,  Dorotheus  and  Gorgon ius,  who  were  strangled; 
another,  named  Peter,  was  broiled  over  a  slow  fire;  Sebastian,  a  cap- 
tain of  the  imperial  guards,  was  shot  with  arrows.  The  two  em- 
presses, Prisca  and  Valeria,  wife  and  daughter  of  Diocletian,  basely 
complied  with  worshipping  the  gods;  but  they  afterwards  miserably 
perished  in  exile.  Anthimus,  bishop  of  Nicomedia,  with  many  others 
that  thronged  around  him,  was  beheaded.  The  other  prominent  mar- 
tyrs were  SS.  Pancratius  and  Adauctus  at  Rome;  SS.  Nabor  and 
Felix  at  Milan;  St.  Januarius  at  Benevent;  the  noble  Roman  lady, 
St.  Anastasia,  in  lUyria;  the  two  physicians,  SS.  Cosmas  and  Damian, 
in  Cilicia;  and  St.  Vitus  and  his  nurse  St.  Crescentia,  with  her  hus- 
band, St.  Modestus  in  Lucania.  In  this  persecution  especially,  a  great 
number  of   holy  virgins  cheerfully  suffered  for  their  faith,  among 


PERSECUTIONS  OF  THE  GHBISTINS.  55 

whom  were  St.  Agnes  of  Rome;  St.  Dorothea  of  Caesarea;  St.  Lu- 
cia of  Syracuse;  St.  Theodora  of  Antioch;  St.  Christina  in  Tus- 
cany; St.  Leocadia  of  Toledo;  SS.  Justina  and  Rufina  of  Seville; 
St.  Eulalia  of  Barcelona  and  another  Eulalia  of  Merida,  and  many 
others. 

150.  The  humane  Constantius  Chlorus  did  not  participate  in 
this  cruel  persecution,  but  contented  himself  wdth  the  destruction  of  a 
few  churches.  Yet  it  w^as  not  always  in  his  power  to  restrain  his 
magistrates  from  executing  the  cruel  edicts  of  Diocletian.  Thus,  in 
Britain  we  find  St.  Alban  dying  for  the  faith.  In  Spain,  the  cruel 
governor  Dacian  put  to  death  the  two  children,  Justus  and  Pastor, 
and  the  deacon  St.  Vincent,  who  repeated  the  trial  of  St.  Law- 
rence at  Rome.  The  persecution  raged  everywhere  w^ith  such 
violence,  and  the  measures  taken  to  accomplish  the  destruction 
of  Christianity  were  of  such  a  nature,  that  success  seemed  beyond 
doubt.  Already,  "  the  destruction  of  the  name  of  Christians  (nomine 
Christianorumdeleto),"  "the  universal  extirpation  of  Christian  super- 
stition (superstitione  Christiana  ubique  deleta),"  and  "  the  victory  of 
Paganism  (cultu  deorum  propagato)"  were  announced  by  inscriptions 
and  triumphal  pillars. 

SECTION    XVII COXTINUATION  OF  THE  PERSECUTION    UNDER     GALERIUS 

AND    MAXIMIN    DAJA. 

Abdication  of  Diocletian — Pesecution  continued  with  renewed  Violence — 
Distinguished  Martyrs— End  of  the  Persecution— Remarkable  Edict  of 
Galerius — Edict  of  Toleration  by  Constantine  and  Licinius — Victory  of 
Constantine  over  Maxentius — Miserable  Death  of  the  Imperial  Persecu- 
tors— Triumph  of  Christianity. 

151.  In  the  year  305,  Diocletian  and  Maximian  divested  them- 
selves of  the  purple.  Of  the  two  Caesars  who  were  raised  to  the  dig- 
nity of  "Augusti,"  Constantius  remained  restricted  to  his  original 
dominion,  while  Gallerius  obtained  all  the  remaining  provinces  of  the 
empire;  he  also  appointed  two  new  Caesars,  his  nephew  Daja  or 
Maximin  11.  for  Asia,  and  Severus  for  Italy  and  Africa,  rejecting 
the  higher  claims  of  Maxentius,  son  of  Maximian,  and  Constantine, 
whose  father  in  the  mean  time  had  died.  But  in  306,  the  two  last 
mentioned  w^ere  proclaimed  emperors  by  their  troops.  Galerius, 
having  obtained  the  supreme  and  independent  power  of  Augustus,  in- 
dulged to  the  fullest  extent  his  animosity  and  cruelty  against  the 
Christians,  not  only  in  the  provinces  under  his  immediate  jurisdic- 
tion, but  also  in  those  of  Asia  where  the  violent  and  superstitious  Max- 
imin rivaled  him  in  persecuting  the  Christians. 


56  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

152.  Among  the  more  prominent  who  died  at  this  period  for  the 
faith  were  the  bishops  Peter  of  Alexandria,  Phileus  of  Thmuis 
Blasiiis  of  Sebaste,  Tyrannis  and  Methodius  of  Tyre,  Sylvanus  of 
Emesa,  and  the  Egyptian  bishops  Hesychius,  Pachymius  and  Theo- 
dore; the  priests  Pamphilus  of  Csesarea,  Lucian  of  Antioch  and  Ze- 
nobius  of  Sidon;  the  holy  virgins  Barbara  of  Heliopolis  in  Phoenicia, 
Catharina  of  Alexandria  and  Margaretha  of  Pisidia.  Even  in  Italy 
and  Africa,  where,  with  the  accession  of  Severus  the  persecution  had 
ceased,  the  Christians  were  exposed  to  the  implacable  resentment  of 
his  imperial  master  Galerius.  Maximin  Daja,  who  was  bent  upon 
exterminating  Christianity,  ordered,  in  A.  D.  308,  all  meats  offered 
for  sale  in  market  places  to  be  sprinkled  wdth  wine  or  water  used  in 
the  idolatrous  sacrifices.  He  also,  in  A.  D.  311,  declared  war  against 
Tiridates,  king  of  Armenia,  who  had  embraced  the  Christian  faith. 
The  licentious  and  tyrannical  Maxentius,  A.  D.  306-312,  from  motives 
of  i^olicy  desisted  from  persecuting  the  Christians,  and  having  by 
his  assasination  of  Severus  become  Master  of  Africa,  extended  the 
same  toleration  to  that  country. 

153.  After  this  bloody  conflict  had  raged  with  unabated  energy 
for  eight  years,  A.  D.  303-311,  it  was  at  last  terminated  by  Galerius 
himself,  the  first  and  principal  author  of  the  persecution.  Being 
struck  with  a  painful  and  mortal  disease,  he  acknowledging  the  chas- 
tising hand  of  the  God  of  the  Christians,  withdrew  his  edicts  of  per- 
secution, and  in  the  year  311  published  in  his  name  and  in  those  of 
Licinius  and  Constantine  a  general  decree  permitting  the  Christians  to 
profess  their  religion  and  rebuild  their  churches,  engaging  them  at 
the  same  time  to  offer  up  prayers  to  their  God  for  the  safety  and 
prosperity  of  the  emperors  and  the  empire.  Shortly  after  the  publi- 
cation of  this  edict,  Galerius  died,  consumed  by  worms  and  putrefac- 
tion. Maximin,  too,  was  forced  to  adopt  the  edict  of  his  prede- 
cessor. Sabinus,  his  Praetorian  Prefect,  addressed  a  circular  to  all 
the  magistrates  to  cease  the  ineffectual  persecution.  In  consequence 
of  these  orders  the  Christians  were  released  from  prison  and  returned 
to  their  homes.  Those  who  had  yielded  to  the  violence  of  the  temp- 
tation, solicited  with  tears  of  repentance  their  re-admission  into  the 
bosom  of  the  Church. 

154.  Constantine,  inheriting  his  father's  justice  towards  the  Chris- 
tians, preserved  them  from  persecution  in  his  own  territory  and 
gradually  appeared  as  their  champion.  In  the  spring  of  the  year  312, 
Constantine,  together  with  Licinius,  published  a  general  edict  of  tol- 
eration, granting  to  every  one  the  right  to  follow  the  religion  of  his 
choice,  after  which   he  marched  into  Italy   against   Maxentius.     It 


PERSECVTIONS  OF  THE  CHRISTIANS.  57 

was  when  marching  against  this  tyrant  that  Constantine  and  his 
army  saw  a  cross  of  light  appear  in  the  heavens  bearing  the 
inscription :  "  In  this  conquer."  Emblazoning  it  on  his  banner, 
the  celebrated  Labarum,  he  gained,  in  sight  of  Rome,  a  complete  vic- 
tory over  Maxentius,  who  was  drowned  in  the  Tiber  while  attempting 
to  retreat  into  the  city  over  the  Milvian  bridge  A.  D.  812.  To  per- 
petuate the  memory  of  their  signal  deliverance,  the  Romans  erected  a 
magnificent  triumphal  arch,  which  still  remains,  and  a  statue  repre- 
senting the  conqueror  with  a  cross  in  his  hands  and  bearing  the  fol- 
lowing inscription :  "  By  this  salutary  sign,  the  mark  of  true  valor, 
I  have  delivered  your  city  from  the  yoke  of  the  tyrant." 

155.  The  persecuting  emperors  were  taken  away  one  after  an- 
other by  a  miserable  death.  Another  victory  won  by  Licinius  at 
Heraclea  cost  the  brutal  Maximin  his  power  and  life.  He  expired  in 
excessive  pain  and  rage  A.  D.  313.  Maximian,  the  colleague  of  Dio- 
cletian, oppressed  by  remorse  for  his  repeated  crimes,  strangled  him- 
self with  his  own  hands  A.  D.  310.  Diocletian,  who  after  his  abdi- 
cation had  retired  to  Salona  in  Dalmatia,  lived  in  continual  alarm 
and  anguish  of  mind  till  A.  D.  313 — long  enough  to  see  the  triumph  of 
Christianity  over  all  its  persecutors.  It  has  been  affirmed  that,  see- 
ing himself  loaded  Avith  crime  and  misfortune,  he  ended  his  life  by 
suicide. 

156.  After  the  defeat  of  Maximin  Daja,  the  Roman  world  was 
once  more  divided  between  two  rulers:  Constantine  for  the  West,  and 
Licinius,  who  had  married  Constantia,  the  sister  of  Constantine,  for  the 
East.  In  the  beginning  of  the  year  313,  the  two  emperors  met  at 
Milan,  and  by  a  new  decree  assured  all  Christians  the  free  exercise 
of  their  religion  and  the  restitution  of  their  churches  and  property. 
Thus,  after  a  fierce  and  bloody  struggle  of  three  centuries,  Christianity 
at  length  triumphed  over  Paganism.  The  cross,  against  which  the 
Roman  emperors  had  so  long  waged  war,  adorned  henceforth  the 
imperial  diadem  and  was  honored  as  the  glorious  sign  of  salvation. 
The  promise  of  Christ  was  realized:  "  In  the  world  you  shall  have  dis- 
tress, but  have  confidence  ;  I  have  overcome  the  world,"  and  "  the 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it,"  that  is,  the  Church.  ^ 

1.  It  is  impossible  to  fix  the  exact  number  of  Christian  Martyrs  that  died  for  the  faith 
during  this  epoch.  Dodwell,  an  Anoflican  writer  of  the  seventeenth  century,  and  Gib- 
bon endeavored  to  prove  that  it  was  insig-niflcant,  but  this  opinion  is  not  shared  by 
more  unprejudiced  writers.  The  computations  of  Bosio,  who  is  justly  styled  the  "  Co- 
lumbus of  the  Catacombs,"  and  of  other  learned  men  have  led  to  estimate  that  at  least 
five  million  Christians— men,  women  and  children— were  put  to  death  for  the  faith  during 
the  first  three  centuries  of  the  Church.  Some  even  believe  the  total  number  of  Christians 
martyred  during  this  period  to  be  between  nine  and  ten  millions.  Nor  ought  this  to 
appear  exaggerated,  especially  when  the  millions  of  gi-aves  as  well  as  the  inscriptions 
found  in  the  Catacombs  about  Rome,  show  that  in  the  capital  of  the  empire  alone  there 
must  have  been  about  two  and  a  half  million  martyrs. 


m  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

SECTION  XVIII HEATHEN  PHILOSOPHY  IN  OPPOSITION  TO  CHRISTIANITY. 

Christian  Religion  assailed  by  heathen  Philosophers— Celsus— His  Work— 
Lucian,  the  Blasphemer — Crescens — Attempts  of  Nco-Platonic  Philoso- 
phy to  regenerate  declining  Paganism — Epictetus,  Plutarch  and  other 
Platonists — Ammonius  Saccas  —  Photinus  —  Porphyrins  —  Jamblichus— 
Proclus— The  Impostor  Apollonius  of  Tyana— His  life  by  Flavins  Philos- 
tratus— Hierocles . 

157.  During  the  preceding  centuries  the  Church  had  not  only  to 
encounter  the  rude  forces  of  the  Roman  Empire,  but  also  to  sustain  a 
Herce  conflict  with  heathen  philosophy.  The  pagan  sophists  and 
philosophers  contributed  not  a  little  towards  exciting  the  hatred  of 
the  emperors  and  governors,  as  well  as  the  fury  of  the  people  against 
the  Christians.  This  contest  of  heathen  philosophy  with  Christianity 
was  carried  on:  1.  Directly  by  vulgarly  assailing  the  Christian  religion, 
distorting  and  misrepresenting  its  doctrines  and  mysteries,  and  grossly 
maligning  its  Divine  Founder,  His  Apostles  and  adherents;  2.  Indi- 
rectly by  endeavoring  to  sustain  and  defend  Paganism  against  the 
claims  of  Christianity,  introducing  into  the  former  Christian  ideas 
and  elements,  and  giving  to  the  heathenish  myths  an  allegorical  in- 
terpretation. 

158.  Celsus,  an  eclectic  philosopher,  who  flourished  in  the  latter 
part  of  the  second  century,  was  the  first  heathen  that  attempted 
to  oppose  the  advancing  Christian  faith  with  the  arms  of  science. 
His  work  entitled  "  The  Word  of  Truth  "  is  replete  with  vulgar  and 
blasphemous  assertions  against  Christ,  His  religion  and  His  followers. 
The  strength  of  Celsus'  arguments  lies  in  shameless  slanders  and 
cowardly  insults.  He  introduces  a  Jew  in  whose  mouth  he  puts 
the  vilest  calumnies  against  the  person  of  Christ  and  His  Apostles. 
Then  again,  acting  as  arbitrator,  he  attacks  both  the  Christian  and  the 
Jewish  religion.  Christ  himself  is  represented  as  an  imposter,  justly 
crucified  by  the  Jews  for  calling  himself  God;  His  reputed  birth  of  a 
virgin  as  well  as  his  miracles,  prophecies  and  resurrection  are  de- 
scribed as  mere  fictions,  and  the  Christians  are  set  down  as  a  credu- 
lous class  for  believing  these  fictions.  The  charges  which  Celsus 
brings  against  the  Christians  are  full  of  contradictions.  From  the 
statements  he  makes,  it  is  evident  he  had  but  an  imperfect  knowledge 
of  the  teachings  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament ;  in  fact,  the 
book  of  Genesis  and  one  of  the  Gospels  excepted,  he  had  never  even 
read  the  Sacred  Scriptures.  The  work  of  Celsus  is  not  extant,  but  is 
sufficiently  well  known  from  its  masterly  refutation  in  eight  books, 
written  by  Origen  about  a  century  later. 


HEATHEN  PHILOSOPHERS.  59 

159.  Lucian  of  Samosata,  A.  D.  120-180,  in  his  satire  derides 
alike  heathen  mythology  and  Christianity.  His  mockery  of  the  gods 
and  of  everything  supernatural  procured  for  him  the  name  of  "  Blas- 
phemer." His  principal  work  against  the  Christians,  entitled  "  De 
Morte  Peregrini,"  is  more  of  an  overt  derision  than  an  attempted 
refutation  of  Christian  practices  and  doctrines.  He  represents  the 
Christians  as  good-natured  but  silly,  and  ridicules  their  fortitude  in 
suffering,  their  great  charity  towards  one  another,  their  contempt  for 
death  and  their  hope  in  a  future  reward — thus  giving,  contrary  to 
his  intention,  a  glorious  testimony  of  the  grandeur  of  the  Christian 
religion,  the  heroism  and  charity  of  its  followers. 

160.  The  cynic  philosopher,  Crescens,  of  whom  Tatian  affirms  that  he 
was  surpassed  by  none  in  avarice  and  unnatural  lusts,  harangued 
the  Christians  denouncing  them  as  atheists.  Justin  Martyr,  who  calls 
Crescens  his  unphilosophical  opponent  and  a  mountebank  of  a  phil- 
osophaster,  exposed  his  secret  vices,  fraud  and  ignorance.  Irritated 
by  this  exposure,  the  cynic  denounced  Justin  to  the  prefect  Rusticus, 
who  condemned  the  fearless  champion  to  be  beheaded.  Crescens  left 
no  writings. 

161.  With  a  much  better  prospect  of  success,  Christianity  was 
opposed  in  the  third  century  by  Neo-Platonic  Philosophy.  Since  the 
preaching  of  the  Christian  faith  by  the  Apostles,  the  tone  and  temper 
of  heathen  philosophy  had  undergone  a  complete  change.  It  was  no 
longer  unbelieving,  but  religious,  and  henceforth  appeared  as  the 
friend  and  supporter  of  the  polytheistic  worship.  It  took  up  the  de- 
fence of  the  ancient  gods  and  heathen  rites  and  customs.  The  myths 
which  disfigured  pagan  worship  were  explained  and  purified  by  a 
moral  interpretation.  There  was  a  tendency  among  philosophers  to 
unite  and  blend  together  the  different  systems  of  philosophy  as  well 
as  those  of  religion.  Infidelity  among  the  cultured  classes  gradually 
disappeared  and  was  replaced  by  a  religious  syncretism  which  was  not 
altogether  inimical,  but  so  much  the  more  dangerous  to  Christianity. 

162.  This  revival  of  heathen  philosophy,  known  in  history  as 
Neo-Platonism,  had  been  prepared  by  such  men  as  Epictetus,  Plutarch 
of  Chaeronea  in  Beotia,  (died  about  A.  D.  125,)  Maximus  of  Tyre 
and  Apolejus  of  Madaura,  who  were  devoted  to  philosophy  and 
literature  but  still  more  to  the  religion  of  their  countries.  Their 
chief  aim  was  a  regeneration  of  declining  Paganism.  The  new  ten- 
dency which  philosophy  had  taken  in  the  Neo-Platonic  school,  worked 
at  first  indirectly  and  silently,  but  for  this  reason  more  effectually 
against  the   aim  and  progress  of  Christianity. 

163.  Ammonius  surnamed  Saccas  (Sack  Carrier)   is  regarded  as 


60  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

the  founder  of  the  Neo-Platonic  school  at  Alexandria.  Porphyrins 
tells  us  that  he  was  of  Christian  parentage  and  had  been  brought  up 
a  Christian ;  but  when  he  began  to  study  philosophy  he  apostatized 
to  heathenism.  This  is  denied  by  Eusebius  who  asserts  that  Ammo- 
nius  remained  a  Christian  to  the  last.  He  died  about  the  year  243, 
and  numbered  among  his  pupils  Herennius,  Longinus,  Plotinus 
and  the  celebrated  Origen.  As  the  writings  of  Ammonius  have  all 
disappeared,  it  is  from  the  treatises  of  his  disciple  Plotinus  that  we 
learn  the  Neo-platonic  system. 

164.  Plotinus,  who  was  born  at  Lykopolis  in  Egypt,  A.  D.  205, 
and  died  in  Campania  about  261,  is  praised  for  the  severity  of  his  life 
and  his  noble  and  blameless  character.  His  treatises  were  collected 
by  his  disciple  Porphyrins  and  arranged  in  six  "  Enneads,"  contain- 
ing fifty-four  books  on  various  subjects.  Neither  Ammonius  nor 
Plotinus  who,  no  doubt,  were  well  acquainted  with  the  Christian  be- 
lief, directly  attacked  its  followers.  Their  philosophy,  however, 
which  was  essentially  religious,  was  the  scientific  ground  upon  which 
declining  heathenism  took  its  stand,  to  fight  its  last  and  desperate 
battle  against  the  rapid  progress  of  Christianity.  The  system  of 
these  philosophers  was  intended  to  meet  and  encounter  on  a  heathen 
basis  the  Christian  Church,  to  wage  war  with  it  at  all  points  for  the 
possession  of  human  hearts,  and  to  satisfy  the  mind  and  heart  of  man 
with  regard  to  the  objects  which  the  religion  of  Christ  had  shown  to 
be  of  prime  importance. 

165.  Porphyrins  of  Tyre,  the  disciple  of  Plotinus,  did  not  add  to 
his  master's  philosophy,  but  labored  to  make  it  clear  and  practical, 
and  by  its  aid  to  work  a  reform  in  the  heathen  religion.  St.  Augus- 
tine and  other  Christian  writers  state  that  he  was  originally  a  Chris- 
tian, but  on  account  of  a  rebuke  which  he  received,  fell  away  to 
heathenism.  He  wrote  "Fifteen  Books  against  the  Christians,"  an 
elaborate  work  which  the  chief  defenders  of  the  faith,  St.  Methodius 
of  Tyre,  ApoUinaris  of  Laodicea,  Eusebius  of  Caesarea  and  others 
thought  worthy  of  a  refutation.  Both  the  work  of  Porphyrins  and 
the  refutations  of  these  bishops  are  lost ;  extant  copies  of  the  former 
were  destroyed  in  449,  by  order  of  the  Emperor  Theodosius  II. 

166.  Porphyrins,  the  bitterest  enemy  of  Christianity,  denied  the 
Messianic  mission  and  the  divinity  of  Christ,  the  resurrection  of  the 
body  and  eternal  punishment,  which  he  declared  to  be  irreconcilable 
with  divine  justice,  and  maintained  that  the  prophecies  contained  .in 
the  Old  Testament  were  written  after  the  events.  The  miracles  of 
the  Apostles  were  attributed  by  him  to  arts  of  magic,  and  those  occur- 
ring at  the  tombs  of  the  martyrs  he  declared  to  be  the  work  of  de- 


HEATHEN  PHILOSOPHERS.  61 

mons.  Furthermore,  he  defended  heathen  mythology  by  endeavoring, 
through  allegorical  and  physical  interpretations,  to  reconcile  its  teach- 
ings with  reason  and  to  prove  that  the  answers  of  oracles  were  in 
harmony  with  sound  philosophy. 

167.  When  Porphyrins  died  at  Rome,  A.  D.  304,  his  pupil, 
Jamblichus  of  Chalcis  in  Coele-Syria,  became  the  head  of  the  Neo- 
Platonic  School.  His  pupils  gave  him  the  title  of  "  Wonderful  "  and 
"  Divine,"  declaring  him  the  equal  of  Plato.  Miraculous  acts  and  a 
knowledge  of  future  things  and  also  the  inmost  thoughts  of  men  were 
ascribed  to  him,  which  show  a  tendency  of  the  Neo-Platonic  School  to 
combine  the  thaumaturgus  with  the  philosopher.  Jamblichus,  who 
died  about  A.  D.  333,  like  his  master  applied  the  Neo-Platonic  philos- 
ophy to  the  support  of  Paganism.  Among  his  disciples  was  the  Em- 
peror Julian  the  Apostate.  This  attempt  to  overthrow  Christianity 
and  to  revive  Paganism  failed  as  signally  in  its  object  as  the 
persecutions  that  have  just  been  reviewed.  Proclus,  who  died  in  the 
year  485,  was  the  last  exponent  of  the  Neo-Platonic  philosophy, 
which,  without  doubt,  was  the  grandest  system  that  ancient  heathen- 
ism had  ever  opposed  to  Christianity. 

168.  In  order  to  counteract  the  influence  of  the  simple,  yet  won- 
derful and  divine,  life  of  Christ,  pagan  writers  pointed  to  the  life  of 
the  pretender  ApoUonius  Tyaneus.  This  Apollonius,  a  Neo-Pytha- 
gorean  philosopher,  born  at  Tyana  in  Cappadocia,  may  be  called  t^e 
heathen  counterfeit  of  Christ,  just  as  the  Neo-Platonic  system  was 
the  caricature  of  Christianity.  Of  the  real  Apollonius,  who  lived  in 
the  first  century  and  died  at  an  old  age  in  Nerva's  reign,  hardly  any- 
thing is  known;  little  notice  was  taken  of  him  in  his  time.  Origen 
calls  him  both  magician  and  philosopher,  and  Dion-Cassius  terms  him 
a  skillful  wizard, 

169.  His  biographer.  Flavins  Philostratus,  describes  him  as  a 
great  religious  and  moral  reformer  and  represents  him  as  a  god.  But 
the  work  of  Philostratus,  which  he  compiled  at  the  bidding  of  the 
Empress  Domna,  wife  of  Septimius  Severus,  and  from  the  materials 
collected  by  her  and  Damis,  a  disciple  of  Apollonius,  has  no  claim 
whatsoever  to  historic  truth.  This  life  of .  the  pretender  Apollonius, 
furnishes  many  striking  points  of  resemblance  to  the  life  of  Christ, 
and  the  design  of  its  author  seems  to  have  been  to  give  to  heathenism 
a  standard  bearer  and  representative  in  the  same  manner  as  Christian- 
ity had  such  a  standard  bearer  and  representative  in  Christ.  Care- 
fully abstaining  from  every  mention  of  Christ  or  his  religion,  Philos- 
tratus tacitly  imitates  both;  he  makes  his  hero  depart  from  the  earth 


62  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

in  a  miraculous  manner,  ascribes  to  him  the  power  of  working  mira- 
cles and  the  knowledge  of  not  only  absent  and  secret,  but  also  of  fu- 
ture things,  and  portrays  him  as  equal  to  Christ  in  wisdom,  power  and 
in  the  practice  of  every  virtue.  Thus  his  work  reveals  an  intense  in- 
ward antagonism  to  Christ  and  the  Christian  Church. 

170.  On  the  other  hand,  Hierocles,  governor  of  Bithynia,  and 
later  on  of  Egypt,  openly  defended  the  superiority  of  the  pretender, 
ApoUonius  of  Tyana  over  Christ.  Hierocles  who  caused  Christian 
matrons  and  consecrated  virgins  to  be  exposed  in  brothels  wrote  a 
work  entitled  "Address  to  the  Christians  from  a  Friend  of  Truth,"  in 
which  he  repeated  all  the  slanders  of  Celsus  and  Porphyrins  against 
the  Christians.  Drawing  a  parallel  between  Christ  and  ApoUonius, 
he  asserts  that  the  latter  by  his  miracles  far  surpassed  the  Founder  of 
the  Christian  religion,  and  nevertheless  laid  no  claim  to  divine  honors. 
Of  the  work  of  Hierocles  which  has  been  lost,  Eusebius  made  an 
ample  refutation.. 


CHAPTER  lY. 


EARLY  CATHOLIC  LITERATURE. 


SECTION  XIX. THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERS. 

The  Apostolic  Fathers — Why  so  called— Writings  of   the  Fathers — Impor- 
tance of  their  Writings. 

171.  The  next  ecclesiastical  writers  who  come  after  the  Apostles  are 
the  Apostolic  Fathers  (Patres  Apostolici),  so  called  because  they 
came  from  the  Apostolic  Age  and  were  the  immediate  disciples  of 
the  Apostles.  Although  the  Apostolic  Fathers  have  left  us  no  elabo- 
rate works  on  the  doctrine  of  Christ,  but  only  a  few  epistles  or  short 
treatises  written  for  certain  casual  purposes,  yet  their  writings  are  the 
more  precious,  as  their  authors  were  associated  with  ;  and  learned  the 


THE  APOSTOLIC  FATHERS.  63 

Christian  doctrine  from  some  Apostle.  They  are,  on  that  account, 
the  most  trustworthy  and  important  witnesses  of  the  teachings  of  their 
masters,  the  Apostles ;  and  their  writings  form  the  proper  link  be- 
tween the  Canonical  Scriptures  and  the  Church  Fathers  of  the  ages 
succeeding  them.  Tradition  numbers  among  the  Apostolic  Fathers  : 
1.  St.  Barnabas,  the  companion  and  co-laborer  of  St.  Paul;  2.  St. 
Clement  of  Rome,  the  disciple  and  third  successor  of  St.  Peter ;  3. 
St.  Ignatius  Martyr,  bishop  of  Antioch ;  4.  St.  Poly  carp,  bishop  of 
Smyrna  ;  5.  The  anonymous  author  of  an  apologetic  "Epistle  to  Diog- 
netus  ;"  6.  Hermas,  a  prominent  Roman  Christian  ;  7.  Papias,  bishop 
of  Hierapolis,  "  the  hearer  of  St.  John  and  the  friend  of  Polycarp,"  as 
Eusebius  calls  him. 

172.  To  these  Fathers  are  assigned,  respectively,  the  following 
writings  :  1.  The  Catholic  Epistle  of  St.  Barnabas,  which  at  least  is 
quoted  as  the  undisputed  work  of  that  Apostle  by  Clement  of  Alex- 
andria and  Origen,  though  some  deny  it  to  be  his  production  ;  2.  The 
two  Epistles  of  St.  Clement  to  the  Corinthians.  The  authenticity  of 
St.  Clement's  First  Epistle  to  the  Corinthians  is  now  generally  ac- 
knowledged, but  his  Second  Epistle  to  the  same  church,  as  also  his  two 
letters  "  To  Virgins,"  are  considered  by  some  as  doubtful.  These  are 
the  only  writings  out  of  the  many  others  (for  instance,  five  Epistolae 
Decretales,  eighty-five  Canones  Apostolorum,'Con8titutiones  Apostolo- 
rum,  Recognitiones),  ascribed  to  St.  Clement  which  have  any  claim 
to  be  regarded  as  his  ;  3.  The  seven  Letters  of  St.  Ignatius,  which  he 
wrote  on  his  way  to  martyrdom,  five  of  them  to  various  Christian 
congregations  in  Asia  Minor,  one  to  Polycarp,  and  one  to  the  Chris- 
tians of  Rome.  Eight  other  epistles  bear  the  name  of  the  same 
Father,  which,  however,  must  be  ranked  as  unauthentic  ;  4.  The  Epis- 
tle of  St.  Polycarp  to  the  Philippians  ;  5.  The  Epistle  to  Diognetus,  a 
most  important  literary  monument  of  the  Apostolic  Age  ;  6.  The  work 
"  Pastor  "  by  Hermas,  who  is  supposed  by  some  to  be  the  person 
named  by  St.  Paul  Rom.  xvi.  4  :  he  was  a  Greek  by  birth  and 
lived  in  Italy  towards  the  close  of  the  first  century ;  but  the  date  of 
his  death  is  not  known.  According  to  another  opinion  the  author  of 
that  work  was  the  brother  of  Pope  Pius  I.;  7.  The  "Explanation 
of  Our  Lord's  Discourse  "  by  Papias,  bishop  of  Hierapolis  in 
Phrygia.  The  work  originally  consisted  of  five  books,  of  which 
only  a  few  fragments  are  preserved  by  St.  Irenaeus  and  Eusebius. 
To  this  collection  of  the  Apostolic  Fathers  are  usually  added  the  Acts 
of  the  martvrdom  of  St.  Ignatius  and  the  Circular  Letter  of  the  church 


64  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

of  Smyrna  on  the  martyrdom  of  St.  Polycarp.  All  the  above  writings 
originally  appeared  in  Greek ;  but  the  Letter  of  St.  Polycarp  and  the 
work  of  Hermas  at  present  exist  entire  only  in  a  Latin  version. 

SECTION  XXI — THE  CHRISTIAN  APOLOGISTS. 

Occasion  of  the  Defence  of  the  Christians— Letter  to  Diognetus— Its  Author 
unknown— Aristo  of  Pella— His  Work— The  Apologies  of  Aristides— 
Quadratus,  Melito,  Claudius,  Apollinaris  and  Miltiades— Justin  Martyr— 
His  Apologies— His  Dialogue  with  Tryphon— Tatian— Athenagoras— His 
Apology—  Theophilus—Hermias— Clement  of  Alexandria  and  Origen — 
Their  Apologetical  Works— Tertullian— His  Apologeticus— Minucius  Fe- 
lix—His Octavius— Arnobius— His  Disputations — St.  Cyprian. 

173.  The  persecutions  to  which  the  Christians  w^ere  exposed  dur- 
ing this  period,  and  the  attacks  upon  their  religion  by  pagan  writers 
called  forth  a  number  of  learned  works — Apologies,  whose  object  was 
to  vindicate  the  Christian  faith  and  its  followers.  The  Apologists,  as 
the  authors  of  such  works  are  termed,  bringing  the  keenest  intellec- 
tual acumen  to  the  defence  of  the  Christian  doctrine,  ably  refuted 
the  dishonest  misrepresentations  and  base  calumnies  which  had  been 
invented  by  malice,  and  boldly  exposed  the  emptiness  and  depravity 
of  the  heathen  worship.  Their  words  had  the  greater  weight,  in  as 
much  as  they  were,  for  t^ie  most  part,  men  of  extensive  learning,' who 
had  themselves  been  brought  up  in  Paganism,  and  were  thus  well  ac- 
quainted both  with  heathen  philosophy  and  with  the  shameful  ex- 
cesses of  idol  worship. 

174.  As  first  of  the  Christian  Apologies,  is  mentioned  the  "  Letter 
to  Diognetus."  It  is  believed  to  have  been  written  in  the  reign  of 
Trajan,  but  its  author  is  unknown.  Some  ascribe  it  to  Aristides  of 
Athens;  others  to  Justin  Martyr.  The  author  who  calls  himself  a 
disciple  of  the  Apostles  first  shows  the  folly  of  idolatry  and  the  im- 
perfections of  the  Jewish  worship  ;  he  then  refutes  the  false  charges 
imputed  to  the  Christians,  whose  moral  lives  are  contrasted  with 
those  of  the  Pagans,  and  who  are  distinguished  as  one  body  and  one 
people,  though  spread  in  all  directions.  Somewhat  later,  about  the 
mid/lle  of  the  second  century,  "  Aristo  of  Pella,"  a  Christian  Jew, 
wrote  his  "  Disputatio  Jasonis  et  Papisci,"  a  dialogue  on  the  Christian 
religion  between  Jason,  a  converted,  and  Papiscus,  an  unconverted  Jew. 
It  was  written  in  Greek  and  translated  into  Latin;  both  the  original 
and  the  translation  are  lost.  Its  object  was  to  show  the  fulfillment 
of  the  ancient  prophecies  in  Jesus  Christ. 


CHRISTIAN  APOLOGISTS.  ^5 

175.  The  Apologies  presented  by  the  Athenian  philosopher  Aris- 
tides,  and  Quadratus,  bishop  of  the  same  city,  to  the  Emperor  Had- 
rian in  126,  with  the  exception  of  some  fragments  lately  discovered, 
have  been  lost,  as  well  as  three  others  addressed  to  the  Emperor  Mar- 
cus Aurelius  by  Melito,  bishop  of  Sardis  in  Lydia,  St.  Claudius 
Apollinaris,  bishop  of  Hierapolis  in  Phrygia,  and  Miltiades,  a  Christian 
philosopher  of  Asia  Minor.  Miltiades  wrote  a  work  also  against  the 
Montanists. 

176.  The  most  remarkable  of  the  earlier  Apologies  are  the  two 
written  by  Justin  Martyr.  Justin  Avas  born  of  Greek  parents  at  Fla- 
via  Neapolis  (ancient  Sichem,  now  Nablus)  in  Samaria,  about  the  year 
100.  He  was  brought  up  in  Paganism  and  studied  successively  un- 
der a  Stoic,  a  Peripatetic,  and  a  Pythagorean,  when  he  finally  embraced 
the  Platonic  philosophy,  in  which  he  flattered  himself  he  would  find 
true  wisdom.  The  objections  raised  by  an  aged  Christian  or,  as  some  say, 
by  an  angel  under  the  appearance  of  an  old  man,  regarding  all  pagan 
philosophy,  led  him  to  read  the  books  of  the  Old  Testament,  especially 
the  Prophets.  This  as  well  as  the  heroism  of  the  Christian  martyrs 
induced  him  to  embrace  Christianity  between  A.  D.  133  and  137.  He 
continued  to  wear  the  philosopher's  mantle  after  his  conversion,  and 
henceforth  devoted  himself  by  word  and  writing  to  the  defence  of 
Christianity  against  Pagans,  Jews  and  Heretics.  His  boldness  in 
pleading  the  Christian  cause  and  especially  his  zeal  in  unmasking  the 
hypocrisy  of  the  cynic  philosopher  Crescens,  is  said  by  Eusebius  to 
have  caused  his  imprisonment  and  death.  With  six  other  Christians, 
Justin  was  beheaded  at  Rome  in  the  year  166  under  the  Prefect 
Rusticus. 

177.  In  his  first  Apology,  which  he  addressed  to  Antoninus  Pius 
in  139,  Justin  boldly  advocated  the  cause  of  the  basely  misrepresented 
Christians,  entreating  the  emperor  to  judge  them  not  by  their  name, 
but  by  their  actions.  He  shows  that  they  are  not  atheists,  and  proves 
their  loyalty  to  the  emperor  and  the  state.  To  reply  to  the  slanders 
concerning  Christian  assemblies,  Justin,  contrary  to  the  then  existing 
custom  (disciplina  arcana),  explains  in  detail  the  ceremonies  of  the 
sacraments  of  Baptism  and  Holy  Eucharist.  This  second  Apology 
he  addressed  about  A.  D.  162,  to  the  Emperor  Marcus  Aurelius  on 
account  of  one  Ptolemy  and  two  other  Christians,  whom  the  Prefect 
Rusticus  had  put  to  death.  The  writer  undertakes  to  prove  the  injus- 
tice of  persecuting  the  Christians  merely  for  their  faith,  predicting,  at 
the  same  time,  his  own  death  as  the  recompense  of  his  bold  plea  in 
support  of  Christianity.  About  A.  D.  150,  Justin  published  his  famous 
"Dialogue  with  Tryphon,"  a  learned  Jew  of  Ephesus,  according  to 


66  HISTORY  OF  THE  GHURGH. 

some,  of  Corinth.  The  Saint  showed  that,  according  to  the  prophets, 
the  Old  Law  was  local  and  temporary  and  was  to  be  abrogated  by 
the  New,  and  that  Jesus  was  the  true  Messiah  and  the  true  God. 

178.  Tatian,  a  disciple  of  Justin,  is  also  reckoned  among  the  early 
Apologists..  He  was  born  in  Assyria,  about  A.  D.  130,  had  received  a 
heathen  education  and  had  been  a  teacher  in  pagan  schools,  when  by 
reading  the  Holy  Scriptures  he  was  converted  to  Christianity.  After 
the  death  of  Justin  he  returned  to  the  East,  adopted  Gnostic  views 
and  became  the  founder  of  a  sect  known  as  "  Tatianists."  Of  his 
many  writings  only  his  "Discourse  to  the  Greeks"  has  been  pre- 
served, in  which  he  contrasts  Christianity  with  Paganism,  censures 
the  Greeks  for  rejecting  the  Christian  religion  and  criticises  the  mor- 
als, religion  and  philosophy  of  the  Pagans. 

1 79.  About  A.D.  177  Athenagoras  a  Christian  philosopher  of  Athens 
presented  his  Apology,  entitled  "  Legatio  sen  Supplicatio  pro  Chris- 
tianis"  to  Marcus  Aurelius  and  his  son  Commodus,  in  which  the  author 
refutes  in  a  temperate  but  dignified  tone  and  masterly  manner,  the 
gross  charges  of  atheism,  incest,  and  the  eating  of  human  flesh,  levelled 
at  the  Christians  by  the  heathens.  The  same  author  wrote  a  book  in 
defence  of  the  "  Resurrection  of  the  Dead,"  which  doctrine  was  par- 
ticularly offensive  to  the  Pagans.  Both  of  these  works,  which  were 
known  to  Eusebius  and  St.  Jerome,  are  still  extant,  and,  on  account  of 
the  methodical,  elegant,  and  erudite  manner  in  which  they  teach  their 
subject,  are  reckoned  among  the  best  of  their  kind  in  Christian  anti- 
quity. 

180.  Of  the  works  which  St.  Theophilus,  bishop  of  Antioch,  wrote 
in  defence  of  the  Christian  faith,  we  have  entire,  only  his  "  Three 
Books  to  Antolycus,"  which  contain  an  apology  for  the  Christian 
religion  and  which  appeared  during  the  reign  of  Commodus.  In  the 
first  book,  the  author  treats  of  God,  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and 
the  resurrection ;  in  the  second,  of  the  folly  and  contradictions  of  hea- 
thenism ;  and  in  the  third,  he  shows  the  antiquity  of  the  Holy  Script- 
ures and  refutes  the  base  calumnies  against  the  Christians.  Theophi- 
lus also  composed  a  commentary  on  Holy  Scripture.  The  philoso- 
pher Hermias,  of  whom  we  know  nothing  but  his  name,  left  a  polem- 
ical work  entitled  "Irrisio  gentilium  philosophorum,"  in  which  he 
ridicules  the  pagan  philosophers  by  exposing  their  errors  and  contra- 
dictions, but  without  seriously  refuting  them.  The  work  was  written 
in  the  second  century,  according  to  some,  in  the  third. 

181.  Clement  of  Alexandria  and  his  celebrated  disciple,  the 
learned  Origen,  likewise  composed  works  laying  bare  the  fallacies 
and  emptiness  of  idolatry  and  refuting  the  numberless  attacks  made 


CHRISTIAN  APOLOGISTS.  67 

on  Christianity.  In  his  "  Exhortation  to  the  Gentiles,"  which  he 
wrote  as  head  of  the  Catechetical  School  of  Alexandria,  between 
A.  D.  180-200,  Clement  laid  open  the  absurdity  of  idolatry  by  giving 
an  historical  account  of  its  mythology;  contrasting  Christianity  with 
Paganism,  he  invites  the  heathens  to  exchange  the  worship  of  creat- 
ures and  idols  for  that  of  the  Creator  and  true  God. 

182.  The  most  complete  defence  of  Christianity  of  this  period  is 
contained  in  the  eight  books  of  Origen  "Against  Celsus."  Origen 
wrote  this  work  at  the  special  request  of  his  friend  Ambrosius  to  re- 
fute the  work  of  Celsus  entitled  "  The  Word  of  Truth,"  which  had 
great  credit  among  the  heathens.  He  follows  his  adversary  step  by 
step,  answers  his  objections  regarding  the  person  of  Christ,  the  base 
misrepresentions  of  Christian  doctrines,  and  establishes  the  truth  of 
Christianity  by  the  evidence  of  facts  and  the  testimony  of  history. 
As  Eusebius  observes,  "  all  objections  that  ever  were  or  can  be  made 
against  the  Christian  belief,  will  find  an  answer  in  this  work."  To 
these  may  be  added  the  work  "Against  Hierocles"  by  Eusebius, 
in  which  he  confutes  the  pretended  life  and  miracles  of  the  imposter 
Apollonius  Tyannaeus.  All  the  preceding  apologies  appeared  in  the 
East  and  were  written  in  Greek. 

183.  The  first  Christian  apology  published  in  the  West  and  com- 
posed in  Latin,  was  the  "Apologeticus"  of  Tertullian,  which  is  one  of 
the  best  defences  of  the  Christians  against  their  pagan  adversaries. 
In  this  work,  which  he  addressed  to  the  Roman  Senate,  between  A. 
D.  197  and  199,  Tertullian  shows  the  injustice  of  punishing  the 
Christians  merely  for  their  name,  and  exposes  the  gross  ignorance  of 
the  Pagans  regarding  the  Christian  religion,  "  who,"  he  says,  "  con- 
demn what  they  do  not  know,  nor  desire  to  know,  so  that  they  may  not 
be  prevented  from  condemning  it."  He  then  proceeds  to  confute 
idolatry  and  to  show  that  Christianity  fully  satis'fies  the  cravings  of 
the  human  soul,  in  some  sense  so  "naturally  Christian."  Animahumana 
naturaliter  Christiana.  He  closes  his  plea  with  the  remark  that  per- 
secutions serve  no  other  purpose  than  to  increase  the  number  of 
Christians.  "  The  blood  of  Christians,"  he  says,  "  is  their  seed.  We 
multiply  when  we  are  slaughtered  by  you."  Sanguis  martyrum  se- 
men Christianorum,  plures  efficimur  quoties  metimur  a  vobis. 

184.  Of  Minucius  Felix  nothing  certain  is  known,  but  that  he  was 
a  distinguished  causidicus,  or  advocate,  at  Rome,  which  occupation  he 
pursued  even  after  his  conversion  to  Christianity.  He  was  a  native  of 
Africa,  some  say  of  Asia,  and  flourished  in  the  first  half  of  the  third 
century.  His  Apology  entitled  "Octavius"  is  a  dialogue  demonstrat- 
ing the  existence  of  one  God  only,  and  defending  the  Christians  from 


68  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

calumnies  then  in  circulation  against  them.  St.  Jerome  mentions 
another  work,  now  lost,  entitled  "  De  Fato  vel  Contra  Mathematicos," 
which  was  at  the  time  ascribed  to  Minucius. 

185.  St.  Cyprian,  the  great  bishop  of  Carthage,  wrote  several 
polemical  works  in  defence  of  Christianity.  Of  these,  his  treatise 
"  On  the  Vanity  of  Idols  "  and  the  two  books  entitled  "  Testimonies 
Against  the  Jews,"  are  the  best  known.  In  the  former  Cyprian  con- 
futes heathen  polytheism;  in  the  latter  he  shows  that  the  Old  Law 
was  to  be  superseded  by  the  New,  and  explains  the  doctrines  regard- 
ing the  person  of  Christ. 

186.  Arnobius,  a  distinguished  rhetorician,  was  a  native  of  Sicca 
in  Africa  and  flourished  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century.  He 
was  a  zealous  advocate  of  Paganism  until,  as  St.  Jerome  relates,  he 
was  warned  by  heavenly  admonitions  to  embrace  Christianity.  To 
give  some  public  proof  of  the  sincerity  of  his  conversion,  Arnobius, 
about  304,  wrote,  probably  at  the  bidding  of  the  bishop  to  whom  he 
applied  for  admission  into  the  Church,  his  seven  books  of  "  Disputa- 
tions against  the  Gentiles,"  in  which  he  exposes  the  fallacies  of  heath- 
enism and  the  immorality  of  idolatry.  He  dwells  in  particular  on 
the  reproach  made  by  the  Pagans  that  the  Christians,  by  despising 
the  ancient  gods,  were  the  cause  of  all  the  calamities  that  befell  the 
empire.  As  he  wrote  this  work  while  a  novice  in  the  faith,  his  ex- 
pressions are  somewhat  inaccurate  regarding  certain  doctrines  of  the 
Gospel. 

187.  A  pupil  of  Arnobius  was  the  celebrated  Lactantius  Firm- 
ianus.  He  was  born,  probably  in  Italy  of  heathen  parents  about 
the  middle  of  the  third  century.  He  attained  to  great  eminence  as 
a  teacher  of  rhetoric.  Having  in  the  meantime  embraced  Christian- 
ity, Constantine  called  him  to  become  the  preceptor  of  his  eldest  son 
Crispus.  Lactantius  has  been  held  in  high  esteem  as  well  for  the 
subject  matter  of  his  writings,  as  especially  for  the  elegance  and  pu- 
rity of  his  style,  which  procured  for  him  the  title  of  the  "  Christian 
Cicero."  He  died  about  the  year  330.  His  chief  works  were  his 
"  Institutiones  Diviriae"  in  seven  books,  written  in  defence  of  Christ- 
ianity, and  "  De  Mortibus  Persecutorum."  Other  works  of  his  were 
"  De  ira  Dei,"  "  De  opificio  Dei,"  etc. 


FATHERS  AFTER  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE,  69 

SECTION    XXI. THE    FATHERS    AFTER    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE. 

Justin  Martj^r — His  Writings — St.  Irenaeus — His  Chief  Work  against  the 
Gnostics — St.  Cyprian — His  Writings — Dionysius  of  Alexandria — His 
Writings — St.  Gregory  Thaumaturgus — His  Writings. 

188.  When  the  Fathers  who  had  conversed  with  the  Apostles 
had  passed  away,  they  were  succeeded  by  those  well-known  Christian 
writers  who,  preserving  the  apostolic  traditions,  became  in  turn  the 
authentic  witnesses  of  the  doctrine  that  had  been  taught  by  Christ. 
Of  these,  St.  Justin  Martyr,  St.  Irenaeus,  St.  Cyprian,  Dionysius  of 
Alexandria  and  St.  Gregory  Thaumaturgus  are  numbered  among  the 
Fathers  of  the  Church,  both  on  account  of  the  orthodoxy  of  their 
teachings  and  the  sanctity  of  their  lives.  St.  Justin  Martyr  is  the 
earliest  of  the  Fathers  after  the  apostolic  age.  Besides  the  two 
"  Apologies  "  and  the  "  Dialogue  with  Tryphon,"  three  other  works 
are  attributed  to  him,  an  "  Address  to  the  Greeks  "  (Oratio  ad  Grae- 
cos)  and  an  "  Exhortatory  Discourse  to  the  Greeks  "  (Cohortatio  ad 
Graecos),  in  which  works  he  urges  the  absurdity  of  idolatry  and 
shows  from  the  writings  of  the  ancient  Greek  authors  that  they  pro- 
fessed the  Oneness  of  the  Deity.  His  book  "  On  Monarchy "  was 
written  expressly  to  prove  the  unity  of  God  from  the  testimony  and 
reasonings  of  the  heathen  poets  and  philosophers  themselves. 

189.  St.  Irenaeus,  the  faithful  disciple  of  St.  Polycarp  and  also 
of  St.  Papias,  according  to  St.  Jerome,  was  born  in  Asia  Minor  and 
was  a  presbyter  of  the  church  of  Lyons  in  the  time  of  Marcus  Aure- 
lius.  He  succeeded  St.  Photinus,  A.  D.  178,  as  bishop  of  Lyons, 
where  he  was  martyred  about  the  year  202.  St.  Irenaeus  is  regarded 
as  one  of  the  most  eminent  of  the  early  Fathers.  Of  his  writings 
only  fragments  remain,  with  the  exception  of  the  work  "Against 
Heresies "  (Adversus  hereses)  in  five  books,  which  he  wrote  princi- 
pally to  refute  the  Gnostic  heresies.  The  existing  Latin  version  is 
very  ancient  and  accurate  and  was  used  even  by  Tertullian.  In 
this  work  the  author  discusses  nearly  all  the  Catholic  dogmas;  among 
others.  Tradition,  the  Primacy  of  the  Roman  See,  the  Incarnation, 
the  Holy  Eucharist,  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass  and  the  Resurrection. 

190.  St.  Cyprian,  born  in  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  of  a 
wealthy  senatorial  family,  had  been  an  esteemed  and  successful  rheto- 
rician at  Carthage,  his  native  city.  His  station  as  well  as  his  abilities 
had  made  him  the  pride  of  his  pagan  fellow-citizens.  He  was  con- 
verted to  Christianity  about  the  year  246  by  Caecilius,  a  presbyter 
of  Carthage,  whose  name  he  henceforth  added  to  his  own  ;  soon  after 


70  HISTORY  OF  THE  GEURCE. 

he  was  raised  to  the  priesthood  and,  on  the  death  of  bishop  Donatus 
in  248,  he  was  chosen  to  succeed  that  prelate.  During  the  persecu- 
tion under  Decius  in  250,  Cyprian  concealed  himself  maintaining,  how- 
ever, from  his  place  of  concealment  a  constant  correspondence  with 
his  flock.  After  the  fanatical  frenzy  had  abated,  he  returned  to  Car- 
thage where,  between  the  years  251  and  256,  he  held  several  Councils 
to  determine  the  validity  of  baptism  by  heretics  and  the  manner  to  be 
observed  in  re-admitting  the  schismatics  and  those  who  had  aposta- 
tized in  the  time  of  persecution.  Cyprian  ended  his  noble  episcopate 
by  martyrdom  under  Valerian  in  258.  We  have  his  life  written  by 
Pontius,  his  deacon. 

191.  The  writings  of  Cyprian,  whom  St.  Augustine  calls  "the 
Catholic  bishop  and  Catholic  martyr,"  are  the  reflex  of  his  great 
and  divinely  inspired  soul.  Besides  eighty-one  letters,  he  wrote  thir- 
teen other  works  on  various  subjects.  His  letters  exhibit  an  inter- 
esting picture  of  his  times,  and  contain  much  valuable  information 
regarding  the  usages,  institutions  and  doctrines  of  the  early  Church. 
Very  important  is  his  admirable  treatise  "  On  the  Unity  of  the 
Church"  (De  Unitate  Ecclesise),  in  which  he  gives  a  clear  statement 
of  the  Church's  organic  unity,  which,  he  proves,  is  founded  on  the 
Primacy  of  St.  Peter. 

192.  Dionysius,  born  of  a  noble  and  wealthy  pagan  family  at 
Alexandria,  was  a  pupil  of  Origen,  who  converted  him  to  Christianity. 
He  succeeded  Heraclas  as  chief  of  the  Catechetical  School  in  the 
year  232,  and  upon  the  death  of  the  latter,  in  247,  as  bishop  of  Alex- 
andria, which  he  continued  to  be  until  his  death  in  264.  Under  De- 
cius he  had  been  condemned  to  death,  but  was  rescued  by  Christian 
peasants;  in  the  reign  of  Valerian  he  had  been  exiled  from  his  see. 
With  much  success  Dionysius  defended  the  orthodox  faith  against 
the  heresies  of  Sabellius,  Paul  of  Samosata,  and  Nepos,  an  Egyptian 
bishop;  and  opposed  with  vigor  the  Schism  of  Kovatian. 

193.  The  writings  of  Dionysius,  according  to  St.  Jerome,  were 
numerous,  but  most  of  them  have  been  lost;  as  it  is,  only  detached 
sections  can  now  be  read.  His  principal  works  were  his  "Apology  to 
Pope  Dionysius"  in  four  books,  and  two  books  refuting  the  millen- 
nial theory  of  Nepos.  His  eminent  learning,  strict  orthodoxy  and 
valuable  services  rendered  to  the  Church,  acquired  for  him,  even  dur- 
ing his  lifetime,  the  title  of  "  Great."  St.  Athanasius  called  him  "  the 
Teacher  of  the  entire  Church." 

194.  St.  Gregory,  from  his  extraordinary  miracles  surnamed 
Thaumaturgus  (wonder-worker),  was  a  contemporary  of  Dionysius 
of  Alexandria,  and,  like  him,  a  pupil  and  great  admirer  of  Origen. 


CLEMENT,  OBIGEN  AND  TEBTULLIAN.  71 

He  was  born  in  Neo-Caesarea  in  Pontus,  and  was  educated  a  Pagan 
until  he  came  to  Caesarea,  Palestine,  where  he  and  his  brother  Athe- 
nodorus  were  converted  to  the  faith  by  Origen.  He  passed  five  years 
in  the  school  of  Origen  and  three  at  Alexandria  during  the  perse- 
cution of  Maximian.  By  Phaedimus,  the  metropolitan  of  Pontus, 
Gregory  was  made  bishop  of  his  native  city,  which  then  numbered 
only  seventeen  Christians;  but  at  his  death  in  2*70,  only  seventeen 
Pagans  remained.  Athenodorus,  also,  became  a  bishop  in  Pontus 
and  suffered  much  for  the  faith.  The  works  of  Gregory  contain 
"A  Panegyrical  Oration"  on  Origen,  a  Symbolum  or  "  Exposition  of 
the  Faith,"  especially  on  the  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  a  Para- 
phrase on  the  Book  of  Ecclesiastes  and  a  Canonical  Epistle,  contain- 
ing the  penances  to  be  enjoined  on  penitents. 

SECTION    XXII. CLEMENT    OF    ALEXANDRIA,    OKIGEN    AND    TEBTULLIAN. 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  Successor  of  Pantacnus — His  extant  Writings — His 
Hypotyposis— Origen — His  Biography — Origen  at  Caesarea — ^His  Hex- 
apla — The  Rest  of  his  Writings — His  Orthodoxy — Tertullian — His  Char- 
acteristics— His  Apostasy  to  Montanism — Whether  he  remained  a  Mon- 
tanist— His  Writings. 

195.  The  first  great  master  of  the  Alexandrian  Catechetical  School 
was  Titus  Flavins  Clement,  surnamed  Alexandrinus.  He  was  born  at 
Athens  and  was  a  disciple  of  Pantaenus,  through  whose  influence  he 
embraced  Christianity.  In  search  of  knowledge,  he  had  visited  dif- 
ferent countries  and  had  made  himself  familiar  with  Greek  literature 
and  all  the  religious  and  philosophic  systems  of  his  age.  When  Pan- 
taenus went  as  a  missionary  to  India,  A.  D.  180,  Clement,  who  in  the 
meantime  had  been  ordained  priest,  succeeded  his  master  as  the  head 
of  the  Catechetical  School.  He  had  many  illustrious  pupils,  among 
whom  were  Origen  and  St.  Alexander,  bishop  of  Jerusalem.  The 
persecution  under  Severus  compelled  him  to  withdraw  first  to  Cappo- 
docia  and  afterwards  to  Jerusalem,  where  he  is  said  to  have  opened 
another  school.  Little  is  known  of  the  later  years  of  his  life.  He 
died,  A.  D.  21V. 

196.  Clement,  whom  St.  Jerome  calls  "the  most  learned  of  the 
writers  of  the  Church,"  was  distinctively  the  Philosopher  of  the  early 
Church.  Esteeming  philosophy  a  divine  work,  he  spoke  of  it  as  a 
preparation  for  Christian  theology  and  called  it  the  handmaid  of  the 
latter  (ancilla  theologiae).  His  principal  works  extant,  are:  1.  "The 
Exhortation  to  the  Heathen  ;"  2.  "The  Instructor"  (Paedagogus), 
a  treatise  on  the  moral  law  of  Christianity  ;    3.    "  The   Miscellanies  " 


73  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

(Stromata),  containing  an  exposition  of  Christianity  as  the  true  philos- 
ophy ;  4.  A  discourse  entitled,  "Who  is  the  rich  man  that  is  saved?" 
Of  Clement's  lost  works,  the  principal  was  his  "  Hypotyposis,"  a 
commentary  on  all  the  books  of  Sacred  Scripture.  His  works  are  not 
altogether  free  from  errors,  hence  their  author  is  not  reckoned  among 
the  Saints  and  Fathers  of  the  Church. 

197.  Origen,  who  far  surpassed  his  masters  both  as  teacher  and 
writer,  was  born  in  Alexandria  about  A.  D.  185.  His  father  Leonidas, 
being  a  man  of  great  piety  and  culture,  gave  him  an  excellent  educa- 
tion ;  under  his  tuition  and  that  of  Pantaenus  and  Clement,  Origen 
applied  himself  to  the  study  of  philosophy  and  theology.  While  a 
catechist,  he  attended  the  lectures  of  the  Neo-Platonist  Ammonius 
Saccas.  His  father  having  died  a  martyr  in  262,  when  Origen  was 
not  yet  eighteen  yqars  of  age,  he  supported  his  mother,  his  brothers 
and  sisters  by  teaching.  Soon  after,  bishop  Demetrius  appointed  him 
head  of  the  Catechetical  School  which,  by  the  flight  of  Clement,  was 
left  without  a  teacher.  His  fame  attracted  a  crowd  of  students  in- 
cluding several  distinguished  pagan  philosophers  and  heretics,  many 
of  whom  he  converted  to  the  faith.  Of  his  pupils,  many  suffered 
martyrdom.  The  number  of  his  scholars  having  greatly  increased, 
Origen  relinquished  part  of  his  duties  to  his  disciple  Heraclas  and 
devoted  himself  to  instructing  the  more  advanced  students. 

198.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five,  Origen  applied  himself  to  the 
study  of  Hebrew  and  then  commenced  his  great  Biblical  work,  the 
"  Hexapla."  The  munificence  of  his  wealthy  friend  Ambrose,  whom 
he  had  converted  from  Gnosticism,  and  who  furnished  him  with  rare 
manuscripts,  with  scribes  and  copyists,  enabled  him  to  carry  on  his 
learned  researches  and  publish  a  really  marvelous  number  of  works; 
St.  Epiphanius  declared  that  they  exceeded  6,000.  In  212  Origen 
visited  Rome,  and  in  215  he  went  to  Arabia  to  instruct  a  governor  of 
that  country.  To  his  prodigious  learning  and  labors,  Origen  united 
great  austerity  and  sanctity  of  life.  He  was  called  the  "Adamantine" 
and  "  Brazen-brained,"  both  on  account  of  his  unwearied  diligence 
and  asceticism.  Interpreting  too  liberally  the  passage  in  Matthew 
xix.  12,  he  secretly  emasculated  himself,  though,  afterwards,  in  his 
commentary  on  St.  Matthew,  he  condemned  so  false  an  interpreta- 
tion. This  act  as  well  as  his  ordination  which  he  received  at  Caesa- 
rea,  A.  D.  228,  at  the  hands  of  his  friends  the  bishops  Theoctistus  of 
Caesarea  and  Alexander  of  Jerusalem,  but  without  the  consent  of 
his  ordinary,  caused  Demetrius  to  convene  a  synod,  which,  in  231,  de- 
posed and  excommunicated  Origen.  The  great  scholar,  therefore, 
withdrew  to  Caesarea  of  Palestine,  where  the  most  of  his  after  life 


CLEMENT,  OIUQEN  AND  TERTULLIAN.  78 

was  spent  and  where  he  opened  a  second  school,  which  became  the 
centre  of  a  learned  circle.  It  was  at  Caesarea  that  Origen  completed 
his  most  famous  works,  his  commentaries  and  homilies,  his  Hexapla 
and  the  work  against  Celsus.  Having  suffered  cruel  treatment  in  the 
Decian  persecution,  Origen  died,  A,  D.  254,  at  Tyre,  where  his  grave 
was  yet  to  be  seen  in  the  time  of  the  crusades. 

199.  The  writings  of  Origen  were  of  many  kinds,  philosophical, 
exegetical,  polemical  and  practical.  Most  of  them  •  are  lost.  Of  his 
works  that  have  survived  the  most  important  are;  1.  The  work  "  On 
Principles,"  which,  as  handed  down  to  us,  confessedly  contains  many 
erroneous  assertions;  2.  His  book  "Against  Celsus";  3.  Numerous 
commentaries  and  homilies  on  the  Sacred  Scriptures;  4.  Fragments  of 
his  famous  "  Hexapla,"  w^hich  was  a  critical  edition  of  the  Old  Tes- 
tament, giving  in  six  parallel  columns  as  many  different  texts  in 
Greek  and  Hebrew.  This  gigantic  work  of  fifty  volumes  perished  in 
the  capture  of  Caesarea  by  the  Saracens,  A.  D.  653.  A  smaller  edi- 
tion, the  "  Tatrapla,"  contained  only  four  versions.  For  these  works, 
as  well  as  his  homilies  and  learned  commentaries,  Origen  is  deserv- 
edly called  the  "  Father  of  Biblical  Exegesis."  The  condemnation 
of  Origen  by  Demetrius  gave  rise  to  a  controversy  in  the  Church,  in 
which  the  bishops  of  Achaia,  Palestine,  Phoenicia  and  Arabia  sided 
with  Origen;  while  Rome  and  Alexandria  were  arrayed  against  him. 

200.  Although  serious  errors  are  pointed  out  in  the  works  of 
Origen,  yet  it  must  be  remembered  that  in  his  letter  to  Pope  Fabian 
he  regretted  having  written  them  and,  besides,  complained  that 
his  writings  had  been  tampered  with  and  mterpolated.  Indeed, 
in  the  first  ages  of  the  Church  it  was  no  uncommon  thing  for  great 
men,  that,  not  only  their  own  works  were  interpolated,  but  entire 
books  circulated  in  their  names.  The  works  of  Origen  particularly 
were  to  a  great  extent  corrupted  at  the  close  of  the  fourth  century, 
and  this  explains  why  the  great  scholar  was  called  by  some  the  father 
of  Arianism.  It  cannot  be  proved  that  Origen  was  knowingly  in  the 
wrong,  much  less  that  he  was  formally  heretical.  It  should  likewise 
be  borne  in  mind  that  this  gifted  scholar  was  one  of  the  first  builders 
of  Theological  Science,  and  that  some  of  the  erroneous  opinions  which 
he  advanced  treated  of  points  which  as  yet  had  not  been  defined  by 
the  Church.  That  Origen  and  his  writings  were  ever  condemned, 
either  by  any  Pope  or  by  the  Fifth  General  Council,  is,  at  least,  very 
doubtful ;  the  supposed  documents  in  evidence  of  his  condemnation 
many  think,  are  spurious. 

201.  Tertullian,  the  first  writer  of  the  Latin  Church,  was  bom  in 
Carthage,  A.  D.  160,  and  brought  up  a  Pagan.   He  was  an  advocate  by 


74  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

profession,  a  man  of  great  learning  and  of  remarkably  strong  intellect 
and  character.  His  conversion  took  place  in  mature  life,  about  the 
year  190,  being  ordained  priest  soon  after.  He  was  a  zealous  and 
valiant  champion  of  Catholicity  against  all  forms  of  infidelity  and 
heresy  until  the  year  203,  when,  captivated  by  the  exaggerated  aus- 
terity and  severe  morality  of  the  Montanists,  he  was  drawn  into  their 
heresy.  That  he  afterwards  became  reconciled  with  the  Church,  is 
surmised  by  some,  but  cannot  be  ascertained.  He  died  in  250,  or, 
according  to  some  authorities,  even  as  early  as  220. 

202.  As  a  writer,  TertuUian  was  profound  and  fruitful  and 
showed  great  acuteness  and  dialectic  dexterity ;  but  the  style,  resem- 
bling the  asperity  of  his  mind,  is  inelegant  and  intricate.  He  first 
used  the  terms, "  substantia,"  "  trinitas,"  "  satisf  actio,"  "  sacramentum," 
etc.  His  numerous  writings  relate  to  the  most  varied  points  of  Chris- 
tian doctrine  and  of  Christian  life  ;  they  were  well  known  and  highly 
appreciated  in  the  early  Church.  St.  Cyprian,  who  read  them  daily, 
in  asking  for  them  was  accustomed  to  say  :  "  Da  magistrum  " — "  Give 
me  my  master."  His  most  important  works  are,  "The  Apology," 
"  On  the  Proscription  of  Heretics,"  and  "  On  Penance,"  which  were 
written  before  the  author  became  a  Montanist.  Yet  even  the  works 
which  TertuUian  wrote  after  his  apostasy  are  highly  valuable,  because 
of  the  testimony  they  contain  as  to  the  faith  and  practices  of  the  early 
Church.  Among  these  are  the  works:  "Against  Valentinian;" 
"Against  Marcion;"  "On  the  Body  of  Christ;"  "On  the  Resurrec- 
tion "  of  the  body,  and  a  number  of  other  treatises. 


SECTION    XXIIII. OTHER    CHRISTIAN   WRITERS. 

Controversial  Works  by  the  Apologists — Agrippa  Castor — Rhodon — Apol- 
lonius — Cajus — Asterius  Urbanus — Archelaus — Alexander  of  Lycopolis — 
Hegesippus— His  Church-History— Julius  Africanus— His  Chronography 
— Hippolytus— His  Writings— Anatolius — Commodianus— His  "Instruc- 
tions"—St.  Pamphylus— St.  Methodius— St.  Dionysius  of  Corinth  and 
others — ^Writings  of  Dionysius  the  Areopagite — ^Apostolical  Constitutions 
— Apostolical  Canons. 

203.  The  Church,  as  we  have  seen,  in  this  period  possessed  a 
learned  body  of  apologetical  and  controversial  writers.  The  early 
apologists  contended  with  vigor  not  only  against  Pagans,  but  also 
against  heretics.  Thus  Justin  Martyr  and  Theophilus  of  Antioch 
wrote  against  the  Marcionites ;  Miltiades  against  the  Montanists; 
Apollinaris  of  Hierapolis,  besides  various  other  works,  wrote  against 


OTHER  CHRISTIAN  WRITERS.  76 

the  Montanists  and  the  Enkratites.  We  have  much  to  regret  in  the 
loss  of  the  numerous  works  of  Melito,  the  learned  bishop  of  Sardes, 
"  On  the  Church,"  "  On  Baptism,"  "  On  the  Lord's  Day,"  etc. 

204.  The  other  champions  of  the  orthodox  faith  against  heresy 
were:  Agrippa  Castor  who  under  Hadrian  published  a  learned  refu- 
tation against  the  Gnostic  Basilides  ;  Rhodon,  disciple  and  successor 
of  Tatian  in  the  Roman  Catechetical  School  under  Pope  Soter,  who 
wrote  several  works  against  heretics,  particularly  the  Marcionites ; 
Apollonius,  the  author  of  an  extensive  and  celebrated  work  against 
the  Montanists  of  which  a  few  passages  are  found  in  Eusebius  ;  the 
learned  Roman  priest  Cajus  early  in  the  third  century,  who  held  a 
disputation  with  the  Montanist  leader  Proclus  which  he  aftewards 
published  in  the  form  of  a  controversial  dialogue  ;  Asterius  Urbanus, 
a  presbyter  or  bishop  in  Asia  Minor  in  the  first  half  of  the  third  cen- 
tury, who  published  a  treatise  against  the  Montanists,  in  which  he 
gives  an  account  of  the  tragic  end  of  their  founder,  and  Archelaus, 
bishop  of  Caschar  in  Mesopotamia  about  A.  D.  278,  who  left  an  ac- 
count of  the  origin  of  Mani  and  of  the  disputation  which  he  held  with 
that  heresiarch.  Another  writer  upon  Manicheism  whose  work  has 
reached  us,  was  Alexander,  bishop  of  Lycopolis,  who  lived  toward 
the  end  of  the  third  century,  and  who  before  his  conversion  had  him- 
self been  a  Manichean. 

205.  Besides  the  fathers  and  writers  already  named,  a  few  others 
deserve  to  be  mentioned.  Hegessipus,  a  Jewish  convert,  who  is 
called  the  first  church  historian,  lived  during  the  reigns  of  Hadrian 
and  the  Antonines.  Desirous  of  learning  the  doctrines  handed  down 
by  the  Apostles,  he  made  a  journey  from  Jerusalem  to  Rome,  visiting 
many  churches  on  the  way.  The  result  of  his  enquiries  and  collec- 
tions was  his  "  Five  Books  of  Ecclesiastical  Events,"  of  which  noth- 
ing remains  but  the  paragraphs  quoted  by  Eusebius.  Julius  Africanus, 
who  died  about  the  year  232,  was  the  author  of  a  "Chronography"  in 
five  books,  containing  a  history  of  the  world  from  the  Creation  to 
the  year  221:  Only  disjointed  parts  of  it  are  extant.  We  have  from 
him  also  two  letters,  the  one  to  Origen  questioning  the  scriptural  au- 
thority of  the  story  of  Susanna,  and  the  other  to  Aristides  on  the  gene- 
alogies of  Matthew  and  Luke.  Of  the  letters  of  St.  Alexander  of 
Jerusalem,  the  founder  of  the  library  which  Eusebius  consulted  at 
Jerusalem,  only  a  few  scattered  pieces  are  collected  in  the  writings  of 
the  latter.     He  died  a  martyr  in  the  Decian  Persecution. 

206.  Hippolytus,  a  Roman  presbyter,  who  flourished  in  the  first 
half  of  the  third  century,  was  a  pupil  of  St.  Irenaeus  and  the  head  of 
a  learned  school  at  Rome.    He  was  a  valiant  champion  of  orthodoxy 


76  HIST  OB  Y  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

against  the  Patripassians,  but  afterwards  fell  into  the  opposite  heresy, 
maintaining  the  inferiority  of  the  Son  to  the  Father.  He  was  a  bit- 
ter opponent  of  the  Popes  Zepherinus  and  Calixtus,  and,  when  the 
latter  ascended  the  papal  chair,  he  figured  as  an  anti-pope.  He  was, 
however,  reconciled  with  the  Church  and  died  a  martyr  about  A.  D. 
235  under  Maximin.  In  1557,  a  statue  of  St.  Hippolytus — the  most 
ancient  of  the  kind — was  found  at  Rome,  which  represents  him  as 
bishop  of  Portus,  an  unknown  see,  and  is  inscribed  with  the  titles  of 
some  of  his  works.  As  a  writer,  Hippolytus  was,  after  Origen,  per- 
haps the  most  prominent  of  his  age.  His  writings  comprised  exeget- 
ical,  historical,  doctrinal  and  controversial  treatises.  His  great  work 
entitled  "  Philosophumena  "  or  "  Refutation  of  all  Heresies  "  in  ten 
books,  which  was  discovered  in  a  monastery  at  Mount  Athos  in  1842, 
has  thrown  light  on  many  important  questions  relating  to  the  early 
Church.  In  it,  however,  the  author  basely  misrepresents  the  charac- 
ter of  Pope  Calixtus  and  his  predecessor  Zepherinus.  His  other 
works  extant  are  "  On  Antichrist,"  "  Against  the  Noetian  Heresy," 
"  Address  to  the  Jews,"  "  On  Gifts,"  etc. 

207.  St.  Anatolius,  an  Alexandrian  by  birth,  was  one  of  the  most 
learned  of  his  age.  He  was  made  bishop  of  Laodicea  in  Syria  in 
270.  Of  his  works,  which  were  not  numerous  but  very  valuable,  only 
meagre  portions  have  been  preserved.  The  year  of  his  death  is  not 
known.  Commodianus,  about  the  end  of  the  third  century,  was  the  - 
writer  of  "  Instructions  in  favor  of  Christian  Discipline."  St.  Pam- 
phylus,  born  in  Berytus  and  a  presbyter  of  Caesarea  in  Palestine, 
wrote  an  "Apology  for  Origen"  in  six  books,  of  which  only  a  por- 
tion remains  in  a  translation  by  Rufinus.  He  was  the  founder  of  the 
celebrated  library  at  Caesarea.  To  him  also  is  ascribed  the  division 
of  the  Acts  of  the  Apostles  into  chapters.  He  suffered  martyrdom 
at  Caesarea,  A.  D.  303. 

208.  Contemporary  with  him  and  an  opponent  of  Origen,  was 
St.  Methodius,  bishop  of  Tyre.  We  have  of  him  a  treatise  on  vir- 
ginity entitled  "The  Banquet  of  the  Ten  Virgins."  Of  his  other 
works  against  Origen,  "  On  the  Resurrection,"  against  the  Valentin- 
ians,  etc.,  we  have  only  extracts.  He  died  a  martyr  about  A.  D.  311. 
To  these  should  be  added  the  names  of  St.  Dionysius  of  Corinth  and 
of  Appion,  both  flourishing  in  the  second  century  and  noted  as  wri- 
ters, the  former  of  eight  epistles,  the  other  of  a  work  on  the  Hexaem- 
eron;  Serapion,  bishop  of  Antioch,  A.  D.  190-199,  who  wrote  against 
the  Montanists  and  on  other  subjects;  the  Popes  Cornelins,  Stephen 
and  Dionysius,  who  were  the  authors  of  the  doctrinal  letters,  which 
they  addressed  on  various  matters  to  St.  Cyprian,  to  the  bishops  Fa 


EARLY  CHRISTIAN  SCHOOLS.  77 

bian  and  Firmilian,  to  Dionysius  of  Alexandria.  Victorinus,  bishop 
of  Petau,  who  died  a  martyr  under  Diocletian,  wrote  comments 
on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  which  with  the  exception  of  a  few  frag- 
ments are  all  lost. 

'  209.  What  are  known  as  the  writings  of  Dionysius  the  Areopa- 
gite  are  not  genuine,  as  they  were  written  not  earlier  than  the  fourth 
or  fifth  century.  The  collection  of  the  so-called  "Apostolical  Con- 
stitutions" in  eight  books,  and  that  of  the  eighty-five  "Apostolical 
Canons"  were  made,  at  least  partly,  in  the  second  and  third  centu- 
ries. Though  not  coming  from  the  Apostles,  yet  they  are  very  an- 
cient and  faithfully  represent  the  discipline  of  the  Church  in  that  pe- 
riod, as  well  as  clearly  demonstrate  the  mind  of  Churchmen  to  be  the 
same,  then  as  now. 

SECTION  XXIV. THE    EARLY    CHRISTIAN  SCHOOLS    OR   LYCEUMS 

VERSIONS   AND   CANON   OF  THE   SACRED  SCRIPTURES. 

Catechetical  Schools  of  Alexandria — Pantsenus — His  Successors  in  the  Office 
of  Catechist — Justin  Martyr  founds  a  Catechetical  School  at  Rome — His 
Successors  in  the  Office  of  Catechist — Schools  in  Gaul  and  Caesarea — Ex- 
planation of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  the  principal  Part  of  Instruction — 
The  Septuagint  Version  generally  used  in  the  early  Church — Other  Ver- 
sions of  the  Old  Testament — ^Various  Editions  of  the  Septuagint — ^The 
Peshito — The  Itala  or  Ancient  Vulgate — Canon  of  the  New  Testament 
already  firmly  established — The  Muratorian  Fragment. 

210.  The  reader  has  observed  that  frequent  mention  is  made  in 
our  reference  to  ancient  documents  of  grand  centres  for  Doctrinal 
Exposition,  styled  Christian  Schools,  which  were  established  in  vari- 
ous places  as  early  as  the  middle  of  the  second  century.  Of  these 
schools  none  is  better  known  than  the  Catechetical  School  of  Alexan- 
dria. It  is  said  to  have  been  founded  by  St.  Mark  himself  for  the 
instruction  of  converts.  The  first  of  its  masters  of  whom  history  has 
left  any  account  is  Pantaenus.  Born,  probably,  in  Sicily,  he  was  con 
verted  by  one  of  the  disciples  of  the  Apostles  and  was  appointed  mas- 
ter of  the  Catechetical  School  by  Bishop  Julian,  about  the  year  179. 
The  school  which  was  originally  intended  solely  for  converts  was 
under  Pantasnus,  developed  on  a  wider  basis  and  open  to  all.  It 
henceforth  assumed  an  importance  which  no  other  school  of  those 
times  ever  attained.  Besides  expounding  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  Pan- 
taenus also  lectured  on  philosophy.  His  teachings  were  chiefly  oral. 
He  wrote  valued  commentaries  on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  of  which  only 
a  few  scanty  specimens  remain.     Pantaenus,  who  died  about  the  year 


78  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHVBCIl 

212,  was  succeeded  in  the  school  by  his  pupil  Clement  of  Alexandria, 
A.  D.  191-202,  whose  successors  again  were  Origen,  Ileraclas,  Diony- 
sius  the  Great,  Pierius,  sumamed  the  Younger,  Origen,  Achilles,  The- 
ognostus,  Serapion  and  Peter  the  Martyr. 

211.  Justin  Martyr,  according  to  Eusebius  and  St.  Jerome,  was 
the  founder  of  a  school  at  Rome,  which,  like  that  of  Alexandria,  was 
intended  for  the  instruction  of  catechumens  and  to  oppose  the  here- 
tics, particularly  the  Gnostics.  After  the  death  of  Justin,  his  disciple 
Tatian  conducted  the  Roman  School  till  about  the  year  172,  when 
Rhodon,  his  disciple,  assumed  its  leadership.  Rhodon  was  succeeded, 
probably  by  Cajus  and  the  latter  by  Hippolytus.  We  read  of  simi- 
lar institutions  in  Gaul  under  the  direction  of  St.  Irenaeus,  whose 
pupils  were  the  above-named  Cajus  and  Hippolytus,  and  at  Jerusalem, 
which  Clement  of  Alexandria  opened  after  his  flight  in  the  time  of 
the  Decian  persecution.  The  school  opened  by  Origen  at  Caesarea, 
after  leaving  Alexandria  in  231,  and  especially  the  Syrian  School 
founded  at  Antioch  by  the  presbyters  Dorotheus  and  Lucian,  who 
died  martyrs  in  311,  became  important  centres  of  learning  in  the  fol- 
lowing period. 

212.  In  all  these  schools,  the  reading  and  explanation  of  the  Sa- 
cred Scriptures  formed  the  principal  part  of  instruction.     The  Scrip- 
tures of  both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament  were  read  in  Greek, 
the  Latins  being  even  then  well  acquainted  with  that  language.     In 
the  reading  of  the  Old  Testament,  the  early  Christians  generally  used 
the  Septuagint  version,  which  was  considered  divinely  inspired.   This 
version    was  held  in  high  veneration  even  by  the  Jews   until    the 
Christians  quoted  it  against  them,  when  the  Rabbins  affected  to  con- 
demn it.     Three  new  Greek  versions  were  produced,  which  were  in- 
tended to  supersede  the  Septuagint.      The  first  by  Aquila,  a  Jewish 
proselyte  of  Sinope  in  Pontus,  under  Hadrian;  a  second  by  Symma- 
chus,'  an  Ebionite  of  Ephesus,  under  Severus  ;  and  a  third  by  Theodo- 
tion,  another  Ebionite,  who  lived  in  the  reign  of  Commodus.     These 
versions  Origen  republished  in  his  famous  Hexapla,  which  contained, 
besides  the  original  Hebrew,  the  same  in  Greek  characters,  and  the 
Septuagint.      Of   the   Hexaplarian    Septuagint,  a  new  edition,  pub- 
lished by  Pamphilus  and  Eusebius,  was  adopted  in  the  churches  of 
Palestine.     Other  editions  of  the  Septuagint  appeared,  one  by  Lu- 
cian of  Antioch  and  another  by  Hesychius,  an  Egyptian  bishop;  the 
former  being  used  in  the  churches  of  Asia  Minor  and  Constantinople, 
the  latter  in  those  of  Egypt. 

213.     One  of  the  oldest  and  most  important  renditions  of  the  Bi- 
ble, the  Syriac  version,  called  the  Peshito  or    "  Simple,"  appeared 


EARL  T  CHRIS  TIAN  SCHOOLS.  79 

probably  at  Edessa  about  the  middle  of  the  second  century;  some 
refer  it  even  to  the  time  of  St.  Jude  Thaddaeus,  the  Apostle.  The 
Peshito,  which  was  made  from  the  original  text,  that  is,  the  Old  Tes- 
tament from  the  Hebrew,  and  the  New  from  the  Greek,  was  held  in 
high  repute  by  all  the  Christians  of  Syria.  Latin  versions  are  known 
to  have  existed  in  the  earliest  ages  of  Christianity.  Of  these  the 
most  famous  was  the  ancient  Vulgate,  also  called  Italic,  although  it  is 
believed  to  have  been  made  in  Africa.  It  was  made,  if  not  in  the 
age  of  the  Apostles,  at  least  in  the  second  century,  and  was  translated 
from  the  Greek  copy  (Septuagint)  of  the  Old  Testament  and  from 
Greek  copies  of  books  of  the  Old  Testament  not  found  in  the  Sep- 
tuagint, as  well  as  from  the  Greek  copies  of  the  books  of  the  New 
Testament.  This  version  was  used  in  the  Latin  churches  till  the 
sixth  century,  when  it  was  superseded  by  the  New  Vulgate  of  St. 
Jerome. 

214.  If  we  except  a  few  of  the  Apostolical  Epistles,  the  Canon 
of  the  New  Testament  was  firmly  established  as  early  as  the  middle 
of  the  second  century.  Even  the  Apostolic  Fathers  quote  reveren- 
tially the  four  Gospels,  the  Acts,  the  Apocalypse  and  nearly  all  of 
the  Apostolical  Letters.  St.  Jerome,  Clement  of  Alexandria  and  Ter- 
tullian  likewise  quote  all  the  Scriptures  of  the  New  Testament  as 
divine,  excepting  only  the  second  Epistle  of  Peter  and  the  third  of 
St.  John;  the  Muratorian  fragment,  enumerating  the  same  books, 
omits  only  four  of  the  Apostolical  Letters.  This  important  docu- 
ment, which  certainly  belongs  to  the  second  century,  may  be  called 
the  earliest  Canon  or  list  extant  of  the  books  of  the  New  Testament. 
The  Peshito  or  Syriac  version,  likewise  contains  all  the  books  com- 
prising afterwards  the  New  Testament,  with  the  exception  of  the 
Apocalypse  and  four  of  the  Epistles. 

215.  The  Canon  of  the  New  Testament  as  presented  by  Origen 
is  nearly  the  same  as  that  which  the  Church  determined  and  decreed 
later.  He  gives  the  actual  names  of  twenty-seven  books  of  the  New 
Testament  as  integral  parts  of  the  Scripture,  adding  that  five  books 
(five  Apostolical  letters)  were  not  yet  generally  admitted.  Later  on, 
Eusebius,  in  his  catalogue  of  the  New  Testament  Scriptures,  classi- 
fies them  into  such  as  were  universally  acknowledged  and  those  that 
were  not  generally  recognized.  Among  the  disputed  books,  he  men- 
tions the  Epistles  of  St.  James  and  of  St.  Jude,  the  second  Epistle  of 
St.  Peter,  and  the  second  and  third  of  St.  John.  The  divergencies  of 
early  Christian  Fathers  with  regard  to  the  Canon  of  the  New  Testa- 
ment consist  merely  in  this,  that  the  authenticity  of  a  few  books, 
though  conceded  by  a  majority  of  the  churches,  was  yet  doubtful  to 
the  minds  of  some  ecclesiastical  writers. 


80  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


CHAPTER  V. 


HISTORY  OF  HERESIES  AND  SCHISMS. 


I.    HERESIES. 


SECTION  XXV. HERESIES  DURING  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE. 


Division  among  Judaic  Christians — Schism  of  the  Judaists  under  Thebutis — 
Ebionites  and  Docetae— Difference  in  their  Christology— Church  of  ^lia 
Capitolina— Nazarenes— Cerinthus— His  Doctrines— His  View  of  the  Mil- 
lenium— Simon  Magus — Simonians — ^Dositheus  and  Menander — ^Nicolai- 
tans. 

216.  Heresies  began  even  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  for  in  their 
epistles  they  strongly  reprehend  heretics,  especially  the  Judaizing 
teachers.  The  Judaic  Christians,  who  after  the  example  of  Our  Lord 
and  the  Apostles  continued  to  observe  the  Mosaical  ceremonies,  soon 
separated  into  two  distinct  classes.  The  more  moderate  ones,  called 
"  Petrines,"  though  following  the  Mosaic  law,  did  not  insist  upon  its 
observance  as  a  condition  of  salvation.  The  rigid  Judaists,  on  the 
contrary,  held  that  the  keeping  of  the  law  was  obligatory  on  all,  and 
were  desirous  of  imposing  it  also  on  the  Gentile  Christians.  They 
would  not  acknowledge  St.  Paul,  who  opposed  their  influence  so 
strongly,  as  an  Apostle.  These  turbulent  Judaists  gave  no  little 
trouble  at  Antioch  about  the  year  50,  and  later  on  at  Corinth  and  in 
Galatia,  their  importunity  causing  the  holding  of  the  Council  of 
Jerusalem.  The  virgin  purity  of  the  Church,  as  Hegesippus  remarks, 
was  first  disturbed  by  the  Judaists  of  Jerusalem.  When,  after  the 
death  of  St.  James,  his  brother  St.  Simeon  was  elected  to  succeed 
him,  the  discontented  Judaists  chose  a  certain  Thebutis  for  their 
bishop.  They  continued  the  schism  even  after  their  migration  to 
Pella  and,  adopting  the  ascetic  discipline  of  the  Essenes,  who  lived 
on  the  western  side  of  the  Dead  Sea,  founded  the  sect  known  as  the 
Ebionites. 

2lY.     The  teaching  of  the  Ebionites  was  an  odd  mixture  of  Chris- 
tianity and  Judaism.     They  accepted  only  the  "  Gospel  of  the  He- 


HERESIES  DURING  THE  APOSTOLIC  AGE.  81 

brews,"  adhered  to  the  Mosaic  Law  and  condemned  the  Apostle  Paul 
as  an  apostate  from  the  Law.  They,  indeed,  acknowledged  Jesus  as 
tlie  Messiah,  but  denied  His  divinity.  Concerning  the  birth  of  Christ 
tliey  were  divided  ;  some  admitted  His  supernatural  birth  of  a  virgin; 
others  held  that  Christ  was  only  man  and  the  son  of  Joseph  and 
Mary. 

218.  The  Docetae  wandered  into  the  opposite  extreme.  While 
they  asserted  the  Divinity  of  Jesus  Christ,  they  denied  the  reality  of 
His  human  form  and  nature,  and  consequently  the  mystery  of  His  In- 
carnation. The  Docetae,  or  Phantasiasts,  as  they  were  also  called, 
granted  to  Christ  only  a  seeming  body  and  maintained  that  His  suf- 
ferings and  death  were  only  apparent.  These  two  clashing  heresies 
St.  John  undertook  to  refute  in  his  Gospel  and  Epistles.  While  the 
Ebionites,  who  were  classed  with  the  Jews,  were  forbidden  to  enter 
Hadrian's  Aelia  Capitolina,  the  Petrines,  having  renounced  Judaism, 
were  allowed  to  return  from  their  exile  under  Marcus,  their  first  gen- 
tile bishop,  and  more  firmly  cemented  their  union  with  the  Church. 

219.  An  obscure  remnant  of  the  Petrines,  however,  clinging  te- 
naciously to  their  Jewish  practices,  remained  excluded  from  the  Holy 
City  and  formed  a  schismatical  party  called  Nazarenes.  The  Naza- 
renes  held  to  the  law  of  Moses,  but  did  not  insist  on  its  observance 
as  essential  to  salvation.  They  believed  the  divinity  of  Christ,  His 
Licarnation  and  supernatural  birth  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  also 
recognized  St.  Paul  as  the  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles.  The  Nazarenes 
and  the  Ebionites,  who  both  had  their  seat  in  the  Decapolis  beyond 
the  Jordan,  disappeared  from  history  about  the  middle  of  the  fifth 
century. 

220.  Cerinthus  also  considered  the  observance  of  the  Mosaic  Law 
necessary  for  salvation.  This  heretic,  coming  from  Alexandria,  re- 
sided at  Ephesus  while  St.  John  the  Apostle  dwelt  in  that  city.  He 
ilenied  the  identity  of  Jesus  with  Christ,  and  maintained  that  Jesus, 
"  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary,"  was  but  a  mere  man  who  in  baptism  re- 
ceived the  Holy  Ghost,  i.  e.,  the  Christ;  and  that  Christ  withdrew 
from  the  man  Jesus  at  the  crucifixion.  God  being  immaterial  could 
not,  he  said,  be  the  Creator  of  the  material  world  which  was  made 
by  an  Angel  called  Demiurge.  Cerinthus  believed  in  the  coming  of 
the  millennium  on  the  earth,  when  Christ  would  found  an  earthly 
kingdom,  which  would  consist  in  the  enjoyment  of  sensual  pleasures. 

221.  Simon  Magus,  who  was  called  the  father  of  all  heresies,  was 
a  native  of  Githon  in  Samaria.  By  his  skill  in  magic  he  attained 
great  influence  among  his  countrymen  and  gained  many  followers. 
He  received  baptism  from  the  deacon  Philip.     When  Peter  and  John 


82  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

came  to  Samaria,  Simon,  seeing  the  miraculous  gifts  bestowed  by 
these  Apostles,  offered  money  to  them  to  obtain  the  power  of  confer- 
ring the  Holy  Spirit,  for  which  he  was  severely  rebuked.  He  became 
the  founder  of  a  sect  named  after  him  Simonians.  He  pretended  to 
be  the  Messiah  who  appeared  in  Samaria  as  the  Father,  in  Judea  as 
the  Son,  and  among  the  Gentiles  as  the  Holy  Ghost.  A  certain  Helen, 
a  public  prostitute  from  Tyre,  became  a  follower  of  Simon,  who  called 
her  Eunoia,  i.  e.,  the  first  thought  that  proceeded  from  him.  This 
magician  is  said  to  have  met  a  tragic  end  in  attempting  to  imitate  the 
Ascension  of  Our  Lord.  Another  account  has  it  that  he  perished 
while,  wishing  to  rival  Christ  in  His  Resurrection,  he  had  himself 
buried  alive.  The  Simonians,  also  called  Helenians,  were  accused  of 
the  vilest  debauchery,  and  worshipped  their  founder  as  Jupiter  and 
Helen  as  Minerva.  They  soon  split  into  several  parties,  of  which  the 
Dositheans  and  Menandrians  were  the  most  notorious. 

222.  Dositheus,  the  companion  of  Simon  Magus,  claimed  to  be 
the  great  prophet  announced  by  Moses.  He  had  thirty  disciples, 
among  them  was  a  woman  whom  he  termed  Luna.  He  asserted 
the  existence  of  the  world  from  eternity  and  the  necessity  of  observ- 
ing the  Mosaic  Law.  He  led  a  very  austere  life  and  is  said  to  have 
died  of  hunger.  Menander  was  a  disciple  of  Simon  Magus.  Like  his 
master,  he  practiced  magical  arts  and  adopted  essentially  the  same 
system.  He  claimed  to  be  the  Messiah,  taught  the  creation  of  the 
world  by  angels,  and  asserted  that  his  baptism  imparted  perpetual 
youth  and  immortality. 

223.  The  Nicolaitans  at  Ephesus  and  other  cities  of  Asia  Minor, 
were  a  sect  remarkable  for  their  licentious  principles.  They  held  that 
the  eating  of  meats  sacrificed  to  idols,  adultery  and  lewdness  were  not 
sinful.  Nicolas,  one  of  the  seven  deacons,  is  falsely  claimed  by  them 
as  their  founder.  Cerinthus,  Simon  Magus,  and  the  other  Samaritan 
sectaries  are  usually  mentioned  as  the  precursors  of  Gnosticism. 


I 


GNO S  TIC  HERESIES.  83 

SECTION    XXVI. HERESIES    AFTER    THE    APOSTOLIC    AGE THE    GNOSTIC 

SECTS VARIOUS    GNOSTIC    SCHOOLS. 

Origin  of  Gnosticism — Chief  Doctrines — Dualism — Theory*  of  Emanation — 
Idea  of  Aeons — Origin  of  Evil — Chief  Gnostic  Ideas — Difterences  be- 
tween Egyptian  and  Syrian  Gnostics  concerning  the  Person  of  Christ — 
Idea  of  Redemption — Classification  of  Men — Ethical  Differences  between 
Gnostics— Carpocrates— Character  of  his  Doctrines— Basilides— His  Doc- 
trines concerning  Christ— Valentinus  and  his  School— Ophites— Sethites 
and  Cainites— Syrian  Gnostics— Saturninus — His  Religious  System— ^Bar- 
desanes— Tatian,  the  Founder  of  the  Enkratites— Marcion  and  his  Disci- 
ple Mark— The  Gnostic  Sect  of  the  Elkesaites— Their  Distinctive  Tenet. 

224.  The  name  "Gnostics"  (from  Gnosis — knowledge),  w^as 
given  to  a  variety  of  sects  in  the  early  days  of  the  Church,  each 
claiming  a  superior  knowledge  of  Christianity  and  things  divine.  In 
their  attempt  to  reconcile  Christian  dogma  with  human  reason,  the 
Gnostics  blended  with  the  faith  of  Christ  many  obscure  and  fail" 
tastic  theories  derived  from  pagan  philoso]3hies  and  the  various  reli- 
gious systems  of  the  Orient.  Hence,  Gnosticism  is  view^ed  as  a  fusion 
of  Christian  ideas  wdth  Hellenic  philosophy,  chiefly  that  of  Plato 
and  Philo,  and  of  Oriental  theosophy.  Moehler  traces  its  origin 
to  an  intense  and  exaggerated  Christian  zeal,  seeking  some  practical 
solutions  of  the  problems  of  sin  and  evil.  The  underlying  principles 
of  all  Gnostic  systems  were  "  Dualism,"  or  the  theory  w^hich  accepts 
two  original  principles,  the  one  good,  the  other  evil;  and  the  "  Ema- 
nation "  theory,  or  development  of  the  two  principles  into  a  series  of 
beings  of  their  nature  and  kind.  The  questions  which  Gnosticism 
undertook  to  answ^er  regarded  the  origin  of  the  visible  world,  of  mat- 
ter and  of  evil;  the  union  of  the  Spiritual  and  Material,  or  Mind  and 
Matter;  the  relations  between  Christianity,  Judaism  and  Paganism. 

225.  The  chief  Gnostic  ideas  may  be  summed  up  under  the  fol- 
lowing heads  :  1.  The  Supreme  God,  called  Bythos,  i.  e.,  Depth,  be- 
cause he  dwells  in  the  abyss,  is  infinitely  separated  from  the  material 
creation;  he  is  opposed  by  "  Hyle,"  or  matter,  which  is  eternal,  but  a 
shapeless  mass  and  a  positively  evil  substance,  yea,  the  source  of  all 
evil.  2.  From  Bythos  emanated  a  series  of  divine  spirits,  or  inferior 
deities,  called  "Aeons,"  who  compose  and  inhabit  the  "  Pleroma," 
i.  e.,  kingdom  of  light.  3.  The  maker  and  ruler  of  the  material  w^orld 
is  the  Demiurge,  Avho,  according  to  some  of  the  sect,  is  a  good  but 
limited  being,  a  creature  of  the  Aeons,  while  other  Gnostics  call  him 
an  evil  being  opposed  and  hostile  to  Bythos.  4.  The  Demiurge,  w^ho 
in  the  Old  Law  revealed  himself  as  Jehovah,  also  created  man.     Hu- 


84  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

man  souls  are  spiritual  and  of  divine  origin,  but  their  union  with 
material  bodies  is  unnatural  and  the  effect  of  compulsion.  5.  To  re- 
deem the  enclosed  spirits,  the  Aeon  Christ  was  sent  by  Bythos  into 
the  world,  who,  according  to  the  Egyptian  Gnostics,  united  himself 
with  the  man  Jesus.  The  Syrian  branch  of  Gnostics,  on  the  contrary, 
taught  that  Christ  had  no  real  human  body,  but  only  assumed  an 
ethereal  body,  or  phantom  of  a  body.  Docetism  was  the  common 
doctrine  of  nearly  all  the  Gnostics.  6.  The  redemption  of  man  con- 
sists in  his  superior  knowledge  of  God,  and  in  making  man  conscious 
of  his  divine  origin.  The  sufferings  and  death  of  Christ  being  only 
illusory,  are  of  no  avail  in  the  work  of  redemption.  7.  Adopting  the 
Platonic  Trichotomy  which  teaches  a  three-fold  nature  of  man — 
spirit,  soul  and  body — the  Gnostics  distinguished  three  classes  of 
men:  the  Pneumatics,  or  Spirituals,  are  the  Gnostics;  the  Psychites,  or 
animal  men,  are  the  Catholics;  and  the  Hyligues,  or  materials,  are 
the  Pagans. 

226.  These  theories  had  also  a  practical  bearing,  which  on  the 
the  one  side  degenerated  into  a  false  asceticism  and  a  repulsive  rigor- 
ism ;  and,  on  the  other  side,  led  to  a  ^complete  antinomianism,  the 
theory  maintaining  that  good  works  are  useless,  and  that  the  moral 
law  is  not  binding.  The  advocates  of  the  ascetic  tendency  rejected 
matrimony,  the  use  of  meat  and  wine,  and  abstained  from  all  legiti- 
mate pleasures  ;  while  the  antinomists  gave  themselves  up  to  every 
manner  of  debauchery  for  the  purpose,  as  they  pretended,  of  torturing 
and  eventually  destroying  matter.  The  Gnostics  denied  the  resurrec- 
tion of  the  body,  rejected  martyrdom  for  Christ,  and  the  Sacraments 
as  useless,  being  only  material  signs.  They  corrupted  and  mutilated 
the  Sacred  Scriptures,  and,  claiming  to  have  secret  revelations,  pro- 
duced new  Gospels  and  a  multitude  of  histories  in  which  the  actions 
and  discourses  of  Christ  and  His  Apostles  were  adapted  to  their 
respective  tenets.  The  Gnostics  came,  almost .  without  exception, 
from  the  race  of  the  Gentiles,  and  their  principal  founders  were  na- 
tives either  lof  Egypt  or  Syria,  where  they  had  their  own  schools. 

227.  Of  the  Egyptian  school  the  principal  teachers  were:  1.  Car- 
pocrates,  a  native  of  Alexandria  who  flourished  under  the  reign  of 
Hadrian.  He  taught  the  pre-existence  of  human  souls,  the  community 
of  property,  the  indifference  of  all  moral  actions  and  perfect  abandon- 
ment to  an  antinomian  or  lawless  life.  His  son  Epiphanes,  develop- 
ing the  system  of  his  fatlier,  introduced  community  of  wives  on  the 
Ionian  isle  of  Cephalonia,  where  also  a  temple  was  erected  to  his 
honor.  2.  Basilides,  a  Syrian,  taught  at  Alexandria  between  the  years 
125  and  130,  and  became  the  founder  of  a  numerous  sect,  the  Basilid- 


GNOSTIC  HERESIES.  85 

ians,  which  existed  as  late  as  the  fourth  century.  Basilides  and  his  son 
Isidore,  based  their  doctrines  on  the  pretended  prophecies  of  certain 
Oriental  prophets  and  boasted  of  a  secret  tradition  which  they  claimed 
to  have  from  the  Apostle  Matthias,  and  a  certain  Glaucias,  the  inter- 
preter of  St.  Peter.  Jesus  was  to  Basilides  not  the  Redeemer;  he 
was  distinguished  from  other  men  only  in  degree.  The  Redeemer 
was  the  highest  Aeon,  who  was  sent  down  from  the  Supreme  God 
■  and  united  himself  with  the  man  Jesus  at  his  baptism  in  the  Jordan, 
but  left  him  again  in  his  passion.  The  Basilidians  were  grossly  im- 
moral. 

228.  3.  The  system  of  a  certain  Justin,  who  asserted  three  uncre- 
ated principles,  is  a  strange  jumble  of  Jewish  and  Hellenic  ideas.  4. 
Valentinus,  an  Alexandrian  by  birth,  taught  in  Rome  between  the 
years  136  and  140,  when  he  was  excommunicated.  He  died  in  Cyprus 
in  161.  Valentinus  feigned  to  trace  his  conceits  to  a  certain  Theudas, 
the  disciple  of  St.  'Paul.  His  system  of  Gnostic  ideas  is,  of  all,  the  most 
elaborate  and  ingenious,  and  his  sect  was  the  most  widely  spread.  He 
asserted  "  Gnosis,"  or  knowledge,  to  be  superior  to  faith  and  good 
works,  the  latter  being  necessary  to  the  Psychites,  or  Catholics,  but 
not  to  the  Gnostics.  The  doctrine  of  the  Valentinians  concerning  the 
redemption  and  the  person  of  Christ  was  similar  to  that  of  the  Basil- 
idians. Of  the  many  disciples  of  Valentinus  the  most  illustrious  were 
Heracleon,  Ptolemy,  Secundus,  Colobarsus,  and  Marcus,  all  of  whom 
founded  schools. 

229.  5.  The  system  of  the  Ophites,  or  Naasenes,  much  resembled 
that  of  Valentinus.  The  serpent  was  for  them  a  sacred  emblem, 
hence  their  name.  Branches  of  this  abominable  sect  were  (a.)  the 
Sethites,  who  recognized  in  Seth,  the  son  of  Adam,  the  progenitor  of 
the  Pneumatists  and  chief  of  their  school ;  [b.)  the  Cainites,  so  called, 
because  they  revered  Cain,  Cham,  the  Sodomites,  and  other  persons 
branded  in  Holy  Scripture.  They  despised  Jesus  as  the  Messiah  of 
the  Psychites  ;  Judas  Iscariot  was  to  them  the  only  true  Apostle. 
The  moral  character  of  all  Ophite  sects  was,  beyond  all  description, 
repulsively  shameless.  In  their  assemblies  they  practiced  the  execra- 
ble orgies  of  the  Pagans. 

230.  In  the  Syrian  school  the  principal  teachers  were  :  1.  Saturninus 
of  Antioch,  who  lived  in  the  reign  of  Hadrian.  He  maintained  that 
the  visible  world  was  created  by  the  spirits  of  the  seven  planets  ;  that 
men  were  made,  some  by  the  angels  and  some  by  Satan,  and  that 
Christ  appeared  in  a  visible  but  incorporeal  body.  Saturninus  ascribed 
the  origin  of  animal  food  and  marriage  to  Satan,  and  forbade  both  to 
his   followers.     2.    Bardesanes    of  Edessa,  a  man  of  great  learning, 


86  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

lived  in  the  latter  half  of  the  second  century.  He  was  a  convert  from 
Valentinian  Gnosticism,  but  soon  relapsed  into  Gnostic  heresies  and 
became  himself  the  founder  of  a  numerous  sect.  He  and  his  son  Har- 
monius  were  noted  composers  of  elegant  hymns.  3.  Tatian,  the 
apologist  and  disciple  of  Justin  Martyr,  also  embraced  the  Valentin- 
ian heresy.  He  was  the  founder  of  a  sect  called  the  Encratites,  be- 
cause they  abstained  from  wine  and  meats  and  used  only  water  for 
the  Holy  Eucharist. 

231.  Of  the  Gnostics  of  Asia  Minor,  the  one  conspicuous  name  is 
that  of  Marcion,  a  priest  of  Sinope  in  Pontus.  Marcion  had  distin- 
guished himself  by  his  zeal  and  his  ascetical  life,  but,  falling  into  the 
crime  of  incontinence,  he  was  excommunicated  by  his  own  father,  the 
bishop  of  Sinope.  He  came  to  Rome  about  the  year  1.50,  to  apply  for 
re-admission  into  the  Church,  but  was  rejected.  Upon  which  he 
joined  Cerdo,  a  Syrian  Gnostic,  who  had  come  to  Rome  in  the  time 
of  Pope  Hyginus.  Cerdo  maintained  that  the  God  of  the  Old  Law 
and  the  Prophets  was  not  the  Father  of  Jesus  Christ.  Adopting  this 
heresy,  Marcion,  whom  St.  Polycarp  had  called  "the  first-born  of 
Satan,"  taught  an  absolute  distinction  between  the  God  of  the  Chris- 
tians and  the  God  of  the  Jews,  and  asserted  that  the  Church  had 
lapsed  into  Judaism.  He  repudiated  the  Old  Testament  entire,  and 
of  the  New,  he  retained  only  a  mutilated  copy  of  the  Gospels  of  St. 
Luke  and  ten  Epistles  of  St.  Paul.  Marcion  is  said  to  have  repented 
of  his  apostasy,  but,  if  so,  his  reconciliation  with  the  Church  was  pre- 
cluded by  his  speedy  death.  The  most  noisy  of  his  disciples  were 
Mark  and  Apelles.  The  Marcionites  were  very  numerous  in  Italy, 
Egypt,  Palestine,  Asia  Minor,  and  even  in  Persia.  The  sect  had  a 
complete  ecclesiastical  organization,  with  priests  and  bishops,  and  con- 
tinued as  late  as  the  sixth  century.  Hermogenes,  an  African  painter, 
who  denied  the  Creation  of  the  world — i.  e.,  the  production  of  the 
Universe  out  of  nothing — is  also  reckoned  among  the  Gnostic  chiefs, 
though  he  founded  no  sect. 

232.  The  only  Judaist  Gnostics  were  the  Elkesaites,  a  branch  of 
the  Essenian  Ebionites.  A  certain  Elxai,  or  Elkesai,  who  lived  in  the 
time  of  Trajan,  is  supposed  to  have  been  their  founder.  Their  dis- 
tinctive tenet  was  that  the  Spirit  of  God  had  been  incarnate  repeat- 
edly,— first  in  Adam,  then  successively  in  Enoch,  Noe,  Abraham,  etc., 
and  lastly  in  Jesus.  They  maintained  the  necessity  of  a  second  bap- 
tism and  observed  the  ceremonial  law  of  the  Jews,  but  rejected  all 
sacrifice,  as  also  portions  of  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament.  Their 
vagaries  are  embodied  in  the  Clementine  Homilies,  so  called  from 
having  been  attributed  to  Pope  Clement  I.,  from  whom  the  Elkesaites 
traced  their  pretended  secret  revelations. 


THE  MANIGHEAN8.  87 

SECTION  XXVII. THE  MANICHEANS. 

History  of  Manes — Acts  of  Archelausof  Cascar — Account  of  Eusebius — Char- 
acter of  Manicheism — Its  Principal  Doctrines — Spirit  of  Manichean  Mor- 
ality— Electi  and  Auditores — Their  Hierarchy. 

238.  The  origin  of  Manicheism  is  involved  in  obscurity,  Greek 
and  Arabian  writers  on  the  subject  differing  in  their  accounts.  The 
Greek  account  is  derived  from  the  acts  of  a  disputation  said  to  have 
been  held  by  Archelaus,  bishop  of  Cascar  in  Mesopotamia,  with 
Manes,  the  founder  of  this  sect.  The  earliest  authentic  notice  we 
have  of  Manes  is  that  of  Eusebius,  where  he  is  described  as  "  a  bar- 
barian in  life,  both  in  speech  and  conduct,  who  attempted  to  form 
himself  into  a  Christ,  and  also  proclaimed  himself  to  be  the  very 
Paraclete,  or  the  Holy  Spirit.  Then,  as  if  he  were  Christ,  he  selected 
twelve  disciples,  his  partners  in  the  new  religion;  and  after  patching 
together  false  and  ungodly  doctrines  collected  from  a  thousand  here- 
sies long  since  extinct,  he  swej^t  them  off  like  a  deadly  poison  from 
Persia,  upon  this  part  of  the  world."  All  accounts  agree  that  Mani, 
or  Manes,  was  put  to  death  in  2*77,  by  order  of  the  Persian  king.  He 
was  flayed  alive  and  his  skin  stuffed  with  straw  was  publicly  exhib- 
ited as  a  warning  to  like  offenders.  Greek  writers  state  that  Manes, 
whose  original  name  was  Cubricus,  derived  his  notions  chiefly  from 
the  four  books  of  a  certain  Scythianus,  an  Arabian  merchant  and  a 
contemporary  of  the  Apostles.  According  to  Arabian  accounts.  Manes 
was  the  son  of  a  pagan  priest  and  began,  at  the  age  of  twenty-four 
years,  to  broach  his  system,  alleging  that  he  received  it  from  an  angel. 

234.  Manicheism,  which  by  reason  of  its  great  resemblance  to 
Gnosticism,  is  called  the  "  Persian  Gnosis,"  is  but  a  compound  of  Par- 
seeism.  Buddhism  and  Gnosticism  tinged  with  some  Christian  ideas. 
Its  principal  tenets  are  :  1.  Dualism,  or  the  co-existence  of  two  king- 
doms from  all  eternity;  the  kingdom  of  Light  under  the  dominion  of 
God,  and  the  kingdom  of  Darkness,  or  Hyle,  under  Satan.  The  two 
sovereignties  are  in  constant  opposition  to  each  other.  2.  To  coun- 
teract the  powers  of  Darkness,  God  formed  from  his  own  substance 
the  "  Soul  of  the  world,"  from  which  emanated  the  Primitive  man. 
3.  To  aid  the  Primitive  man  in  his  conflict  with  Darkness,  God  sent 
the  "  living  Spirit,"  who  made  the  visible  world  ;  of  the  unmixed  ele- 
ments of  Light  were  made  the  sun  and  moon  (callfed  Jesus  impatibilis), 
and  of  the  imprisoned  materials  Of  Light,  i.  e.,  those  intermixed  with 
matter,  the  other  material  creatures  (Jesus  patibilis).  4.  Man, 
who  is  begotten  by  Archon,  the  prince  of  Darkness,  is,  by  his  body. 


88  HISTOBY  OF  THE.  CHUECH. 

the  image  of  Archon ;  and  by  his  luminous  part,  the  image  of  God  ; 
he  has,  accordingly,  two  natures  and  also  two  souls,  one  rational  and 
the  other  irrational.  5.  To  recover  the  imprisoned  souls  Christ  de- 
scended from  the  sun  and  assumed  a  bodily  appearance.  The  Mani- 
'  cheans  denied  Christ's  incarnation  and  the  reality  of  his  sufferings 
and  death.  6.  The  doctrine  of  Christ,  they  said,  was  not  fully  under- 
stood, even  by  the  Apostles,  wherefore  Christ  promised  the  Paraclete 
who  appeared  in  Manes.  The  Manicheans  rejected  all  the  Old  Testa- 
ment and  part  of  the  New,  opposing  to  them  apocryphal  writings, 
especially  those  of  their  founder,  which  alone  they  acknowledged  as 
authoritative. 

235.  The  spirit  of  Manichean  morality  consisted  in  the  observ- 
ance of  these  three  seals:  1.  The  Signaculam  oris,  abstinence  from  all 
blasphemous  words — especially  against  the  Paraclete — and  from  car- 
nal food;  2.  The  Signaculum  manuum,  abstinence  from  servile  work 
and  agriculture;  3.  The  Signaculum  sinus,  abstinence  from  marriage, 
or  at  least  from  the  procreation  of  children  :  this,  however,  did  not 
exclude  gross  impurities  which  characterized  their  acts  of  worshi}) 
and  the  proceedings  of  their  assemblies.  The  worship  of  the  Mani- 
cheans was  very  simple ;  they  had  neither  rites  nor  altars.  Sunday 
was  celebrated  by  fasting,  and  the  anniversary  of  Manes'  death  was 
commemorated  as  their  highest  festival.  They  administered  baptism 
with  oil,  and  for  the  Eucharist  they  used  water  instead  of  wine. 
They  were  divided  into  "Auditores,"  or  the  hearers,  and  "  Electi,"  or 
perfect,  and  had  an  organized  hierarchy  made  up  of  the  Supreme 
Master,  the  representative  of  Manes,  who  was  surrounded  by  twelve 
Magistri  representing  the  Twelve  Apostles;  under  them  seventy-two 
bishops;  under  these  again,  presbyters,  deacons  and  other  ministers. 
T]ii4  abominable  sect  was  proscribed  in  an  edict  by  Diocletian,  A.  I). 
296,  as  dangerous  to  the  state,  but  reappeared  in  the  succeeding  ages 
under  a  variety  of  forms  and  names. 

SECTION    XXXVIII THE    MONTANISTS    AND    ALOGI. 

Montanus — His  Ecstasies — Montanistic  Prophetesses— Spirit  of  Montanism 
—New  Commandments— Montanistic  Principles  in  regard  to  certain 
great  Sins— Church  of  the  Paraclete— Condemnation  of  Montanism— 
Tertullian  a  Montanist— Opponents  of  Montanism— Alogi. 

536.  In  contrast  to  the  Gnostics  and  Manicheans,  the  Montanists 
professed  an  exaggerated  strictness  of  morals,  and  a  firm  adherence  to 
revealed  doctrines.     Montanus  ^  of  Ardaban  in  Mysia,  the  founder  of 

1.  St.  Epiphanius  places  the  appearance  of  Montanus  in  the  year  157,  while  Eusebius 
in  his  Chronicle  assigns  the  year  171  for  the  be^-inning-  of  his  prophesyinif.  These  con- 
flicting statements  are  i*econciled  by  supposing  157  to  be  the  date  of  the  conversion  of 
Montanus  and  171  that  of  his  formal  condemnation  by  the  Asiatic  councils. 


M0NTANI8T8    AND  ALOGI.  80 

this  sect,  before  embracing  Christianity  is  said  to  have  been  a  priest 
of  the  goddess  Cybelle.  He  alleged  that  he  received  divine  inspira- 
tion in  the  frantic  ecstasies  to  which  he  was  subject,  and  announced 
himself  as  the  organ  of  the  Paraclete.  From  the  words  of  Christ 
"  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say  to  you,  but  you  cannot  hear  them  now. 
But  the  Spirit  of  Truth  shall  come  and  teach  you  all  truth,"  John  xvi. 
12-13,  Montanus  inferred  that  the  existing  revelation  was  not  com- 
plete and  ascribed  to  the  Paraclete  the  mission  of  bringing  the  Church 
to  completion  and  to  her  full  age;  while  to  himself  he  arrogated  the 
mission  of  a  reformer.  He  was  joined  by  Priscilla  and  Maximilla, 
two  women  of  distinction,  who  had  the  like  pretended  raptures,  and 
henceforth  figured  as  the  prophetesses  of  the  eccentric  party. 

237.  Calling  themselves  the  last  prophets,  Montanus  and  his 
prophetesses  announced  the  near  approach  of  the  end  of  the  world, 
which  demanded  a  more  holy  and  austere  life.  By  the  coming  of  the 
Paraclete,  they  said.  Christian  life  and  discipline  should  be  improved. 
This  improvement  was  to  consist :  1.  In  the  prohibition  of  second 
marriages  ;  2.  In  the  observing  of  longer  and  more  rigorous  fasts. 
The  Montanists,  according  to  St.  Jerome,  kept  three  lents,  each  of 
forty  days  ;  3.  In  forbidding  flight  from  persecution  and  in  prohibit- 
ing Christians  from  following  any  literary  pursuits  ;  4.  In  absolutely 
refusing  absolution  to  all,  who,  after  baptism  became  guilty  of  apos- 
tasy, murder,  unchastity  and  similar  great  sins.  They  denied  to  the 
Church  the  power  of  remitting  such  sins. 

238.  The  Montanists,  also  called  Cataphrygians,  and  Pepuzians 
from  Pepuza,  a  little  town  in  Phrygia  which  they  called  their  "  Jeru- 
salem," seem  at  first  to  have  been  only  schismatics.  But  they  soon 
added  heresy  to  their  innovations  in  discipline,  which,  as  they  boasted, 
was  carried  to  perfection  by  Montanus.  They  called  their  sect  the 
"  Church  of  the  Paraclete  "  and  assumed  the  name  of  Spirituals,  while 
the  Catholics  were  classed  among  the  Psychites.  The  Montanists 
looked  upon  themselves  alone  as  the  genuine  Christians ;  and  upon 
their  adversaries  as  only  imperfect  ones  who  occupied  a  lower  grade  ; 
they  believed  themselves  raised  above  the  rest  of  the  Church. 

239.  To  examine  the  revelations  of  the  pretended  prophets,  the 
bishops  of  Asia  Minor  convoked  synods,  which  are  the  first  recorded  in 
history.  Having  been  excommunicated,  the  sectaries  applied  to  Rome 
for  re-admission  into  the  Church,  which  Praxeas,  a  confessor  of  the 
faith,  who  himself  had  been  of  their  number,  prevented,  hastening  to 
Rome  to  expose  their  hypocrisy  and  errors.  Many  of  the  Montanists 
were  Millenarians ;  some  held  Antitrinitarian  ideas.  Montanism 
obtained  a  zealous  and  gifted  advocate  in  Tertullian,  who,  between  the 


90  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

years  200  and  202,  became  himself  the  author  of  a  new  Montanist 
party,  called  after  him  Tertiillianists.  This  latter  party  were  recon- 
ciled with  the  Church  in  the  time  of  St.  Augustine,  while  the  main 
party  existed  as  late  as  the  sixth  century. 

240.  Among  the  opponents  of  the  Montanists  is  mentioned 
Cajus,  a  Roman  priest,  who  had  a  disputation  with  Proclus,  one  of 
their  leaders,  and  with  a  party  called  by  St.  Epiphanius  the  Alogi, 
because  of  their  opposition  to  the  Divinity  of  the  Logos.  They  de- 
nied all  prophecy  and  derided  the  authenticity  of  the  Gospel  of  St. 
John  and  the  Apocalypse,  ascribing  them  to  Cerinthus. 

SECTION    XXIX ANTITRINITARIAN    HERESIES. 

Classification  of  Antitrinitarians— Their  Doctrine— Heresy  of  Theodotus— 
Melchisedechians— Artemon— His  Vagaries  refuted— Paul  of  Samosata— 
Councils  of  Antioch— Monarchians  and  Patripassians— Their  Doctrine— 
Praxeas — Noetian  Theory — Sabellius— His  Doctrine— Beryllus  —  Cham- 
pions of  the  Orthodox  Faith— Orthodoxy  of  Dionysius  of  Alexandria. 

241.  The  Antitrinitarians,  holding  the  Unity  of  God  to  be  irre- 
concilable with  the  Trinity  of  Persons,  denied  the  latter,  i.  e.,  the 
distinction  of  persons'  in  God.  These  heretics  may  be  properly 
divided  into  two  classes:  The  Ebionetic  or  subordinative  Antitrinita- 
rians, as  they  may  be  called,  denied  the  Divinity  of  the  Redeemer, 
and  renewing  the  heresies  of  the  Ebionites  and  Cerinthus,  taught 
Christ  to  be  but  a  mere  man  endowed  with  divine  j)ower — a  being  sub- 
ordinate to  the  Father.  Of  this  class  was  Theodotus,  a  tanner  of 
Byzantium.  Having  denied  Christ  in  time  of  persecution,  Theodo- 
tus, in  order  to  extenuate  his  guilt,  maintained  that  he  had  denied 
only  a  man  and  not  God.  He  held  Jesus  to  have  been  mere  man 
until  at  his  baptism  Christ  descended  upon  him.  He  was  excommu- 
nicated by  Pope  Victor.  His  disciples  were  Asclepiodotus  and  the 
younger  Theodotus,  surnamed  the  Banker,  who  was  the  author  of  the 
Melchisedechian  heresy,  teaching  that  Melchisedech  was  greater  than 
Christ.  Natalis,  a  confessor  of  the  faith,  was  won  over  by  these  sec- 
taries and  made  bishop  of  their  party,  but  returned  to  the  communion 
of  the  Church  under  Pope  Zephyrinus. 

242.  Another  leader  of  the  sect  was  Artemon,  the  founder  of  the 
Artemonites,  who  taught  in  Rome  at  the  end  of  the  second  and  the 
beginning  of  the  third  century.  He  declared  the  doctrine  of  the  Di- 
vinity of  Christsto  be  an  innovation,  and  maintained  that  the  belief  of 
their  party  with  regard  to  Christ  was  the  primitive  one  in  the  Church 
during  the  first  two  centuries,  till  the  faith  was  perverted  by  Pope 


ANTITRINITARIAN  HERESIES.  91 

Zephyrinus.  This  bold  assertion  was  ably  refuted  by  a  Roman  pres- 
byter (Cajus  or  Hippolytus)  from  (a.)  the  Sacred  Scriptures;  {b.)  the 
writings  of  the  Fathers  and  the  Apologists;  (c.)  by  the  prayers  and 
hymns  of  the  early  Church;  (d.)  by  the  condemnation  of  Theodotus 
the  Tanner. 

243.  The  views  of  Artemon  w^ere  afterwards  more  fully  devel- 
oped by  Paul  of  Samosata,  the  proud  bishop  of  Antioch.  He  maiu- 
tained  that  Christ,  though  begotten  of  the  Holy  Ghost  and  born  of  a 
virgin,  was  no  more  than  a  mere  man  in  whom  the  Divine  Logos,  the 
wisdom  of  God,  dwelt  not  as  a  person  but  as  a  quality  or  power. 
Two  Councils  held  at  Antioch  examined  and  condemned  his  teaching, 
but  owing  to  various  arts  and  subterfuges  and  by  professing  submis- 
sion the  heresiarch  managed  to  escape  personal  anathema  until  at  last, 
in  a  third  Council  convened  A.  D.  269  in  the  same  city,  his  guilt  was 
unmasked  by  Malchion,  a  learned  priest  of  Antioch.  He  was  con- 
victed of  heresy  and  deposed  and  Domnus  appointed  in  his  place  as 
bishop  of  Antioch.  Paul,  however,  retained  possession  of  the  episco- 
pal residence  until  Queen  Zenobia  of  Palmyra,  his  protectress,  was 
defeated  by  Aurelian  in  272,  when  he  was  compelled  to  withdraw. 
The  Samosatians  or  Paulianists,  as  his  followers  were  called,  con- 
tinued a  distinct  sect  down  to  the  fourth  century.  The  third  Council 
of  Antioch,  A.  D.  269,  prohibited  the  use  of  Homoousion  in  the  sense 
in  which  it  was  taken  by  Paul,  who  misconstrued  it  to  express  that 
the  son  is  an  immortal  but  impersonal  quality  of  the  Father. 

244.  The  second  class  of  Antitrinitarians,  while  acknowledging 
the  Divinity  of  Christ,  denied  the  personal  distinction  of  the  Father 
and  the  Son.  They  were  called  Monarchians,  because  they  asserted 
an  absolute  Oneness  or  Personal  Unity  of  God  (monarchiam  tene- 
mus).  In  support  of  their  v^iew  they  referred  to  the  words  of  Christ 
" I  and  the  Father  are  one"  (John  x.  30),  which  they  understood,  not 
of  unity  in  essence  only,  but  of  unity  of  person.  This  consequently 
led  them  to  say  that  the  Father  assumed  flesh  in  Mary,  and  suifered 
and  died,  whence  they  were  also  called  Patripassianists. 

245.  The  advocates  of  the  Patripassian  error  were  :  1.  Praxeas 
of  Asia  Minor.  He  was  a  distinguished  confessor  in  the  persecution 
of  Marcus  Aurelius.  About  the  year  192  he  went  to  Rome  to  oppose 
the  errors  of  Montanus,  but  at  the  same  time  disseminated  his  own 
heretical  views  regarding  the  Trinity.  Having  been  compelled  to 
recant,  Praxeas  went  to  Africa,  where  he  continued  to  preach  his  her- 
esy. He  is  said  to  have  afterwards  retracted.  2.  Noetus  of  Smyrna, 
who  lived  towards  the  close  of  the  second  century.  He  openly  de- 
clared :    "  The  same  Divine  Person,  when  considered  in  different  rela- 


92  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH 

tions,  is  called  Father  and  Son,  begotten  and  unbegotten,  visible  and 
invisible.  In  Christ  the  Father  was  born,  suffered  and  died."  The 
disciples  of  Noetus,  Epigonus  and  Cleomenes,  disseminated  the  heresy 
of  their  master  at  Rome,  where  the  latter  became  the  head  of  the^ 
Patripassian  party. 

246.  3.  Sabellius,  a  priest  of  Lybia,  held  the  same  heresy.  Ex- 
tending the  Noetian  doctrine  to  the  Holy  Ghost,  Sabellius  taught  a 
Trinity  not  of  persons  but  of  manifestations  or  offices.  He  asserted 
the  identity  of  the  Father  with  the  Son  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  were 
but  three  different  operations  or  modes  of  manifestation  of  the  one 
personal  God.  Sabellius  taught  chiefly  at  Rome  when  both  he  and 
his  opponent,  the  presbyter  Hippolytus,  who,  indeed,  asserted  the  Di- 
vinity and  personality  of  the  Son,  but  made  Him  subordinate  to  the 
Father  (Ditheism),,  were  excommunicated  by  Pope  Calixtus.  In  a 
similar  manner  Beryllus,  bishop  of  Bozra  in  Arabia,  maintained  that 
the  Logos  previous  to  his  Incarnation  did  not  exist  as  a  distinct 
person  from  the  Father.  Origen,  convincing  Beryllus  of  the  fallacy 
of  such  teaching,  caused  him  to  retract,  A.  D.  244. 

247.  Prominent  among  the  champions  of  the  orthodox  faith 
against  the  Antitrinitarian  heresy  was  the  great  Dionysius  of  Alexan- 
dria. In  refutation  of  the  Sabellian  errors  which  then  were  spreading 
in  the  Lybian  Pentapolis,  St.  Dionysius  about  the  year  257  wrote  a 
letter  to  Euphranor  and  Ammon,  in  which  he  insists  particularly  on 
the  distinction  of  the  three  Divine  Persons.  Some  ambiguous  expres- 
sions, however,  which  he  made  use  of,  gave  offense,  and  he  was  ac- 
cused at  Rome  of  asserting  the  inequality  between  the  Father  and  the 
Son,  and  of  calling  the  latter  a  creature.  In  defence  of  his  orthodoxy 
he  addressed  his  masterly  apology  to  Pope  Dionysius,  in  which  he 
professes  the  consubstantiality  and  co-eternity  of  the  Son  with  the 
Father,  styling  the  former  the  splendor  of  the  Eternal  Light. 


II.     SCHISMS  AND  CONTROVERSIES. 

SECTION    XXX. SCHISMS («.)    OF  NOVATUS   AT  CARTHAGE  ;    [h.)    OF 

NOVATIAN  AT  ROME,  AND  (c.)  OF  MELETIUS  IN  EGYPT. 

Distinction  between  Schism  and  Heresy— Schism  of  Novatus  and  Felicissi- 
mus— Its  Cause— African  Synods— Their  Decrees— Schism  of  Novatian— 
Reply  of  Dionysius  of  Alexandria— Roman  Council  against  the  Schisma- 
tics— The  Novatians  turn  Heretics— Their  Doctrines— Meletian  Schism. 

248.     Schisms  must  be  carefully  distinguished  from  what  are  prop- 
erly called  heresies,  though  these  words  were  originally  used  indis- 


SCHISMS.  93 

criminately.  Schism  (from  the  Greek  schisma — division  or  separa- 
tion) now  signifies  a  separation  from  the  Catholic  Church,  or  a  divi- 
sion of  the  outward  Unity  of  the  Church,  without  affecting  the  inte- 
rior Unity  of  faith  and  doctrine.  Schism,  however,  as  history  shows, 
commonly  leads  to  heresy.  In  this  period  we  have  to  record  three 
remarkable  schisms,  or  divisions  in  the  Church — remarkable  both  as 
regards  the  time  in  which  they  arose,  and  the  churches  and  persons 
who  took  part  in  these  schisms  or  were  the  innocent  occasion  of  them. 

249.  The  wise  and  prudent  course  which  the  Church  adopted 
with  regard  to  the  treatment  of  sinners,  especially  those  who  had  fal- 
len away  in  the  persecutions,  occasioned  the  schisms  of  Novatus  and 
Felicissimus  at  Carthage,  and  of  Novatian  at  Rome.  While  the 
former  contended  that  the  "  lapsed  "  should  be  re-admitted  into  com- 
m  union  with  the  Church  without  enforcement  of  canonical  penance, 

the  latter  maintained  that  they  could  not  at  all  be  received  again  into 
the  Church,  as  the  Church  had  no  power  to  pardon  such  an  offense. 
Novatus,  with  four  other  priests  of  Carthage,  had  opposed  the  election 
of  St.  Cyprian  as  bishop  of  Carthage.  Taking  advantage  of  the 
great  bishop's  flight  during  the  Decian  persecution,  they  rushed  into 
open  schism  against  him,  in  which  they  were  materially  aided  by 
Felicissimus,  a  wealthy  deacon  of  Carthage.  Some  among  the  lapsed 
and  cfonfessors  adhered  to  them,  because  of  Cyprian's  refusal  to  re- 
admit apostates  into  communion  with  the  Church  simply  on  recom- 
mendations obtained  from  the  martyrs.  Fortunartus,  one  of  the  five 
seditious  priests,  was  set  up  by  the  schismatics  as  bishop  of  Carthage 
in  opposition  to  Cyprian  ;  he  was  consecrated  by  five  bishops  who 
themselves  had  been  condemned  for  heresy  and  various  other  crimes. 

250.  On  his  return  to  Carthage,  A.  D.  251,  Cyprian  assembled  a 
Council  which  excommunicated  the  authors  of  the  schism.  With 
regard  to  the  re-admission  of  the  "  lapsed,"  the  Council  decreed  that 

the  "  libellatici "  should  be  immediately  re-admitted  to  communion, 
but  the  "  sacrificati "  only  after  undergoing  the  usual  course  of  pen- 
ance. The  acts  of  this  Council  were  submitted  to  Pope  Cornelius, 
who,  convening  in  his  own  cit  y  a  Council  of  sixty  bishops,  approved 
the  regulations  adopted  by  the  African  bishops.  A  second  Council 
of  sixty-six  bishops,  which  met  at  Carthage  in  252,  confirmed  all  that 
had  been  previously  decided  and  excommunicated  the  schismatics. 
They  appealed  to  Pope  Cornelius,  but  were  repelled. 

251.  Novatus  now  went  to  Rome,  where  he  became  the  principal 
coadjutor  of  Novatian  in  the  schism  which  the  latter  fomented  against 
Pope  Cornelius.  This  Novatian,  opposing  the  election  of  Cornelius, 
whom  he  charged  with  being  a  "  libellaticus  "   and  with  holding  reli- 


94  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

gious  communion  with  apostates,  set  himself  up  as  a  rival  bishop  of 
Rome.  He  tried  in  vain  to  obtain  the  fellowship  of  St.  Cyprian  and  Di- 
onysius  of  Alexandria.  It  was  then  that  St.  Cyprian  wrote  his  excel- 
lent work  "  On  the  Unity  of  the  Church."  Dionysius  in  his  reply  to 
the  antipope  said:  "  If  you  have  been  ordained  against  your  wish,  as 
you  say,  give  proof  of  it  by  abdicating  of  your  own  free  will,  for 
you  ought  to  suffer  everything  rather  than  to  divide  the  Church  of 
God." 

252.  The  above  mentioned  Council  held  by  Pope  Cornelius  ex- 
communicated Novatian,  whereupon  many  of  his  adherents  returned 
to  communion  with  the  lawful  pontiff.  To  avert  further  desertions, 
Novatian  made  his  followers  swear  on  the  Holy  Eucharist  that  they 
would  not  desert  him  to  side  with  Cornelius.  Novatian  composed 
many  works,  most  of  which  are  lost.  His  writings  that  remain  are 
"  On  the  Trinity  "  and  "  On  the  Jewish  Meats."  The  "  Epistle  of 
the  Roman  Clergy  to  Cyprian,"  is  also  from  his  pen.  To  schism  the 
Novations  added  heresy.  They  held  1.  "That  persons  who  had  com- 
mitted the  more  grievious  sins,  and  especially  those  who  had  denied 
their  faith  in  the  persecutions,  could  not  be  received  again  into  the 
Church;  2.  That  the  Church  having  compromised  itself  by  receiving 
such  sinners,  had  ceased  to  be  the  pure  spouse  of  Christ  and  the  true 
Church  of  God;  .3.  They  denied  the  validity  of  Catholic  baptism  and 
rebaptized  all  coming  over  to  them;  and  4.  They  condemned  second 
marriages.  Affecting  a  greater  strictness  of  discipline  they  termed 
themselves  Cathari,  or  Pure.  Novatian  communities  existed  at  Car- 
thage, Alexandria,  in  Phrygia,  Pontus,  Gaul,  Spain  and  in  other  places, 
as  well  as  in  Rome.  The  sect  continued  as  late  as  the  sixth  century, 
when  it  disappeared. 

253.  Meletius,  bishop  of  Lycopolis  in  Upper  Egypt,  was  the  au- 
thor of  a  schism  which  for  about  sixty  years  was  the  cause  of  much 
confusion  and  great  disturbance  in  the  Egyptian  Church.  Usurping 
the  authority  of  his  metropolitan,  Peter  of  Alexandria,  he  set  at 
naught  the  remonstrances  of  his  fellow  bishops,  and  undertook  to  ex- 
ercise full  episcopal  jurisdiction  in  their  dioceses.  He  was  on  this  ac- 
count deposed  and  excommunicated  by  a  Council  held  at  Alexandria 
about  the  year  306;  nevertheless,  he  persisted  in  ordaining  priests  and 
bishops  outside  of  his  own  diocese.  The  Meletians,  who  at  the  time 
of  the  Council  of  Nice  numbered  twenty-nine  bishops,  afterwards 
united  with  the  Arians.  The  notorious  Arsenius  mentioned  in  the  life 
of  St.  Athanasius  was  of  this  group. 


CON  TR  0  VERSIES.  95 

SECTION    XXXI. COXTROYERSIES     CONCERNIINrG     (a.)    THE     MILLENNIUM, 

[b.)    PASCHAL    FESTIVAL,  AND    (c.)    THE    VALIDITY  OF  HERETICALBAP- 
TISM. 

Chiliasm — Its  Origin — Chiliastic  Views  of  some  of  the  early  Fathers — Sensu- 
ous Chiliasm  of  Cerinthus  and  other  Heretics— Antichiliasts — Nepos  and 
Dionysius  of  Alexandria— Paschal  Controversy— Difference  of  Disci- 
pline—Pope Anicetus  and  St.  Polycarp—Quartodecimans— Measures  of 
Pope  Victor — Settlement  of  the  Question— Controversy  concerning  Bap- 
tism— Praxis  of  the  Church — African  Decree — Pope  Stephen  and  St.  Cyp- 
rian—Council of  Aries. 

254.  The  chief  discussions  that  sprung  up  in  the  early  Church 
had  reference  to  Chiliasm,  to  the  time  of  keeping  Easter  and  the 
validity  of  baptism  by  heretics.  The  notion  of  a  personal  reign  of 
Christ  on  earth  with  his  elect  during  the  millennium,  or  a  period  of 
one  thousand  years,  was  quite  rife  in  the  early  days  of  Christianity. 
This  opinion,  which  has  received  the  name  of  Chiliasm,  is  of  Jew- 
ish origin  and  has  prevailed  chiefly  among  the  Jewish  Christians, 
many  of  whom  still  clung  to  the  vain  hope  of  the  final  rule  of  their 
nation  over  all  nations  under  a  royal  Messiah.  The  Judaic  sectaries, 
the  Ebionites,  Nazarenes,  Cerinthians,  all  strongly  advocated  it;  and 
the  Montanists  regarded  it  as  a  fundamental  doctrine  of  the  Christ- 
ian religion.  The  idea  of  a  millenarian  kingdom  of  Christ,  which 
was  inferred  from  a  mistaken  interpretation  of  certain  Scriptural  pas- 
sages, especially  Apocalypse  xx.  2-6,  found  favor  also  with  some  of 
the  early  Fathers;  Papias,  Justin,  Irenaeus,  TertuUian,  Methodius 
and  others  ventured  to  propose  it,  apprehending  it,  however,  in  a 
more  dignified  sense  altogether  than  the  one  assumed  by  the  secta- 
ries. 

255.  While  Cerinthus  and  other  heretics  understood  the  millen- 
ium  to  consist  in  a  reign  of  sensual  pleasures,  the  Christian  writers 
regarded  it  as  a  period  of  spiritual  delights,  and  spoke  of  it  as  a  pre- 
paration for  the  state  of  beatitude  and  the  vision  of  God  in  Heaven. 
The  Chiliastic  theory  was  from  the  first  opposed  by  Roman  and  Alex- 
andrian divines.  The  Roman  priests  Cajus  and  Origen  were  foremost 
among  its  opponents.  Nepos,  bishop  of  Arsinoe,  sought  to  propagate 
it  in  Egypt;  a  schism  was  feared,  when  Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  A. 
D.  255,  succeeded  in  inducing  him  and  Coracion,  the  head  of  the  mil- 
lenarian party,  to  disavow  their  mistaken  notion.  The  Chiliastic 
error  gradually  vanished  after  the  persecutions  had  ceased. 


J)6  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

256.  A  difference  of  observance  regarding  the  time  of  celebrating 
Easter  and  of  keeping  the  fast  preceding  it,  existed  from  the  begin- 
ning between  the  churches  of  Asia  Minor  and  those  of  the  West. 
This  gave  rise  to  serious  disputes  in  the.  second  and  the  third  century. 
The  churches  of  Asia  Minor,  conforming  to  the  Jewish  custom,  kept 
the  day  of  our  Lord's  Crucifixion  and  that  of  His  Resurrection  on 
the  fourteenth  and  sixteenth  of  Nisan,  or  first  hmar  month  after  the 
vernal  equinox,  on  whatever  day  of  the  week  they  might  fall.  They 
alleged  for  this  practice  the  example  of  Our  Lord  and  the  tradition 
which,  through  St.  Polycarp,  was  derived  from  the  Apostle  St.  John. 
The  Western  churches  commemorated  Christ's  Death  invariably  on 
the  Friday,  and  His  Resurrection  on  the  Sunday  after  the  fourteenth 
of  Nisan.  This  usage,  derived  from  the  Apostles  SS.  Peter  and  Paul, 
prevailed  also  in  Greece,  Palestine,  Phoenicia  and  Egypt.  Another 
difference  existed  as  to  the  manner  of  commemorating  the  day  of  our 
Lord's  Death.  While  the  Christians  of  the  West  observed  it  as  a  day 
of  mourning,  those  of  the  East  celebrated  it  as  a  day  of  rejoicing. 

257.  The  first  attempts  to  rectify  these  divergencies  in  discipline 
was  made  by  Pope  Anicetus.  He  endeavored  to  induce  St.  Poly- 
carp of  Smyrna,  on  occasion  of  his  visit  to  Rome,  A.  D.  160-162,  to 
conform  to  the  more  general  usage  ;  but  the  venerable  bishop  was  not 
to  be  persuaded  to  abandon  a  practice  which  he  had  observed  in  com- 
mon with  St.  John  the  Apostle.  About  the  year  170  a  great  dispute 
was  raised  at  Laodicea  by  an  heretical  party  known  as  the  Ebionite 
Quartodecimans,  who  celebrated  the  Passover  on  the  fourteenth  of 
Nisan,  after  the  manner  of  the  Jews  by  eating  the  Paschal  lamb. 

258.  When  the  priest  Blastus  sought  to  establish  at  Rome  the 
Jewish  customs  in  celebrating  Easter,  Pope  Victor  resolved  to  procure 
uniformity,  even  by  having  recourse  to  severe  measures,  if  necessary. 
In  196  he  commanded  the  bishops  of  Asia  to  hold  synods  for  the 
adoption  of  the  Roman  rule  respecting  the  observance  of  Easter.  Ac- 
cordingly several  councils  were  held  which  unanimously  decreed  that 
the  Paschal  festival  should  thenceforth  be  celebrated  on  Sunday ; 
but  Polycrates,  metropolitan  of  Ephesus,  with  his  suffragans,  per- 
sisted in  defending  the  ancient  usage  of  his  church.  •  The  excom- 
munication, which  Victor  was  about  to  pronounce  against  the  refractory 
prelates,  was  only  averted  by  the  intervention  of  St.  Irenseus,  and  a 
schism  was  probably  thereby  prevented.  The  question  was  finally 
settled  by  the  Council  of  Nice,  which  confirmed  the  Roman  rule  and 
prescribed  it  for  all  Christendom.  Such  as  refused  submission  were 
known  as  "  Quartodecimans." 


CONTROVERSIES.  97 

259.  Another  question  of  great  importance  which  was  agitated 
at  this  period  was  that  concerning  baptism  administered  by  heretics. 
It  had  been  a  custom  that  those  who  had  received  baptism  by  a  her- 
I'tic — provided  it  was  given  in  the  name  of  the  three  Divine  Per- 
sons— should,  when  they  asked  admission  into  the  Church,  be  received 
only  by  the  imposition  of  hands,  and  not  by  the  iteration  of  baptism. 
An  exception  had  been  made  with  the  Antitrinitarians  only,  because 
of  the  vitiated  formula  which  they  used  in  baptizing.  Exceptions, 
however,  were  gradually  extending  in  some  parts  of  Africa  and  Asia 
Minor,  to  converts  from  all  sects,  even  to  such  as  had  been  baptized 
with  the  prescribed  form.  This  tendency  was  countenanced  by  the 
Councils  of  Carthage  under  Agrippinus,  A.  D.  218-222,  and  by  those 
of  Iconium  and  Synnada  in  Phrygia,  A.  D.  230-235,  which  declared 
against  the  validity  of  heretical  baptism.  This  ruling,  however,  was  set 
aside  by  Rome,  and  in  253  Pope  Stephen  was  about  to  excommunicate 
the  Asiatic  bishops  Helenus  of  Tarsus  and  Firmilian  of  Caesarea  for 
persisting  in  rebaptizing  heretics,  but  was  prevented  by  the  interpo- 
sition of  Dionysius  of  Alexandria.  It  appears  that,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Firmilian,  the  Asiatic  bishops  submitted  to  the  decree  of  the 
Roman  Pontiff. 

260.  Some  African  prelates  still  maintaining  the  censured  opin- 
ion, eighteen  Numidian  bishops  laid  the  matter  before  the  Council  of 
Carthage  in  255,  and  thirty-one  bishops,  assembled  under  the  presi- 
dency of  St.  Cyprian,  adjudged  baptism  administered  outside  the  pale 
of  the  Church  to  be  invalid.  A  second  Council  of  seventy-one  bish- 
ops held  at  Carthage  in  the  following  year  256,  rendered  a  similar 
decision.  St.  Cyprian  sent  the  conciliar  acts  to  Rome.  Pope  Ste- 
phen ignored  them — even  refused  admittance  to  the  African  embassa- 
dors, and  thus  replied  to  Cyprian  :  "  Let  no  change  be  made  contrary 
to  what  has  been  handed  down."  The  Pope's  answer  was  received  with 
murmurs  by  Cyprian  and  the  African  prelates,  who,  assembling  in  Coun- 
cil, September  256,  to  the  number  of  eighty-seven,  with  St.  Cyprian 
presiding,  are  reported  to  have  reaffirmed  the  usage  sanctioned  in  pre- 
vious synods.  Some  authors,  however,  state  that  this  Council  of  Car- 
thage was  held  before  the  answer  of  the  Pope  to  Cyprian  had  arrived. 
St.  Augustine  supposes  St.  Cyprian  to  have  retracted;  at  all  events, 
the  controversy  was  brought  to  an  abrupt  conclusion  by  the  breaking 
out  of  the  Valerian  persecution,  A.  D.  257,  in  which  both  Stephen 
and  Cyprian  suffered  a  glorious  martyrdom.^     The  Council  of  Aries, 

1.  So  much  seems  to  be  certain  that  neither  St,  Cyprian  nor  Firmilian  were  ever  ex- 
communicated in  any  sense  ;  all  that  can  be  proved  on  the  part  of  Pope  Stephen,  is  a 
threat  of  excommunication.  St.  Aug-ustine  insists  that  Cyprian  remained  with  Stephen 
"in  the  peace  of  unity." 


98  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

A.  D.  314,  practically  ended  the  question  by  condemning  the  custom 
of  indiscriminate  rebaptism  and  accepting  the  judgment  of  Pope 
Stephen. 


CHAPTER  VI. 


CONSTITUTION,  WORSHIP  AND  DISCIPLINE. 


SECTION  XXXII. THE  CLERGY DIFFERENT  ORDERS  OF  CLERGY. 

Priesthood  two-fold — Distinction  between  Clergy  and  Laity — Testimony  of 
St.  Clement  of  Rome — Gradation  of  Clergy — Letter  of  Pope  Cornelius — 
Clerical  Celibacy — Election,  Instruction  and  Support  of  Clergy. 

261.  The  priesthood  is  described  in  the  Sacred  Scriptures  as  two- 
fold, internal  and  external.  The  former  extends  to  all  the  faithful,  whom 
St.  Peter  calls  "a  holy  priesthood,  to  offer  up  spiritual  sacrifices, 
acceptable  to  God  through  Jesus  Christ."  1  Pet.  2,  5.  The  external 
priesthood,  however,  does  not  extend  to  the  great  body  of  the  faithful, 
but  is  appropriated  to  a  certain  class  of  persons  who,  by  the  imposi- 
tion of  hands  and  the  solemn  rite  of  ordination,  "  are  set  apart  for  the 
Gospel  of  God  "  and  devoted  to  some  particular  oflice  of  the  sacred 
ministry.  Hence  appears  the  distinction  in  the  Church  between 
teacher  and  people,  ruler  and  subjects,  clergy  and  laity.  Such  as  bore 
the  office  of  the  priesthood  were,  as  St.  Jerome  says,  called  "  Clergy," 
Clerici — from  Klerus,  lot  or  heritage — either  because  they  are  chosen 
by  lot  to  be  the  Lord's,  or  because  the  Lord  is  their  lot  or  heritage. 

262.  This  distinction  was  clearly  pointed  out  by  Our  Lord,  when 
selecting  his  Apostles  from  the  crowd,  he  ordained  and  authorized 
them  to  teach  all  nations  and  rule  his  Church.  The  discrimination 
between  the  clergy  and  the  laity  therefore  dates  from  the  very  begin- 
ning of  the  Church  ;  it  was  strongly  marked  even  in  the  time  of  the 
Apostles,  as  appears  from  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  i.  1,  and  from 
the  Acts  vi.  and  vii.,  where  there  is  question  of  the  election  of  the 
seven  deacons  and  the  appointment  of  Paul  and  Barnabas,  who  by 
order  of  the  Holy  Spirit  were  set  apart  for  the  ministry  of  the  Gospel. 


DIFFERENT  ORDERS  OF  CLERGY.  99 

The  same  truth  is  manifest  from  the  fact  that  the  power  of  the  priest- 
hood, ever  since  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  is  conferred  in  the  Church 
by  prayer  and  the  imposition  of  hands.  St.  Clement  of  Rome,  speak- 
ing of  this  distinction  between  the  clergy  and  laity,  says  :  "  A  bishop 
has  a  particular  charge  laid  upon  him,  and  the  priest  exercises  func- 
tions special  to  his  office  ;  the  levite  has  his  own  proper  ministry,  but 
laymen  have  to  do  only  with  the  laws  that  pertain  to  their  own  order." 

263.  Next  to  the  bishops  ranked  the  presbyters,  or  priests,  who  had 
the  power  to  preach,  to  oifer  up  the  Holy  Sacrifice,  and  to  administer 
the  Sacraments,  excepting  ordination,  to  the  faithful.  They  were 
considered  the  bishop's  vicars,  or  assistants,  and  constituted  his  advi- 
sory council  (presbyterium).  After  the  priests  came  the  deacons, 
who  constantly  accompanied  the  bishops,  attended  him  when  preach- 
ing, and  assisted  him  at  the  altar  and  in  the  administration  of  the 
Sacraments;  besides  they  administered  Holy  Communion  and  Bap- 
tism. To  the  deacons  was  committed  the  distribution  of  the  goods 
of  the  Church.  The  office  of  sub-deacons,  who  are  first  mentioned  by 
St.  Cyprian,  was  to  serve  the  deacons  in  Jtheir  sacred  ministrations. 

264.  The  inferior  officers  of  the  Church  were  the  acolytes,  lec- 
tors, exorcists  and  ostiaries,  or  porters.  Pope  Cornelius  enumerates 
all  these  grades,  or  ranks  of  the  hierachy  in  his  letter  to  Bishop  Fa- 
bius  of  Antioch,  stating  "  that  there  were  at  that  time,  A.  D.  250, 
in  Rome  forty-six  priests,  seven  deacons  and  as  many  subdeacons, 
forty-two  acolytes,  fifty-two  exorcists,  lectors,  and  ostiaries."  "  The 
deaconesses,  who  originated  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles  (Rom.  xvi.  1 ; 
Tim.  V.  9,)  were  entrusted  with  the  instruction  of  females  and  with 
various  offices  in  connection  with  their  baptism.  Aged  widows  were 
generally  selected  for  this  office. 

265.  Great  care  was  shown  in  the  election  of  the  clergy,  particu- 
larly of  bishops,  in  which  the  people  and  clergy  of  the  episcopal  city 
were  also  consulted  as  to  the  character  of  the  candidates.  Bishops, 
however,  especially  in  the  Western  Church,  were  not  unfrequently  ap- 
pointed directly  by  the  Roman  Pontiffs.  Each  diocese  had  but  one 
bishop,  who,  according  to  the  existing  custom,  received  consecration 
from  the  hands  of  two  or  three  bishops  of  the  same  province.  Only 
those  of  an  advanced  age,  tried  virtue,  and  perfect  acquaintance  with 
the  Christian  doctrine  were  elected.  The  unmarried  and  those  living  a 
life  of  holy  continence  were  chosen  in  preference  to  married  men  for 
the  ministry.  The  example  of  Christ  and  his  Apostles,  and  the  advice 
of  St.  Paul  (1.  Cor.  vii.  32-33,  35),  founded  on  the  most  just  views,  if 
they  did  not  yet  enforce  the  practice,  served  at  least  to  establish  the 
principle   of   the  expediency  of    clerical  celibacy.     Hence,  celibacy 


100  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

even  in  the  primitive  Church  was  esteemed  a  holier  state  than  mar- 
riage, and  the  early  Fathers  enthusiastically  extolled  the  virtue  of  con- 
tinence. The  clergy  especially  were  taught  to  consider  a  life  of  conti- 
nency  as  demanded  by  the  sacredness  of  their  functions:  to  them  was 
supposed  more  particularly  to  belong  that  readiness  to  forsake  parents, 
wife  and  children  for  the  love  of  Christ,  which  the  Saviour  of  man- 
kind required  in  the  more  perfect  of  his  disciples. 

266.  But  because  of  an  imperial  law  proscribing  the  celibate  state, 
and  for  want  of  fit  candidates  for  the  higher  offices  of  the  Church, 
married  men  also  were  permitted  to  enter  the  sacerdotal  state  ;  yet 
only  such  as  had  been  married  but  once.  And  any  person  once  admitted 
into  holy  orders,  such  as  priests  and  deacons,  were  not  allowed  to 
marry.  What  in  the  apostolic  age  had  been  voluntarily  adopted  by 
the  clergy,  became  later  on,  when  the  spirit  which  had  inspired  it  be- 
gan to  languish,  a  stringent  law.  The  apostolic  Canons  and  the  Coun- 
cils of  Elvira,  A.  D.  305,  and  of  Aries,  A.  D.  314,  made  the  observ- 
ance of  celibacy  obligatory  on  all  the  higher  orders  of  the  clergy,  i.  e. 
bishops,  priests  and  deacon^  ;  sub-deaconship  was  not  then  ranked 
among  the  higher  orders. 

267.  In  the  first  teachers  of  Christianity  the  extraordinary  gifts 
of  supernatural  grace  (charismata)  supplied  the  deficiency  of  a  thor- 
ough theological  training.  But  the  Apostles  had  already  collected 
disciples  to  instruct  them  for  the  holy  ministry.  Polycarp,  Ignatius 
and  Papias  were  instructed  by  St.  John,  and  these  in  turn  trained 
others.  The  clergy  at  this  period  were  fitted  for  their  office  under 
the  immediate  superintendence  of  the  bishop,  principally  by  exercising 
them  in  the  ecclesiastical  functions,  which  they  were  required  there- 
after to  perform.  In  the  second  century  the  schools  established  at 
Rome,  Antioch,  Caesarea,  and  particularly  the  Catechetical  School  of 
Alexandria,  afforded  the  candidates  for  the  priesthood  the  advantages 
of  a  literary  education  on  a  Christian  basis.  In  the  early  ages  of  the 
Church  no  special  provision  was  made  for  the  support  of  the  clergy. 
Those  having  no  property  lived  partly,  after  the  example  of  St.  Paul, 
by  the  labor  of  their  own  hands,  or  by  the  offerings  and  contributions 
of  the  faithful. 


HIERARCHY  OF  BISHOPS.  101 

SECTION    XXXIIl. THE    HIERARCHY    OF    BISHOPS METROPOLITANS. 

Appointment  of  Bishops  by  the  Apostles — Episcopacy  of  Divii^e  Institution 
— Bishops  superior  to  Priests — Meaning  of  the  names  "Bishop"  and 
"  Presbyter" — Powers  of  Bishops  —  Dioceses — Chorepiscopi — Metropoli- 
tans— Chief  Metropolitan  Churches. 

268.  The  most  important  ecclesiastical  office  is  that  of  the  bishops, 
who  as  successors  of  the  Apostles  are  constituted  by  the  Holy 
Ghost  to  rule  and  govern  the  Church  of  Christ.  They  hold  the  first 
rank  in  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy  of  which  the  Bishop  of  Rome,  as 
successor  of  St.  Peter,  is  the  visible  Head.  Instructed  by  their  Divine 
Master  the  Apostles  communicated  to  others  their  priestly,  pastoral, 
and  teaching  office  which  they  themselves  had  received  from  Christ. 
Wherever,  therefore,  they  founded  Christian  congregations,  they  also 
appointed  for  them  spiritual  "overseers,"  or  "  bishops."  Paul  thus  or" 
dained  Timothy  to  be  bishop  of  Ephesus,  and  Titus  bishop  of  Crete; 
while  Polycarp  was  made  bishop  of  Smyrna  by  St.  John  who,  after 
returning  from  Patmos,  likewise  ordained  bishops  and  priests  for  other 
churches  of  Asia  Minor.  Thus  even  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles 
the  Church  is  shown  to  be  governed  by  bishops.  The  uniform  organ- 
ization of  even  the  most  ancient  churches  under  the  rule  of  bishops,  is 
an  irrefragable  proof  that  the  Episcopacy  is  of  divine  institution. 

269.  Bishops  have  always  been  regarded  as  the  chief  pastors,  and 
as  superior  to  the  priests  in  authority  and  jurisdiction,  as  well  as  in 
order.  This  distinction  between  the  episcopate  and  the  simple  priest- 
hood, with  the  superiority  of  bishops,  which  is  clearly  pointed  out  in 
the  Sacred  Scriptures  (1.  Tim.  v.  19  ;  Tit.  i.  5),  was  uniformly  taught 
by  the  early  Fathers.  St.  Clement  of  Rome  writes  :  "  The  Apostles, 
fore-seeing  that  contentions  would  arise  regarding  the  dignity  of  the 
episcopacy,  appointed  bishops,  instructing  them  to  appoint  others, 
that  when  they  should  die,  other  approved  men  would  succeed  them 
in  their  ministry."  St.  Ignatius  in  his  letters  lays  special  stress  upon 
the  pre-eminent  dignity  enjoyed  by  bishops  over  priests.  "  Let  each 
of  you,"  he  writes,  "  obey  his  bishop  as  Christ  obeyed  His  Father." 
And  Tertullian  says  :  "  The  right  of  giving  Baptism  hath  the  chief 
pastor,  who  is  the  bishop  ;  then  the  presbyters  and  deacons,  yet  not 
without  the  authority  of  the  bishop."  St.  Irenaeus  and  St.  Cyprian 
affirm  the  same  truth.  That  this  gradation  of  dignity  and  authority 
had  existed  in  the  first  ages,  appears  from  the  fact  that  the  early 
Fathers,  in  their  controversies  with  heretics,  often  appealed  to  the  cat- 
alogues of  bishops,  which  existed  in  nearly  all  the  principal  churches, 
and  had  come  down  unbroken  from  the  days  of  the  Apostles.     Nor 


102  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

have  the  early  heretics  ever  denied  either  the  Apostolic  appointment 
of  bishops,  or  their  superiority  over  priests.  In  the  New  Testament, 
indeed,  the  .words  "bishop"  and  "presbyter"  are  sometimes  indiffer- 
ently applied  to  the  same  person.  Yet  it  does  not  follow,  because  the 
names  are  indifferently  used,  that  there  existed  no  distinction  between 
the  episcopacy  and  the  priesthood.  St.  John,  though  an  Apostle, 
calls  himself  a  presbyter  (2.  John  1);  and  thus  also  with  the  bishops  of 
the  second  and  third  centuries,  whose  right  to  exercise  authority  over 
priests,  was  certainly  never  called  into  question  at  that  period.  The 
same  name,  indeed,  passed  often  for  bishops  and  priests  ;  yet  as  to 
the  power  or  dignity,  a  distinction  was  always  recognized  between  the 
two,  even  from  the  very  beginning  of  the  Church. 

'  270.  To  bishops  only,  was  assigned  a  certain  portion  of  the  faith- 
ful and  a  special  city  or  district,  styled  at  first  "  paroecia,"  but  after- 
wards diocese.  Thus  Crete  was  assigned  to  Titus  by  St.  Paul,  and 
Ephesus  to  Timothy.  Dioceses,  or  episcopal  sees,  were  erected  not 
only  by  St.  Peter,  but  also  by  the  other  Apostles  ;  for  all  of  them^ 
without  exception,  received  from  Our  Lord  universal  jurisdiction, 
including  the  power  of  appointing  bishops  and  establishing  bishoprics. 
In  these  dioceses  bishops  exercised  the  full  pastoral  authority,  in 
preaching  the  divine  word,  in  administering  the  sacraments  and  in 
governing  both  the  inferior  clergy  and  the  faithful ;  and  this  they  did 
by  their  own  authority,  while  priests  and  other  sacred  ministers 
exercised  the  functions  of  their  respective  offices  only  in  the  name 
and  by  the  authority  of  the  bishops.  Bishops  also  presided  at  synods, 
decided  in  the  last  appeal  upon  the  admission  or  non-admission  of 
any  one  into  the  Church,  and  gave  letters  commendatory  (litterse  for- 
matae  or  communicatoriae).  The  chorepiscopi,  or  rural  bishops,  men- 
tioned in  the  early  Councils,  were  a  particular  class  of  ecclesiastical 
dignitaries.  They  appear  to  have  been  bishops  in  the  full  sense  of  the 
term,  but  without  sees,  yet  some  of  them  were  but  simple  priests,  exer- 
cising episcopal  jurisdiction  in  distant  and  rural  districts. 

271.  The  first  bishops,  as  we  have  seen,  had  been  appointed  and 
ordained  by  the  Apostles  themselves.  They  were  commissioned  to 
preach  Christianity  in  the  surrounding  cities  and  country-places  either 
in  person  or  by  means  of  their  subordinates,  to  found  new  communi- 
ties, and  to  create,  when  needed,  new  bishops  and  priests.  Titus  i.  5. 
A  natural  dependence  subsisted  betwben  such  newly  founded  sees 
and  the  mother  churches  which  founded  them — the  mother  church 
taking  precedence  of  her  daughters.  These  mother  churches,  from 
the  third  century  on,  were  uniformly  called  after  thk  Greek  "  metro- 
politan churches,"  and  their  bishops  "  metropolitans."     Thus  man; 


PRIMACY  OF  THE  ROMAN  SEE.  103 

liold  that  Titus  and  Timothy  were  created  metropolitans  by  St.  Paul, 
the  former  of  Crete,  the  latter  of  Asia  Minor. 

272.  As  a  rule,  this  title  was  applied  to  the  bishop  of  a  civil  me- 
tropolis, not  on  account  of  its  political  importance,  but  because,  com- 
monly, the  Gospel  had  been  preached  by  the  Apostles  and  their  disci- 
ples first  of  all  in  the  provincial  capitals.  Thus  Jerusalem  had 
always  been  looked  upon  as  the  metropolitan,  or  mother  Church,  of 
Judea,  Samaria  and  Galilee,  which  dignity,  after  the  destruction  of 
that  city  passed  over  to  Caesarea.  In  like  manner  the  Syrian  churches 
were  presided  over  by  the  bishop  of  Antioch,  and  those  of  Egypt  by 
the  bishop  of  Alexandria  as  their  metropolitans.  Ephesus  and  Car- 
thage were  likewise  looked  up  to  as  metropolitan  sees.  So  the  bishops 
of  the  various  churches  were  not  isolated  from  one  another,  being 
all  in  subjection  to  the  bishops  of  the  metropolitan  churches,  and  all 
continuing  in  the  doctrines  and  precepts  given  to  the  mother  churches 
by  the  Apostles. 

SECTION     XXXIV THE     TRIMACY    OF    THE    ROMAN    SEE AUTHORITY     OF 

THE    POPES    OVER    THE    WHOLE    CHURCH. 

Prerogatives  of  St.  Peter  continue  in  his  Successors — Testimonies  of  the  Fa- 
thers— St.  Ignatius— St.  Irenaeus — Tertullian — St.  Cyprian— Exercise  of 
the  Primacy. 

273.  From  the  history  of  the  Evangelists  we  learn  that  among 
the  Apostles,  Peter  was  particularly  distinguished  by  our  Lord.  Him 
did  Christ  constitute  chief  pastor  and  visible  head  of  His  Church  on 
earth,  making  him  the  fundamental  rock  of  His  Church  and  giving 
him  the  keys  of  the  kingdom  of  Heaven  and  the  solemn  commission 
to  feed  His  lambs  and  His  sheep.  And  as  the  other  Apostles  exer- 
cised their  respective  offices,  so  did  St.  Peter  exercise  his  own  special 
office  as  chief  pastor  and  head  over  the  entire  Church.  He  came  to 
Rome  where  he  estbalished  his  see,  which  he  retained  and  governed 
until  his  death.  Nor  did  the  dignity  enjoyed  by  him  expire  with  his 
death.  The  same  motives  to  which  its  original  establishment  was 
owing,  pleaded  for  its  continuance;  the  high  prerogatives  of  Peter 
were  necessarily  to  descend  to  the  most  remote  of  his  successors. 
Hence  the  successors  of  Peter  in  the  episcopal  See  of  Rome,  were 
believed  ever  to  succeed  him  also  in  his  primatial  dignity  and  power, 
pertaining  to  the  leadership  of  the  whole  Church.  The  Bishop  of 
Rome  was  pronounced  to  be  "  the  first  of  the  Christian  bishops,  the 
chief  Pontiff  and  Bishop  of  bishops;  the  Church  of  Rome,  the  head 
of  all  Christian  Churches." 


104  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

274.  The  Christian  Fathers  and  writers  of  antiquity  speak  in  no 
uncertain  tone  of  the  primacy  and  prerogatives  of  Peter  and  his  suc- 
cessors in  the  Roman  See.  St.  Ignatius  of  Antioch,  in  speaking  of 
the  Church  of  Rome,  addresses  her  as  the  one  "  which  presides  in  the 
place  of  the  country  of  the  Romans,  all-godly,  all-gracious,  all-praised, 
all-prospering,  all-hallowed  and  presiding  in  the  covenant  of  love." 
To  her  paternal  care  the  Saint  confided  his  own  Church  then  bereft 
of  her  shepherd.  St.  Irenaeus  appeals  against  the  Gnostic  heretics  to 
the  tradition  of  "the  greatest,  most  ancient,  and  universally  known 
Church  that  was  founded  and  constituted  at  Rome  by  the  two  most 
glorious  Apostles,  Peter  and  Paul."  He  adds:  "With  this  Church 
(of  Rome),  on  account  of  her  more  powerful  principality  (supremacy), 
it  is  necessary  that  every  Church,  i.  e.,  the  faithful  everywhere  dis- 
persed, should  be  in  communion."  Tertullian  also  attests  the  fact 
that  the  Roman  Bishop  was  acknowledged  as  the  "  Bishop  of  bishops." 

275.  St.  Cyprian  calls  the  Roman  Church,  in  which  is  the  see  of 
Peter,  "  the  root  and  matrix  of  the  Catholic  Church — the  chief  or 
ruling  church,  whence  the  unity  of  the  priesthood  has  its  source,  to 
which  heresy  can  have  no  access."  In  his  admirable  treatise  "  On 
the  Unity  of  the  Church,"  Cyprian  gives  a  clear  statement  of  the 
organic  unity  of  the  Church,  which,  he  proves,  is  founded  on  the 
Primacy  of  Peter.  As  to  this,  he  says:  "  Upon  this  one  (Peter) 
He  builds  His  Church,  and  to  him  He  assigns  His  sheep  to  be  fed. 
And  although  after  His  resurrection  He  gives  an  equal  power  to  all 
the  Apostles  and  says:  As  the  Father  hath  sent  Me,  even  so  I  send 
you.  Receive  ye  the  Holy  Ghost:  whose  sins  ye  shall  remit,  they 
are  remitted;  and  whose  sins  ye  shall  retain,  they  are  retained."  Yet, 
in  order  to  manifest  unity.  He  has,  by  His  own  authority,  so  disposed 
the  origin  of  that  same  unity  as  if  it  began  from  one.  It  is  true,  the 
other  Apostles  were  also  what  Peter  was,  endowed  with  an  equal  fel- 
lowship both  in  honor  and  in  power;  but  the  commencement  pro- 
ceeds from  unity,  and  the  Primacy  is  given  to  Peter,  that  the  Church 
of  Christ  may  be  set  forth  as  one,  and  the  Chair  of  Peter  as  one.  He, 
who  holds  not  this  unity  of  the  Church,  does  he  think  that  he 
holds  the  faith?  He  who  strives  against  and  resists  the  Church,  he 
who  abandons  the  Chair  of  Peter  upon  whom  the  Church  was  founded, 
does  he  feel  confident  that  he  is  within  the  Church?" 

276.  Besides,  this  epoch  furnishes  many  facts  and  events  which 
bring  out  more  and  more  the  Primacy  of  St.  Peter's  See  as  the  power 
by  which  the  unity  of  the  Church  is  effected  and  maintained.  Such 
are  the  instances  of  the  exercises  of  this  supremacy  by  the  Roman 
bishops,  as  we  find  them  in  the  action  taken  by  Popes  Zepherinus  and 


I 


POPES  OF  THE  FIRST  AND  SECONU  CENTURIES.  105 

Calixtus,  in  the  question  of  penance  ;  by  Pope  Victor,  in  the  contro- 
versy concerning  the  time  of  celebrating  Easter  ;  by  Pope  Cornelius, 
in  the  case  of  Kovatian  and  Felicissimus  ;  by  Pope  Stephen,  on  the 
question  of  re-baptising  heretics,  and  by  Pope  Dionysius,  in  the  affair 
of  Paul  of  Samosata  and  Dionysius  of  Alexandria.  Again,  bishops, 
as  for  example,  Basilides  of  Spain  and  Privatus  of  Africa,  who  had 
been  deposed  by  provincial  synods,  appealed  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
for  their  re-instation. 

277.  The  heretics  even  of  this  period  are  witnesses  to  the  Primacy 
of  the  See  of  Rome.  Every  effort  was  made  by  them  to  procure  from 
the  Bishop  of  Rome  an  indirect  sanction  at  least  for  their  errors  by 
the  admission  of  their  abettors  into  communion,  after  they  had  been 
excommunicated  by  their  own  bishops.  The  eminent  dignity  of  the 
Roman  Bishop  was  implicitly  acknowledged,  even  by  the  Roman  em- 
perors, as  for  instance,  Aurelian  in  the  case  of  Paul  of  Samosata, 
while  the  Emperor  Decius  is  reported  by  St.  Cyprian  to  have  said 
that  he  would  much  rather  endure  the  appointment  of  a  rival  emperor 
than  that  of  a  Bishop  of  Rome. 

SECTION  XXXV POPES  OF  THE  FIRST  AND  SECOND  CENTURIES. 

Lists  of  Popes  by  early  Writers— Ancient  Catalogues  of  Popes— Immediate 
Successors  of  St.  Peter — St.  Clement  1.— Popes  of  the  Second  Century — 
Anicetus  and  Polycarp— Eleutherius  and  King  Lucius— Victor  I. 

278.  Concerning  the  order  in  which  the  first  Roman  Bishops 
succeeded  each  other,  the  early  Christian  writers  who  published  lists 
of  Popes  do  not  agree.  The  succession  given  by  St.  Irenaeus  closes 
with  Pope  Eleutherius,  A.  D.  190;  that  by  Eusebius  with  Pope  Marcel- 
linus,  A.  D.  304;  and  that  by  St.  Jerome  with  Pope  Damasus,  A.  D. 
384;  whilst  the  list  of  Roman  Bishops  given  by  Hippolytus  in  the  earlier 
part  of  his  Chronicle  ends  with  Pope  Urban  I.,  A.  D.  230.  The  series 
of  Popes  given  by  St.  Epiphanius  ends  with  Pope  Anicetus,  A.  D. 
168,  and  the  lists  of  Popes  composed  by  St.  Optatus  of  Milevi  and 
St.  Augustine  bring  down  the  succession,  the  former  to  Pope  Siricius, 
A.  D.  398,  the  latter  to  Pope  Anastasius,  A.  D.  402.  The  most  ancient 
and  extant  catalogue  of  Popes  is  the  Lib^rian,  so  called  because  it  ends 
with  Liberius,  A.  D.  366,  which  was  edited  at  Rome  about  the  year 
354,  by  Furius  Dionysius  Philocalus,  secretary  of  P^pe  Damasus. 
AVe  have  also  a  so-called  "  Felician  Catalogue,"  which  ending  with 
Pope  Felix  IV.,  A.  D.  530,  was  composed  in  the  fourth  century;  and 
the  "Liber  Pontificalis,'*. containing  'the  lives  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs, 
from  St.  Peter  to  Nicolaus  I.,  A.  D.  867. 


106  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

279.  In  all  these 'lists  or  catalogues,  St.  Linus,  of  whom  St.  Paul 
makes  mention  in  his  Epistles  to  Timothy,  is  named  as  the  immedi- 
diate  successor  of  St.  Peter,  A.  D.  67-79.  With  this  agrees  the  an- 
cient Gallon  of  the  Roman  Mass,  which  expresses  the  earliest  tradi- 
tions of  the  Roman  Church.  In  the  pontificate  of  St.  Linus  occurred 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  He  excommunicated  the  Menandrians, 
who  followed  Menander,  a  disciple  of  Simon  Magus.  The  two  books 
"  On  the  Passion  of  the  Apostles  Peter  and  Paul,"  which  have  been 
attributed  to  him,  are  pronounced  apocryphal.  St.  Linus  is  reported 
to  have  died  a  martyr;  he  was  buried  on  the  Vatican  hill,  beside  his 
glorious  predecessor,  St.  Peter.  He  was  succeeded  by  St,  Cletus,  or 
Anacletus,  A.  D.  79-91.  Some  authors  speak  of  Cletus  and  Anacletus 
as  two  distinct  Popes,  but  the  more  common  opinion  holds  them  to 
be  one  and  the  same  person.  St.  Cletus  became  a  martyr  under  Do- 
mitian  in  91.  According  to  the  opinion  which  maintains  the  distinc- 
tion of  Cletus  and  Anacletus,  the  latter  suffered  martyrdom  under 
Trajan,  having  succeeded  Clement  I.  as  the  fifth  Bishop  of  Rome. 

280.  St.  Clement,  a  disciple  and  the  third  successor  of  St.  Peter, 
A.  D.  91-100,  is  supposed  to  be  the  same  Clement  mentioned  by  St. 
Paul  in  Phil.  iv.  3,  as  one  of  his  fellow-laborers.  By  another  account 
Clement  was  the  immediate  successor  of  St.  Peter,  St.  Linus  and  St. 
Cletus  being  only  the  Apostle's  vicars  at  Rome  in  his  absence.  Dur- 
ing his  pontificate  a  discussion  arose  among  the  Christians  of  Corinth, 
some  of  whom  presumed  to  depose  their  lawful  pastors.  Though 
the  Apostle  St.  John  was  still  alive,  the  appeal  was  made  to  the 
Bishop  of  Rome,  St.  Clement,  who  in  96  wrote  to  the  Corinthians,  "in 
the  name  of  the  Roman  Church,"  an  excellent  epistle,  which  for  a 
long  time  continued  to  be  read  in  the  ancient  churches.  St.  Clement, 
spared  in  the  persecution  of  Domitian,  became  a  martyr  under  Tra- 
jan. The  Roman  breviary  states  that  he  was  exiled,  together  with 
two  thousand  Christians,  to  the  Tauric  Chersonesus,  the  modern  Cri- 
mea, and  finally  drowned  in  the  Euxine. 

281.  The  immediate  successors  of  St.  Clement  I.,  the  Popes,  Eva- 
ristus,  A.  D.  101-109,  Alexander  I.,  A.  D.  109-117,  Sixtus  I.,  A.  D. 
117-127,  and  Telesphorus,  A.  D.  128-139,  are  titled  martyrs  in  all 
martyrologies,  but  nothing  certain  is  known  as  to  the  manner  of  their 
deaths.  No  authentic  accounts  of  their  lives  and  pontificates  were 
preserved.  Evaristus  is  said  to  have  assigned  titles  or  parishes  to  the 
presbyters  of  Rome,  and  to  have  appointed  seven  deacons  to  attend 
the  bishop  when  preaching.  The  succeeding  Popes,  Hyginus,  A.  D. 
139-142,  Pius  I.,  A.D.  142-157,  Anicetus,  A.  D.  157-168,  and  Soter, 
A.  D.  168-176,  though  they  suffered  much  for  the  faith,  particularly 


POPES  OF  THE  THIRD  CENTURY.  107 

from  the  Gnostic  heretics,  appear,  strictly  speaking,  not  to  have  suf- 
fered martyrdom.  In  their  reigns,  the  peace  of  the  Church  was  greatly 
disturbed  by  the  impious  teachings  of  the  Gnostic  heresiarchs,  Valen- 
tinus,  Cerdo  and  Marcion,  who,  coming  to  Rome,  sought  to  corrupt 
the  faith  of  the  Roman  Christians.  Pope  Anicetus  received  the  visit 
of  St.  Polycarp  who  had  come  to  Rome  to  consult  him,  among  other 
questions,  on  the  time  and  manner  of  celebrating  Easter.  Under  the 
same  Pope,  Hegessipus,  a  converted  Jew,  also  came  to  Rome,  where 
he  remained  till  the  accession  of  Eleutherius,  writing  his  history  of 
the  Church.  Pope  Soter  vigorously  opposed  the  heresy  of  the  Mon- 
tanists  ;  he  witnessed  the  defection  of  Tatian,  a  disciple  of  Justin 
Martyr,  to  the  Gnostics.  His  excellent  letter  which  he  addressed  to 
the  Corinthians,  long  continued,  like  that  of  Pope  Clement,  to  be 
read  in  their  church  on  Sundays. 

282.  Eleutherius,  who  succeeded  St.  Soter,  governed  the  Church 
during  the  persecution  of  Marcus  Aurelius,  for  fifteen  years,  A.  D. 
177-192.  It  was  then  that  St.  Irenaeus  was  sent  to  Rome  by  the 
Church  of  Lyons  to  acquaint  the  Pope  with  the  spread  of  the  Mon- 
tanistic  heresy  and  the  sufferings  of  the  Christians  in  Gaul.  While 
at  Rome,  Irenseus  began  writing  his  famous  work  "  Against  Heresies." 
At  the  request  of  Lucius,  a  British  king,  Eleutherius  sent  the  two 
missionaries,  Fugatius  and  Damianus,  to  Britain,  by  whom  the  king 
and  many  of  his  subjects  were  baptized.  Lucius,  who  was  the  first 
Christian  king  in  Europe,  is  honored  as  a  saint  in  the  Church.  Victor 
I.,  A.  D.  192-201,  a  native  of  Africa,  exerted  his  zeal  particularly  in 
the  controversy  relating  to  the  celebration  of  Easter.  For  the  settling 
of  this  question  he  held  a  synod  at  Rome,  and  called  upon  the  bishops 
everywhere  to  meet  in  Councils  for  the  same  purpose.  He  excom- 
municated Theodotus  of  Byzantium  and  decided  that  common  water 
might  in  case  of  necessity  be  used  in  baptism. 

SECTION  XXXVI. POPES  OF  THE  THIRD  CENTURY. 

Pontificate  of  Zepherinus— Calixtus  I.— Hippolytus— Cemetery  of  St.  Calix- 
tus— St.  Urban  I.— Popes  Pontianus  and  Anterus — Pontificate  of  Fabian 
—Gallic  Churches  founded  by  Fabian— Vacancy  in  the  See  of  Rome- 
Pontificate  of  Cornelius— Novatian,  the  Antipope  Lucius— Pontificate  of 
Stephen  I.— Dispute  with  St.  Cyprian— Sixtus  II.— Pontificate  of  Diony- 
sius— His  doctrinal  Letter— Felix  I.— He  deposes  Paul  of  Samosata 
—Popes  Eutychianus  and  Cajus— Marcellinus—  His  pretended  Fall— Va- 
cancy in  the  Roman  See— Marcellus— Pontificate  of  Melchiades— Lateran 
Palace. 

283.  The  successor  of  Pope  Victor  was  Zepherinus,  A.  D.  202-218. 
He  opposed  the  heresies  of  the  Montanists  and  of  Artemon,  a  disciple 


108  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

of  Theodotus,  and  again  received  Natalis,  whom  the  adherents  of  The- 
odotus  had  elected  for  their  bishop,  into  the  communion  of  the  Church. 
Zepherinus  had  the  affliction  to  see  the  fall  of  TertuUian,  A.  D.  204, 
who  attacked  the  Papal  edict  against  the  rigorous  teachings  of  the 
Montanists  and  became  the  abettor  of  that  heresy.  It  was  under  Pope 
Zepherinus  that  Origen  went  to  Rome  to  visit  the  "  first  and  most  cel- 
ebrated Church  of  all  Christendom." 

284.  Calixtus  I.,  born  in  slavery,  governed  the  Church  during  the 
reign  of  Heliogabalus  from  A.  D.  218-222.  He  condemned  the  Anti- 
trinitarian  heresy  of  Sabellius,  as  also  the  ditheistic  doctrine  of  Hi})- 
polytus,  who,  falling  into  the  opposite  extreme,  made  the  Son  inferior 
to  the  Father.  Hippolytus  is  considered  by  some  as  the  first  anti- 
pope.  He  became  involved  in  a  virulent  conflict  with  Pope  Calixtus, 
whose  mild  treatment  of  repentant  sinners  he  condemned,  and,  dis- 
claiming his  authority,  he  set  himself  up  as  the  lawful  Bishop  of 
Rome.  The  schismatic,  finding  but  few  adherents,  continued  the 
opposition  under  the  two  successors  of  Calixtus  until  about  the  year 
235,  when  he  was,  by  order  of  Maximin,  banished  to  the  island  of  Sar- 
dinia. He  died  a  martyr,  having  become  reconciled  with  the  Church. 
Calixtus  probably  suffered  martyrdom  during  a  popular  insurrection 
under  Alexander  Severus.  To  him  is  ascribed  the  institution  of  the 
Ember  fasts  and  the  establishment  of  the  famous  cemetery  in  the  Ap- 
pian  way,  which  afterwards  adopted  his  name  and  in  which  nearly  all 
the  Popes  from  Zepherinus  to  Silvester  I.  were  buried. 

285.  The  succeeding  Pontiffs,  like  most  of  their  predecessors, 
generally  ended  their  course  by  martyrdom.  The  violent  death  of  St. 
Urban  I.,  A.  D.  223-230,  must  not  be  attributed  to  the  generous  A\et- 
ander  Severus,  in  whose  reign  it  occurred,  but  to  Almachius,  prefect 
of  the  city.  St.  Pontian,  A.  D.  230-235,  together  with  the  above- 
mentioned  Hippolytus,  was  banished  by  the  Emperor  Maximin  to  the 
island  of  Sardinia,  wliere  he  died  from  the  hardships  of  his  exile.  St. 
Anterus  governed  the  Church  a  little  more  than  a  month,  dying  in 
January  of  the  following  year,  236. 

286.  St.  Fabian,  A.  D.  236-250,  was  a  contemporary  of  the  Em- 
perors Maximin,  Gordian,  Philip,  and  Decius,  under  whose  reign  he 
suffered  martyrdom.  Fabian,  who  is  highly  eulogized  by  St.  Cyprian, 
confirmed  the  deposition  of  Privatus,  an  African  bishop,  who  had 
been  condemned  by  a  synod  of  ninety  bishops  at  Lambesa  in  Numidia 
for  many  grievous  faults.  He  assigned  the  seven  districts  of  Rome 
to  seven  deacons  with  as  many  sub-deacons,  who  were  to  assist  the 
notaries  in  recording  the  acts  of  the  martyrs.  Most  of  these  valuable 
collections  were  lost  in  the  persecution  of  Diocletian.     To  Fabian 


POPES  OF  THE  THIRD  CENTURY.  109 

Origeii  addressed  a  letter  in  defence  of  his  own  orthodoxy.  An 
ancient  tradition  ascribes  to  this  Pope  the  founding  of  the  seven 
Gallic  churches  of  Toulouse,  Aries,  Tours,  Paris,  Narbonne,  Cler- 
mont, and  Limoges,  to  which  he  is  said  to  have  sent  respectively,  Sa- 
turninus,  Trophimus,  Gratianus,  Dionysius,  Paulus,  Astremonius,  and 
Martialis  as  missionary  bishops. 

287.  Owing  to  the  violence  of  the  persecution  then  raging,  the 
See  of  Rome  remained  vacant  for  nearly  fifteen  months,  when  finally 
after  the  death  of  Decius,  Cornelius,  a  learned  Roman  priest,  was 
chosen  to  fill  the  Apostolic  Chair,  A.  D.  251-252.  His  election  was 
opposed  by  the  ambitious  presbyter  Novatian  who,  yielding  to  the 
wicked  counsels  of  Novatus,  a  turbulent  priest  from  Carthage,  became 
the  rival  of  Cornelius  and  the  founder  of  a  schismatical  sect,  called 
after  himself  "Xovatians."  Novatian  was  excommunicated  by  a 
Council  of  sixty  bishops  held  at  Rome,  and  the  three  bishops  who  had 
ordained  him  were  deposed.  On  the  cessation  of  the  Decian  persecu- 
tion arose  the  difticult  question  of  how  to  treat  the  libellatici,  or  waver- 
ing Christians,  who  had  bought  their  lives  by  the  acceptance  of  false 
certificates  testifying  they  had  sacrificed  to  heathen  gods.  Cornelius 
from  the  first,  took  a  decided  stand-point  upon  this  question  against 
the  Novatians  .who  required  greater  rigor  than  the  Roman  Church 
prescribed.  In  252,  Cornelius  was  exiled  by  the  Emperor  Gallus  to 
Centumcellae  (Civita-Yecchia),  where  he  died  a  martyr.  The  name  of 
St.  Cornelius  occurs  in  the  Canon  of  the  Mass  together  with  that  of 
St.  Cyprian,  his  faithful  friend.  Pope  Lucius,  A.  D.  252-253,  was 
banished  almost  immediately  after  his  election,  but  after  a  short  time 
permitted  to  return  to  Rome.  No  further  events  of  importance 
marked  his  short  reign  of  eight  months. 

287.  The  successor  of  St.  Lucius,  Stephen  I,  A.  D.  253-257,  was  a 
man  of  great  zeal  and  energy.  By  his  solicitude  for  the  spiritual  wel- 
fare of  even  the  most  distant  churches,  and  by  his  decisions  on  vital 
questions,  he  maintained  the  ancient  faith  as  well  as  the  prerogatives 
and  supremacy  of  his  Apostolic  See.  Upon  the  appeal  of  the  bishops 
of  Gaul,  and  at  the  urgent  request  of  St.  Cyprian  to  interpose  his 
authority,  Stephen  deposed  Marcion,  metropolitan  of  Aries,  an 
abettor  of  the  Novatian  heresy,  from  the  episcopate,  and  restored  to 
his  see  Bishop  Basilides  who  had  been  deposed  by  a  Spanish  Council. 
In  the  controversy  concerning  the  re-baptism  of  heretics,  Stephen, 
appealing  to  his  superior  authority  and  the  succession  of  Peter,  main- 
tained the  ancient  rule,  and  condemned  the  acts  of  an  African  synod  de- 
nouncing the  validity  of  baptism  by  heretics.  Notwithstanding  the  re- 
monstrance of  St. Cyprian,  who  by  no  means  denied  the  Roman  primacy, 


no  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Stephen  remained  firm.  He  died  a  martyr  for  the  faith  in  257.  The 
year  after,  258,  his  successor  Sixtus  II.  followed  him  in  martyrdom, 
having  been  beheaded  in  the  catacombs,  with  four  of  his  deacons. 

288.  After  a  vacancy  of  nearly  a  year  (Aug.  6,  258,  to  July,  21, 
259),  Dionysius,  a  Roman  presbyter,  was  elected  Pope  and  consecrated 
by  Maximus,  bishop  of  Ostia,  A.  D.  259-269.  St.  Basil  the  Great,  in 
his  letter  to  Pope  Damasus,  praises  him  as  a  bishop  illustrious  for  his 
fidelity  to  the  faith  and  adorned  with  every  virtue.  The  charitable 
Pontiff  had  sent  alms  to  Caesarea  for  the  ransom  of  Christian  captives, 
with  letters  of  condolence  to  the  afflicted  Church.  When  his  name- 
sake Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  because  of  some  ambiguous  expressions 
he  had  used  in  refuting  the  Sabellian  heresy,  had  been  accused  before 
him  of  denying  the  Consubstantiality  of  the  Son  of  God,  the  Pope  at 
once  held  a  Council  at  Rome,  A.  D.  260,  and  addressed  to  the  bishops 
of  Egypt  a  magnificent  doctrinal  letter  (Epistola  encyclica  adversus 
Sabellianos),  in  which  he  solemnly  defines  the  orthodox  faith  regard- 
ing the  Holy  Trinity.  He  also  wrote  to  the  accused  prelate,  desiring 
him  to  explain  his  doctrine  and  justify  himself  from  the  errors  imput- 
ed to  him.  The  patriarch  of  Alexandria,  submitting  to  the  doctrinal 
decision  of  the  Pope,  sent  a  satisfactory  explanation  of  his  faith  in 
the  four  books  of  his  "  Elenchus  et  Apologia  ad  Dionysium  Romanum." 

289.  Of  the  acts  of  Pope  Felix  I.,  A.  D.  269-274,  nothing  is  known 
with  any  certainty  except  the  part  he  took  in  the  deposition  of  Paul 
of  Samosata  from  the  See  of  Antioch.  He  addressed  a  letter  to  Maxi- 
mus, patriarch  of  Alexandria,  condemning  the  hereby  of  Paul,  and 
another  to  Bishop  Domnus  of  Antioch,  who  had  been  elected  in  place 
of  that  heresiarch.  Felix,  who  is  said  to  have  confirmed  the  custom  of 
celebrating  Mass  on  the  tombs  of  the  martyrs,  suffered  martyr- 
dom under  Aurelian.  Of  his  successors,  St.  Eutychianus,  A.  D.  275- 
283,  and  St.  Cajus,  A.  D.  283-296,  little  more  than  their  names  is 
known.  Their  pontificates  were  in  times  when,  with  the  exception  of 
some  cruelties  perpetrated  against  the  Christians  in  a  few  places,  par- 
ticularly at  Rome,  the  Church  was  enjoying  universal  tranquility. 
Both  of  these  Pontiffs  expired  in  peace. 

290.  But  Marcellinus,  who  succeeded  them,  A.  D.  296-304,  died  a 
martyr  during  the  Diocletian  persecution.  The  story  of  the  supposed 
fall  of  Marcellinus,  that,  in  the  time  of  persecution  he  had  offered  incense 
to  the  idols  and  subsequently  repented  before  a  council  of  three  hun- 
dred bishops  assembled  at  Sinuessa,  between  Rome  and  Capua,  is  by  all 
learned  men  now  universally  rejected  as  false.  None  of  the  ancient  wri- 
ters makes  mention  of  this  pretended  weakness  of  Marcellinus;  on  the 
contrary,  Theodoret  affirms  that  he  distinguished  himself  in  the  time 


BAPTISM  AND  CONFIRMATION.  Ill 

of  persecution  by  his  firmness  and  courage.  Besides,  the  improbability 
of  so  many  bishops  assembling  in  Council  during  the  heat  of  persecu- 
tion, is  at  once  apparent.  The  whole  fabrication  was  stigmatized  by 
St.  Augustine  as  a  Donatist  calumny,  and  ascribed  by  him  to  Petilius, 
a  Donatist  bishop,  who  without  a  shadow  of  proof,  also  accused  the 
successors  of  Marcellinus,  Marcellus,  Melchiades  and  Sylvester,  of 
having  delivered  the  Sacred  Scriptures  to  the  persecutors. 

291.  The  violence  of  the  persecution,  which  was  raging  at  the 
time,  prevented  the  election  of  a  successor  to  Marcellinus,  and  the 
Holy  See  remained  vacant  about  four  years,  A.  D.  304-308.  At 
length  St  Marcellus  was  elected.  He  occupied  the  Apostolic  See  one 
year  and  eight  months,  A.  D.  308-310.  This  Pope,  as  well  as  his  suc- 
cessor, St.  Eusebius,  who  ruled  only  about  four  months,  A.  D.  310- 
311,  strenuously  maintained  the  discipline  of  the  Church  with  regard 
to  those  who  had  denied  the  faith  during  the  persecution.  They  op- 
posed the  presumption  of  a  turbulent  schismatic,  named  Heraclius, 
who  himself,  in  time  of  peace,  had  denied  his  faith,  and  would  have 
the  apostates  re-admitted  without  previous  penance.  Both  of  these 
Pontiffs  were  successively  exiled  by  the  tyrant  Maxentius,  who  also 
banished  the  above  named  Heraclius. 

292.  Pope  Melchiades,  A.  D.  311-313,  by  virtue  of  the  new  edict 
of  Constantine,  which  finally,  after  torrents  of  blood  had  been  shed, 
gave  i^eace  to  the  Christians,  resumed  the  churches  and  other  property 
confiscated  under  Diocletian.  He  was  the  first  Pope  that  resided  in 
the  Lateran  palace,  so  called  from  Plautius  Lateranus,  to  whom  it  origi- 
nally belonged,  and  who  was  put  to  death  by  Xero.  Constantine  dona- 
ted the  palace  to  the  Roman  Pontiffs.  Melchiades  was  the  last  of  the 
Popes  whose  remains  were  deposited  in  the  catacombs.  With  his  pon- 
tificate ends  the  first  period  of  the  history  of  the  Church,  his  suc- 
successor,  Sylvester  I.,  opening  a  new  era. 

SECTIOX    XXXVII. THE    SACKAMEXTS    OF    BAPTISM    AND  CONFIRMATION. 

Baptism  when  administered — Catechumens — Mode  of  Admission — Different 
Classes  of  Catechumens — Time  of  Probation — Mode  and  Form  of  Bap- 
tism— Infant  Baptism— Minister  of  Baptism— Confirmation— Mode  of 
Administration— Minister  of  this  Sacrament. 

293.  In  the  apostolic  age,  as  appears  from  the  New  Testament, 
Baptism  was  administered  at  once  to  every  one  professing  an  earnest 
belief  in  Christianity,  and  a  sincere  sorrow  for  past  sins.  Since  the 
second  century,  however,  instruction  preceded  reception  into  the 
Church  and  no  one  was  admitted  without  previous  probation.      By 


112  HISTORY  OF  THE  GIIVRCH. 

prayer,  imposition  of  hands,  and  the  signing  of  the  cross  the  neophyte 
was  received  among  the  catechumens;  under  this  denomination  all 
those  were  classed  who  were  undergoing  instruction  previous  to  the , 
reception  of  Baptism. 

294.  Since  the  fourth  century  there  were  three  orders  of  cate- 
chumens. 1.  The  Hearers  (Audientes),  or  those  who  were  allowed 
to  remain  at  the  Divine  Service  till  after  the  sermon  when  they  were 
dismissed  and  the  mass  of  the  faithful  began  with  closed  doors. 
"After  the  sermon,"  says  St.  Augustine,  "  the  catechumens  are  dis- 
missed but  the  faithful  remain."  2.  The  Kneelers  (Genuflectentes), 
or  those  who  remained  after  the  sermon  to  participate  in  the  prayers 
and  receive  the  bishop's  blessing.  3.  The  Approved  or  Elect  (Com- 
petentes,  Electi)  who  had  passed  through  the  regular  course  of  instruc 
tion  and  training,  and  who  at  the  next  approaching  festival  (Easter 
Pentecost,  and  among  the  Greeks  also  Epiphany),  were  admitted  to 
Baptism.  The  time  of  probation  diifered  according  to  the  character 
or  the  age  of  the  individual;  but  the  Council  of  Elvira,  A.  D.  305, 
determined  that  it  should  commonly  last  two  years.  In  the  Apos- 
tolical Constitution  three  years  are  prescribed. 

295.  The  rites  and  ceremonies  of  Baptism  were  pretty  much  the 
same  as  those  observed  by  the  Church  at  the  present  day.  There  was 
but  one  opinion  among  the  ancients  about  the  form  and  matter  of 
Baptism  then  obligatory.  St.  Justin  says  :  "  Those  who  are  persuaded 
and  believe  that  the  things  said  and  taught  by  us  are  true,  and  promise 
to  the  best  of  their  ability  to  live  thus,  are  taught  to  pray  and  fast  and 
to  ask  from  God  the  remission  of  their  past  sins,  all  of  the  faithful 
praying  and  fasting  with  them.  Then  they  are  brought  by  us  to  where 
there  is  water;  and  that  they  may  be  regenerated  in  the  same  way  in 
which  we  ourselves  were  regenerated,  they  are  forthwith  cleansed  in 
the  water,  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  Lord  of  all,  and  of  our 
Saviour  Jesus,  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  Baptism  was  preceded  by 
the  renunciation  of  satan  and  administered  by  a  triple  immersion  in 
the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  But 
immersion  was  not  the  only  valid  form  of  this  Sacrament  which  in 
case  of  necessity  was  also  conferred  by  affusion,  and  aspersion,  or 
sprinkling.  This  was  the  usual  mode  of  baptizing  the  sick  ;  hence  it 
is  called  "Clinical  Baptism"  (Baptismus  Clinicorum).  The  newly 
baptized  were  anointed  with  oil  blessed  expressly  for  that  purpose 
(Oleum  Catechumenorum).  Tertullian  makes  mention  of  "Sponsors" 
who  were  required  especially  in  the  case  of  infants.  That  infants, 
according  to  an  apostolic  tradition,  were  also  to  be  baptized,  is  con- 
firmed by  the  concurrent  testimony  of  the  early  Fathers.     Those  who 


SACBAMBJVT  OF  PENANCE.  113 

liad  received  the  "Baptism  of  John,"  were  rebaptised  with  the  Baptism 
of  Jesus  which  differed  from  the  former  insomuch  that  it  was  admin- 
istered in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity.  Certain  sects,  contrary  to 
the  established  usage  of  the  Church,  were  accustomed  to  rebaptize  ; 
others,  as  the  Marcionites  and  Valentinians,  contended  that  Baptism 
must  be  thrice  administered  to  be  valid.  Among  the  catechumens 
there  were  many  who  deferred  Baptism,  for  different  reasons, 
till  the  approach  of  death.  As  a  rule,  this  Sacrament  was  ad- 
ministered by  the  bishop  himself  ;  but  by  his  authority  priests  and 
deacons  conferred  it  also,  and  in  case  of  necessity,  even  laymen  were 
allowed  to  baptize. 

296.  In  the  primitive  Church  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism  was  im- 
mediately followed  by  Confirmation  and  Holy  Communion.  The 
earliest  mention  of  Confirmation  occurs  in  the  Acts  viii.  14,  17,  and 
xix.  6.  The  rite  consisted  in  prayer,  imposition  of  hands  and  the 
annointing  of  the  forehead  with  chrism.  It  was  administered  in  the 
first  instance  by  the  Apostles  themselves,  afterwards  by  their  repre- 
sentatives and  successors,  the  bishops.  When  baptism  had  been  con- 
ferred by  priests  or  deacons,  Confirmation  was  afterward  administered 
by  the  bishop. 

SECTION  XXXVIII PRACTICE  AND  DISCIPLINE  OF  PENANCE THE  SACRA- 
MENT OF  PENANCE. 

Excommunication— Its  Origin — Distinction  between  Sins— Penance,  part  of 
Church  Discipline— Parts  of  Penance— Confession,  public  and  private— 
Canones  Poenitentiales — Classification  of  Penitents — Poenitentiarius. 

297.  If  our  Lord  prescribed  gentle  reproof  for  a  sinning  brother. 
He  likewise  enjoined  for  the  correction  of  an  obstinate  offender  an 
arraignment  before  the  authorities  of  the  Church ;  the  persistent 
sinner  was  to  be  excluded  from  the  Church,  Matt,  xviii.  16,  17.  Fol- 
lowing this  rule,  St.  Paul  excommunicated  not  only  heretics  (1.  Tim. 
I.  20),  but  also  the  incestuous  Corinthian,  whom  he  delivered  "to  Sa- 
tan for  the  destruction  of  the  flesh,  that  the  spirit  may  be  saved  " 
(2.  Cor.  V.  5.)  ;  and  having  exacted  public  penance  for  about  a  year,  he 
readmitted  the  penitent  to  the  communion  of  the  faithful.  Instructed 
by  the  words  and  the  example  of  this  Apostle,  the  early  Christian 
Church,  in  virtue  of  her  power  of  binding  and  loosing,  inflicted  se- 
vere and  even  public  penances,  especially  upon  public  delinquents,  be- 
fore reinstating  them  in  the  privileges  of  .Christian  fellowship. 

298.  Even  the  early  Fathers  formally  distinguished  between 
mortal  (mortalia,  capitalia   crimina,)    and   minor   sins    (communia). 


114  HISTORY  OF   THE  CHURCH 

Idolatry,  murder  and  the  various  sins  against  chastity  were  pun- 
ished with  exclusion  from  the  Church;  while  minor  sins,  it  was  taught, 
could  be  remitted  by  prayer  and  works  of  piety.  Forgiveness  of 
grievous  sins  was  to  be  obtained  only  by  the  practice  of  rigorous  pen- 
ance. The  Apostolical  Fathers  not  only  speak  of  penitence  as  a  moral 
quality  and  as  a  religious  duty,  but  also  treat  of  penance  as  part  of 
church-discipline.  Tertullian,  especially,  recognized  this  distinction; 
he  wrote  an  entire  treatise  on  the  subject  of  penance,  "  De  Poeniten- 
tia,"  from  which,  as  well  as  from  many  other  passages  in  his  writings, 
the  conclusion  is  derived  that  there  was,  as  early  as  the  second  century, 
a  complete  system  of  discipline  and  penance  extant  in  the  Church. 

299.  Penance,  to  be  fruitful  or  availing,  in  the  primitive  ages  as 
now,  implied  1.  Contrition  ;  2.  Self -accusation,  and  3.  Satisfaction. 
According  to  Origen,  the  penitent  who  desired  to  be  reconciled  with 
the  Church  had  to  pass  through  different  stages  of  penance — contri- 
tion, satisfaction  and  self-accusation  or  confession.  Confession,  called 
Exomologesis,  was  either  private  before  the  bishop  or  the  priest  alone, 
or  public  before  the  whole  congregation.  A  public  confession  was 
demanded  of  persons  who  were  guilty  of  grievous  public  sins,  unless 
indeed  the  manifestation  of  such  sins  might  create  scandal.  Secret 
crimes  required  only  a  private  confession,  but  a  public  declaration  of 
secret  sins  was  frequently  advised  and  even  urged  by  the  confessor. 
Public  offenders,  besides  being  required  to  make  in  the  Church  an 
open  confession  of  their  sins,  had  to  remain  in  a  state  of  penance  for 
one,  three,  seven,  yea  fifteen  years,  some  even  for  life.  The  nature 
and  duration  of  the  penances  to  be  performed  in  the  first  and  second 
centuries  was  determined  by  the  bishops  after  consulting  their  dio- 
cesan counsellors;  in  the  more  important  cases  bishops  also  asked 
by  letter  (epistola  canonica)  the  advice  of  their  brother  bishops. 
When  crimes  became  more  frequent,  the  Church  became  more  severe, 
and  established  by  her  sacred  canons  proper  regulations  determining 
the  nature  and  time  of  the  penance  to  be  imposed.  The  collection 
of  such  penitential  canons  (canones  poenitentiales),  which  appointed 
the  manner  and  duration  of  penances  for  different  sins,  w^as  called 
the  Penitential  (Poenitentiale). 

300.  Of  public  penitents  there  were  four  classes.  The  first  was 
that  of  "  weepers"  (flentes),  whose  place  was  in  the  porch  of  the 
Church,  where  they  lay  prostrate  and  begged  the  prayers  of  the  enter- 
ing faithful.  The  second  was  that  of  the  "hearers"  (audientes),  who 
were  permitted  to  enter  the  vestibule  of  the  Church  and,  with  the 
Catechumens,  to  hear  the  reading  of  the  Scriptures  and  the  sermon, 
but  were  commanded  to  depart  before  the  mass  of  the  faithful  com- 


HOLY  EUCHARIST.  115 

menced.  The  "prostrates  "  or  "  kneelers"  (substra,  tigenuflectentes), 
who  belonged  to  the  third  class,  knelt  in  the  nave  or  body  of  the 
Church,  between  the  doors  and  the  ambo,  or  reading  desk;  after  re- 
ceiving the  bishop's  blessing,  which  followed  the  sermon,  they  were 
dismissed  with  the  preceding  group.  The  fourth  class  of  penitents 
were  the  "  by-standers"  (consistentes),  who  stood  \v^ith  the  faithful  be- 
fore the  altar  and  remained  throughout  the  whole  service,  but  were 
not  allowed  to  partake  of  the  Holy  Eucharist. 

301.  Public  penance,  to  which,  as  a  rule,  the  sinner  was  admitted 
only  once  for  the  same  grievous  offence,  was  in  the  beginning  wholly 
under  the  direction  of  the  bishop.  Since  the  Decian  persecution,  a 
Penitentiary  (Poenitentiarius)  was  appointed,  Avho  aided  the  bishop 
in  the  direction  of  the  penitents.  Private  confession  was  made  also 
to  other  priests.  The  final  re-admission,  or  reconcilliation,  as  it  was 
called,  of  penitents  took  place  in  "  Holy  Week,"  and  was  performed 
by  the  bishop,  who,  laying  his  hands  on  them,  gave  them  absolution. 
The  canonical  penances  were  under  certain  circumstances  mitigated, 
and  sometimes  altogether  remitted.  Such  mitigations  or  indulgences 
were  granted  in  danger  of  death  or  impending  persecution,  as  also  at 
the  instance  of  confessors  or  martyrs,  who,  giving  billets  of  peace 
(libelli  pacis)  to  the  penitents,  requested  for  them  the  remission  of 
the  remaining  penances. 

SECTION    XXXTX. THE    HOLY   EUCHARIST DISCIPLINE   OF   THE    SECRET. 

Belief  and  Practice  of  the  Primitive  Church  regarding  this  Sacrament— Tes- 
timony of  Hippolytus— Names  and  Appellations  of  this  Sacrament— Cel- 
ebration of  the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice— Testimony  of  Justin  and  Origen— 
Apostolical  Constitutions— Communion  administered  under  one  and 
under  both  Kinds— Missa  Catechumenorum  and  Missa  Fidelium— Disci- 
pline of  the  Secret— Mysteries  coming  under  this  Law— Marriages  among 
Christians. 

302.  The  Holy  Eucharist  w^hich,  to  use  the  words  of  St.  Ignatius 
Martyr,  "  is  that  Flesh  of  Our  Saviour,  Jesus  Christ,  which  suffered  for 
our  sins,  and  which  in  his  goodness  the  Father  again  raised,"  was  in 
in  the  primitive  Church,  as  it  ever  since  has  been,  the  very  centre  and 
essence  of  divine  worship.  The  belief  and  practice  of  Christian  anti- 
quity regarding  the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice  is  thus  expressed  by  Hippoly- 
tus  :  "  His  [Christ's]  precious  and  immaculate  Body  and  Blood  are 
daily  consecrated  and  offered  up  on  that  mystical  and  divine  table  in 
commemoration  of  that  first  and  ever  memorable  Banquet."  All  the 
Fathers  who  flourished  in  the  early  age  bear  unequivocal  testimony  to 


116  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  faith  of  the  Church  and  the  belief  of  the  faithful  regarding  this 
doctrine.  When  speaking  of  the  Holy  Eucharist,  they  uniformly  teach 
in  the  clearest  terms:  1.  The  Real  Presence  of  Our  Lord  in  this 
sacrament ;  2.  That  the  same  is  a  true  and  perfect  sacrifice.  They 
alternately  call  it  "the  Bread  of  God,"  "the  Flesh  of  Christ,"  "the 
Body  of  the  Lord,"  "an  Oblation,"  "a  perfect  Sacrifice,"  and  "the 
Word  which  is  offered  to  God."  This  faith  of  the  primitive  Church 
is  attested  by  numerous  inscriptions  and  symbolical  representations 
found  in  the  catacombs,  and  explains  also  why  Pagans,  ignorant  of 
the  real  nature  of  the  Christian  Sacrifice,  could  accuse  the  Christians 
of  feasting  at  their  solemn  assemblies  upon  the  flesh  of  a  murdered 
infant. 

303.  The  celebration  of  the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice,  commonly  called 
"  Liturgy  " — public  service — St.  Justin  describes  as  follows  :  "  After 
the  reading  of  some  passages  from  the  Scriptures  and  the  reci- 
tation of  certain  prayers,  followed  a  homily  by  the  bishop.  This 
being  ended,  the  faithful  rose  again  for  prayer  and  gave  each  other 
the  kiss  of  peace.  Then  bread,  and  wine  mixed  with  water,  were 
offered,  over  which  the  bishop  pronounced  the  words  of  the  insti- 
tution, i.  e.  of  consecration,  and  all  the  people  answered:  Amen. 
After  the  bishop  had  received  communion,  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Jesus  Christ  was  distributed  to  all  the  faithful  present,  and  carried 
by  the  deacon  to  the  sick  and  imprisoned."  "And  this  food,"  the 
same  Justin  continues,  "we  call  the  Eucharist,  of  which  no  one  is 
allowed  to  partake  but  he  who  believes  our  doctrine  to  be  true  and 
has  been  washed  in  the  laver  of  Baptism.  .  .  .  For  we  do  not  receive 
these  things  as  common  bread  and  drink,  but  as  Jesus  Christ,  Our 
Saviour  became  incarnate  and  assumed  both  flesh  and  blood  for  our 
salvation,  even  so,  we  believe  that  the  food  blessed  by  the  word  of 
prayer  taught  by  Him,  and  by  the  reception  of  which  our  flesh  and 
blood  are  nourished,  is  the  very  Flesh  and  Blood  of  the  same  incarnate 
Jesus.  For  the  Apostles,  in  the  records  that  have  come  down  to  us, 
and  which  are  known  under  the  name  of  the  Gospels,  have  transmit- 
ted to  us  the  command  which  Christ  gave  them,  in  which,  after  hav- 
ing taken  bread  and  given  thanks,  He  said  :  "  Do  ye  this  in  commem- 
oration of  Me." 

304.  Origen  is  explicit  enough  on  the  same  subject  as  far  as  he 
goes,  though,  owing  to  the  discipline  of  the  secret,  his  references  are  in- 
cidental. He  says:  "He  that  has  been  initiated  in  our  mysteries  knows 
both  the  Flesh  and  the  Blood  of  the  Word  of  God.  Let  us  not  dwell 
then  on  what  is  already  known  to  the  faithful,  and  must  not  be  di- 
vulged to  the  unlearned."      Elsewhere  Origen  commends  the  reveren- 


HOL  T  E  UCHARI8T.  117 

tial  custom  of  the  Church  in  guarding  every  partide  of  the  conse- 
crated bread  from  falling  on  the  ground.  *•  You  who  frequent  our  sa- 
cred mysteries  know  that  when  you  receive  the  sacred  Body  of  our 
Lord,  you  take  care  with  all  due  caution  and  veneration  that  not  even 
the  smallest  particle  of  the  consecrated  gift  should  fall  to  the  ground 
and  be  wasted."  But  the  most  important  information  respecting  the 
Eucharistic  Sacrifice  is  derived  from  the  Apostolic  Constitutions, 
which  is  the  oldest  liturgical  document  now  extant.  The  Constitutions 
give  a  full  description  of  the  rites  and  formularies  made  use  of  in 
the  celebration  of  the  divine  mysteries,  and  contain  literally  every 
essential  expression  and  form  of  prayer  now  in  use  in  the  Mass. 

305.  For  the  Holy  Eucharist  both  leavened  and  unleavened  bread 
were  used,  and  the  faithful  brought  everything  necessary  for  the  Sac- 
rifice. Holy  Communion,  which  the  faithful  were  accustomed  to  re- 
ceive every  day,  was  then  administered  under  both  kinds;  however, 
it  was  given  also  under  one  kind,  especially  in  the  case  of  sick  persons 
and  in  times  of  persecution.  Baptized  infants  received  it  under  the  spe- 
cies of  wine.  It  was  customary  to  place  the  sacred  Host  in  the  hands 
of  the  communicant  and  let  him  communicate  himself.  By  the  secret 
discipline  of  the  ancient  Church  none  but  believers  were  permitted 
to  be  present  at  the  celebration  of  the  divine  mysteries;  unbelievers 
and  even  Catechumens  were  excluded  from  them. 

306.  From  the  two-fold  dismissal,  viz.:  that  of  the  Catechumens 
and  penitents  after  the  Gospel,  and  the  other  of  the  faithful  at  the 
end  of  the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice,  the  Mass  was  distinguished  into  two 
parts  known  as  the  "  Mass  of  the  Catechumens  "  (Missa  Catechumen- 
orum),  and  the  "  Mass  of  the  Faithful  "  (Missa  Fidelium).  The  Holy 
Sacrifice,  which  from  the  earliest  period  was  offered  upon  the  tombs 
of  the  holy  martyrs,  was  usually  followed  by  what  were  termed  the 
Agapae,  or  Love-feasts,  which  were  afterwards  wholly  abolished. 

307.  In  accordance  with  the  solemn  admonition  of  our  Divine 
Lord,  "  not  to  cast  pearls  before  swine  nor  give  what  was  holy  to  the 
dogs"  (Matt.  vii.  6.),  it  was  a  uniform  rule  of  the  primitive  Church 
to  conceal,  as  far  as  possible,  the  mysteries  of  our  holy  faith  from  Pa- 
gans, infidels  and  even  Catechumens.  Hence  arose  the  "  Discipline 
of  the  Secret"  (disciplina  arcani),  which  veiled  and  protected  the 
mysteries  of  religion.  Those  mysteries  were  as  a  general  rule  com- 
municated to  the  baptized,  or  as  they  were  called,  the  "  initiated,"  and 
to  them  only.  "  The  Mysteries,"  says  St.  Athanasius,  "  ought  not  to  be 
publicly  exhibited  to  the  uninitiated,  lest  the  Gentiles,  who  under- 
stand them  not,  scoff  at  them,  and  the  Catechumens,  becoming 
curious,  be  scandalized." 


118  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

308.  In  virtue  of  this  economy  it  was  not  lawful  for  those  initiated 
in  the  doctrine  of  Christianity  to  speak  of,  or  publicly  represent  cer- 
tain of  its  tenets  and  usages,  for  example,  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity, 
the  Sacraments,  especially  the  Holy  Eucharist  and  the  Sacrifice  of  the 
Mass,  the  Crucifixion  of  the  Saviour,  even  the  sign  of  the  Cross. 
Hence  the  frequent  occurrence  in  the  writings  of  the  early  Fathers 
of  si^ch  passages  as  :  "The  initiated  know  what  I  mean;"  "I  shall  be 
understood  by  the  faithful,"  and  the  like.  Hence  also  the  exclusion 
of  even  the  Catechumens  from  the  "Mass  of  the  faithful."  This 
caution  the  early  Christians  were  compelled  to  observe  to  guard  them- 
selves against  intruders  among  the  Catechumens  and  their  holy  faith 
against  base  misrepresentations.  The  "  Discipline  of  the  Secret," 
which  lasted  during  the  first  five  centuries,  accounts  for  the  guarded 
language  of  the  early  writers  w^hen  addressing  themselves  to  any  but 
the  baptized,  and  explains  why  the  Fathers  of  this  period  write  so 
cautiously  concerning^  the  Real  Presence  of  our  Lord  in  the  Eucharist. 

309.  Marriages  among  Christians,  as  a  rule,  were  contracted  in 
the  presence  of  the  bishop,  and  were  always  regarded  as  indissoluble. 
St.  Paul  and  Tertullian  both  call  marriage  a  great  sacrament.  A 
second  marriage  could  be  contracted  only  after  the  death  of  one  of  the 
two  parties.  Second  marriages,  though  never  disapproved  by  the 
Church,  were,  however,  by  some  of  the  early  Fathers  severely  cen- 
sured as  a  dangerous  weakness  and  even  as  decorous  adulteries. 

SECTION    XL. HOLY-DAYS    AND   ECCLESIASTICAL    SEASONS SACRED 

RITES    AND    PLACES THE    CATACOMBS. 

Weekly  Festivals— Sunday— Station-Days— Yearly  Festivals— Easter— Whit- 
sunday—Quadragesimal  Fast— Ascension  Day— Epiphany — Vigils— Fes- 
tivals of  Holy  Martyrs— Sign  of  the  Cross— Its  Use— Sacred  Buildings  — 
Erection  of  Churches— Catacombs— Their  Use — Their  Origin— Number 
and  Extent  of  the  Roman  Catacombs. 

310.  The  Jewish  Christians,  after  the  example  of  our  Lord,  con- 
tinued to  keep  holy  the  ancient  or  legal  Sabbath;  but  afterwards,  in 
its  stead,  the  first  day  of  the  week,  or  Sunday  was  observed,  as  ap- 
pears from  the  Scripture  (Acts  XX.  7;  1.  Cor.  xvi.  2),  by  the  Apostles 
themselves,  who  called  it  the  Lord's  Day  (Apoc.  i.  10),  and  was  espe- 
cially consecrated  to  divine  worship  in  honor  of  the  Resurrection  of 
our  Lord.  This  change  of  days  for  religious  observance  is,  therefore, 
simply  of  Apostolic  institution,  and  presents  the  full  exercise  of  the 


HOL  Y  DA  YS  AND  SEASONS.  119 

authority  of  the  Church.  Wednesday  and  Friday  in  each  week, 
called  "Stations"  (stationes),  were  kept  holy  by  the  early  Christians 
as  special  days  of  prayer  and  fasting  in  honor  of  Christ's  Passion. 
The  fasts  observed  on  these  days  lasted  until  three  o'clock  in  th^ 
afternoon,  hence  they  were  called  "half-fasts"  (semijejunia).  In  the 
Roman  Church  Friday  and  Saturday  were  kept  as  station  days. 

311.  The  principal  annual  feasts  of  the  primitive  Church  were 
Easter,  and  Pentecost,  or  Whitsunday,  which,  dating  from  the  time  of 
the  Apostles,  were  celebrated  in  memory  of  Christ's  Resurrection  and 
of  the  Descent  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  The  high  antiquity  and  impor- 
tance of  Easter  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  with  it  the  ecclesiastical 
year  began.  It  was  preceded  by  a  fast  of  forty  days  called  "  Quadra- 
gesima," which  is  said  to  have  been  instituted  by  the  Apostles  in 
memory  of  Christ's  fasting.  The  Paschal  Commemoration,  lasting 
forty  days,  was  followed  by  the  Feast  of  Our  Lord's  Ascension,  of 
general  observance  since  the  third  century.  The  Epiphany  was  cele- 
brated at  a  very  early  date  in  the  East,  whence  it  was  introduced  into 
the  Western  Church.  About  the  same  time  Christmas  was  introduc- 
ed, first  in  the  West  and  then  in  the  East.  All  these  festivals  were 
inaugurated  on  the  preceding  evening  ;  hence  the  origin  of  "  Vigils." 
In  like  manner  the  festivals  of  the  holy  martyrs,  the  anniversary  days 
of  their  martyrdom — called  "  natalita,"  "  being  their  true  birthday  for 
heaven" — were  celebrated.  The  most  ancient  of  these  feasts  are, 
perhaps,  those  of  the  Holy  Innocents  of  Bethlehem  and  of  St.  Poly- 
carp.  The  festivals  in  memory  of  the  holy  martyrs  were  preceded 
by  vigils  and  celebrated  around  the  graves  of  the  martyrs,  where 
their  lives  were  read  and  eulogies  pronounced  on  their  heroic  virtues 
and  their  martyrdom  for  Christ. 

312.  Many  of  the  practices  and  ceremonies  used  by  the  Church 
in  the  administration  of  the  Sacraments  and  in  other  parts  of  her  re- 
ligious offices,  have  been  derived  from  the  earliest  Christian  ages. 
Such  are,  for  instance,  the  exorcisms,  the  use  of  holy  water,  the  cus- 
tom of  lighting  candles  at  divine  service,  and  the  sign  of  the  cross. 
The  sacred  symbol  of  the  cross,  eulogized  even  by  the  Apostles  (1. 
Cor.  i.  18;  Gal.  vi.  14),  was  an  object  of  special  veneration  to  the  early 
Christians.  Of  the  practice  of  the  early  Christians  signing  them- 
selves with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  Tertullian  says  in  his  work  entitled 
"  On  the  Soldier's  Crown  :"  "  In  all  our  travels  and  movements,  in 
coming  in  and  going  out,  in  dressing  and  bathing,  at  table  and  lying 


120  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH 

or  sitting  down,  and  at  every  other  employment  we  mark  our  forehead 
with  the  sign  of  the  cross."  The  same  is  confirmed  by  Origen  and 
other  Fathers. 

313.  Devotion  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which  is  the  natural  correl- 
ative of  her  dignity  as  Mother  of  God,  was  not  unknown  in  the  early 
Church.  This  is  proved  from  the  writings  of  the  early  Fathers,  as 
well  as  by  the  frescoes  of  the  Madonna  and  Child  found  in  the  cata- 
combs. Justin  Martyr,  Tertullian  and  Irenseus  extol  Mary  as  the 
Mother  of  the  God-man.  "As  Eve,"  says  St.  Irenseus,  "  having  indeed 
Adam  for  a  husband,  but  as  yet  being  a  virgin,  becoming  disobedient, 
became  the  cause  of  death  to  herself  and  to  the  whole  human  race,  so 
also  Mary,  having  the  predestined  man,  and  being  yet  a  virgin,  being 
obedient,  became  both  to  herself  and  to  the  whole  human  race  the 
cause  of  civilization,"  and  "  though  the  one  had  disobeyed  God,  yet 
the  other  was  drawn  to  obey  God  ;  so  that  the  Virgin  Mary  might  be- 
come the  advocate  of  the  virgin  Eve." 

314.  In  the  early  days  of  the  Church,  the  Christians  were  wont  to 
assemble  for  religious  services  in  private  houses  (Acts  ii.  46,  xx.  7). 
Occasionally  buildings  exclusively  for  Christian  worship  were  used 
even  in  the  Apostolic  age,  but  this  must  have  very  seldom  happened. 
It  was  not  until  the  first  half  of  the  third  century  that  Christians  were 

,  permitted  to  erect  convenient  edifices  for  the  purpose  of  religious  wor- 
ship ;  these  they  called  "  ecclesiae,"  or  churches.  These  sacred  build- 
ings, it  is  true,  must  have  been  very  unpretentious  and  offered,  no 
doubt,  exteriorly  few  signs  of  note,  capable  of  attracting  the  attention 
of  the  passers-by.  St.  Cyprian  and  Eusebius  both  speak  of  the  demo- 
lition of  many  Christian  churches  under  Decius  and  Diocletian. 

315.  In  times  of  persecution,  the  Christians  held  their  assemblies 
in  sequestered  places,  especially  in  the  catacombs  which  are  found  at 
Rome,  Naples,  Alexandria,  in  Africa,  and  other  places.  The  destina- 
tion and  use  of  the  catacombs  are  well  known.  They  were  the  habi- 
tations of  the  persecuted  Christians  and  the  cemeteries  or  "  sleeping- 
places"  of  their  dead.  Here  they  laid  with  pious  veneration  the 
mangled  remains  of  their  countless  martyrs ;  here,  too,  they  as- 
sembled for  instruction  and  the  celebration  of  the  divine  mysteries. 
The  separation  of  the  sexes  was  carefully  provided  for  ;  different  en- 
trances and  stairways  being  appropriated  to  each,  and  separate  places 
were  allotted  to  them  during  divine  services. 

316.  Recent  researches  show  that  the  catacombs  are  entirely  dis- 
tinct from  the  quarries  or  sand-pits  of  the  pagan  Romans,  and  that 


THE  CATACOMBS.  121 

they  served  exclusively  for  the  religious  purposes  of  the  early  Chris- 
tians. It  has  likewise  been  shown  that  the  Christians  of  the  first  ages, 
at  least,  could  have  their  own  cemeteries  under  the  ordinary  laws  of 
the  state,  and  that  consequently  they  were  under  no  necessity  of  con- 
cealing the  burial  and  the  resting-places  of  their  dead.  The  laws  of 
Rome  were  very  considerate  in  regard  to  burial,  which  was  even 
protected  during  persecution.  Under  the  protection  of  the  laws,  a 
number  of  "colleges,"  as  they  were  called,  or  corporations  were 
established,  whose  members  were  associated  with  a  view  of  mutual 
assistance  for  the  performance  of  the  just  funeral  rites. 

317.  The  catacombs  are  found  in  every  direction  around  the  walls 
of  Rome  to  the  number  of  about  forty  in  all.  It  has  been  calculated 
that  the  united  length  of  the  passages  is  three  hundred  leagues,  or 
nine  hundred  miles,  and  their  walls  are  lined  with  from  five  to  six 
million  tombs.  The  graves  are  in  tiers  on  the  sides,  and  are  closed 
with  tiles  or  marble  slabs,  on  which  are  often  found  inscriptions,  or 
Christian  emblems.  In  the  tomb  of  a  martyr  a  vial  containing  some 
of  his  blood  was  usually  placed,  and  a  palm  was  engraven  on  the 
stone  outside.  St.  Jerome,  who  himself  explored  the  subterranean 
vaults,  thus  writes  of  them:  "  Countless  paths  branch  out  on  all  sides 
and  cross  each  other  in  every  direction.  Thousands  of  dead  are 
buried  in  excavations  in  the  walls."  After  the  cessation  of  the  per- 
secution under  Diocletian,  burial  in  the  catacombs  began  to  be  discon- 
tinued, 

318.  The  discoveries  of  the  catacombs  bear  important  testimony 
both  as  to  the  practice  and  the  belief  of  the  early  Christians.  They 
show  and  illustrate  to  us  the  belief  of  the  early  Church  in  the  Primacy 
of  St.  Peter,  the  various  orders  of  hierachy,  the  Sacrament  of  Baptism, 
the  forgiveness  of  sins,  the  Blessed  Eucharist,  the  holy  sacrifice  of 
the  Mass,  the  resurrection  of  Christ,  the  veneration  of  the  holy 
Mother  of  God,  and  of  the  Saints,  supplication  for  the  departed,  etc. 
Thus  the  catacombs  are  lasting  monuments,  affording  the  most  unmis- 
takable evidence  that  the  Catholic  Church  of  to-day  is  one  in  faith 
and  dogma  with  the  Church  of  the  first  century. 


SECOND   EPOCH. 


PROM    THE   EDICT    OF    MILAN    TO    THE    SIXTH    ECUMENICAL    COUNCIL, 

OR, 
FROM    A.    D.    313    TO    A.    D.    680. 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS. 

Struggle  of  the  Church  with  Heresies — St.  Paul  and  St.  Augustine  on  Here- 
sies— Advantages  resulting  from  Heresies — Doctrinal  Development — 
Doctrine  of  Christ  Immutable — Heresies  of  the  Period  classified. 

1 .  The  first  triumph  of  the  Church  over  Paganism  was  followed, 
in  the  present  epoch  by  a  more  glorious  triumph  over  the  numerous 
and  powerful  heresies  that  assailed  either  her  unity  or  her  faith. 
Great  as  the  persecutions  were  which  the  Church  in  the  preceding 
period  suffered  from  idolatry,  still  greater  were  those  she  had  to  en- 
dure from  the  heretics.  The  spread  of  heresy  in  the  world  has  in- 
jured the  Church  more  than  idolatry,  and  she  has  suffered  more  pro- 
longed and  greater  persecutions  from  her  own  apostate  children  than 
from  her  enemies.  Still  she  has  never  perished  in  any  of  the  tem- 
pests that  the  heretics  have  raised  against  her.  It  is  true,  indeed,  that 
she  appeared  on  the  point  of  perishing  when  the  Nicene  faith,  through 
the  intrigues  of  the  Arians,  was  condemned  in  the  Council  of  Rimini; 
and  again  when  the  heresies  of  Nestorius  and  Eutyches  had  gained 
the  upper  hand.  But  the  bark  of  the  Church,  which  appeared  to  be 
completely  wrecked  and  sunken  by  the  force  of  these  persecutions, 
was  in  a  little  while  floating  more  gloriously  and  triumpantly  than 
ever  before. 

2.  Heresies  in  no  respect  injure  those  who  are  firm  and  steadfast, 
but  rather  render  them  more  illustrious.  St.  Paul  says:  "  There" must 
be  heresies,  that  they  also,  who  are  reproved,  may  be  made  manifest 
among  you,"  1.  Cor.  xi.  19.  St.  Augustine  explaining  this  text  says: 
"As  fire  is  necessary  to  purify  silver  and  separate  it  from  the  dross, 
so  heresies  are  necessary  to  prove  the  good  Christians  among  the  bad, 
and  to  separate  the  true  from  the  false  doctrine." 

3.  Many  and  great  were  the  advantages  which  resulted  to  the 
Church  through  these  heresies  ;  for  whilst  the  heretics  sought  to  per- 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS.  123 

vert  the  true  doctrine,  the  Church  so  much  the  more  busied  herself 
in  defining,  explaining  and  substantiating  it.  Her  conflicts  with  heresy 
occasioned  what  may  be  properly  called  the  development  of  the  doc- 
trines of  the  Church.  The  doctrine  of  Christ,  while  remaining  one 
and  immutable,  gradually  required  more  appropriate  expression  and 
more  definite  preciseness.  No  period  of  ecclesiastical  history  has 
witnessed  a  more  rapid  and  a  more  powerful  development  of  the 
Catholic  doctrine  than  the  one  under  consideration,  styled  the  age  of 
the  Councils  and  the  great  Doctors  of  the  Church.  Against  each  of 
the  many  heresies,  which  arose  during  this  period,  a  gallant  array  of 
Catholic  writers  and  doctors  came  forward  defending  and  explaining 
the  doctrines  of  the  Church,  so  wantonly  distorted  by  heretics  and 
pagan  sophists.  The  numerous  synods,  particularly  the  ecumenical 
Councils,  held  during  this  era,  opposed  in  their  decrees  appropriate 
and  definite  expositions  of  the  Catholic  faith  to  each  heresy,  thus 
more  fully  and  more  precisely  bringing  out  and  formulating  the  doc- 
trines of  Christ's  Church. 

4.  The  heresies  of  this  period  turned  chiefly  on  the  following 
dogmas  of  Christianity:  1.  The  mystery  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  or  the 
Divinity  of  Christ  and  the  Holy  Ghost,  which  was  denied  by  the" 
Arian,  Macedonian,  and  Photinian  heresies;  2.  The  Incarnation,  or 
the  person  and  humanity  of  Christ,  against  which  were  directed  the 
Apollinarian,  Nestorian,  Monophysite,  and  Monothelite  heresies ; 
3.  The  nature  and  necessity  of  divine  Grace.  This  was  impugned 
by  the  Pelagians,  Semipelagians  and  Predestinarians. 

5.  The  history  of  heresies  is  a  most  useful  study;  for  it  shows 
the  truth  and  immutability  of  our  holy  faith  as  delivered  by  Christ, 
and  evinces  clearly  the  truth  of  the  memorable  saying  of  our  Lord, 
that  "  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  his  Church,"  which 
the  Apostle  calls  "  the  pillar  and  ground  of  truth." 


124  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 


CHAPTER   I. 


CHRISTIANITY  TRIUMPHANT  OVER  PAGANISM. 


I.  THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 


SECTION    XLI. THE    CHURCH    UNDER    CONSTANTINE    AND    HIS    SONS. 


Edict  of  Milan  —  Persecution  under  Licinius  -  Martyrs  —  Foundation  of 
Churcjies  under  Constantine  —  Discovery  of  the  Time  Cross  by  St. 
Helena  —  Cruelties  of  Constantine  —  His  Death  —  Division  of  the  Empire 
among  his  Sons  —  Laws  against  Idolatry. 

6.  The  accession  of  Constantine,  surnamed  the  Great,  forms  a 
new  epoch  in  the  history  of  the  Catholic  Church.  The  great  event  of 
his  reign  was  the  recognition  of  Christianity  as,  in  a  certain  sense, 
the  religion  of  the  state.  As  a  statesman  and  a  politician,  Constantine 
favored  and  protected  Christianity,  which  he  found  so  well  adapted 
to  infuse  vigor  and  new  life  into  the  decaying  empire.  The  celebrated 
Edict  of  Milan,  A.  D.  313,  guaranteed  to  the  hitherto  persecuted 
Christians  absolute  toleration  ;  provided  for  the  restoration  of  all  the 
civil  and  religious  rights  of  which  they  had  been  so  unjustly  deprived, 
and  enacted  that  all  property  which  had  been  confiscated  should  be 
restored  to  the  Church. 

7.  By  a  series  of  enactments,  Constantine  granted  to  the  Chris- 
tians many  exceptional  privileges,  and  openly  avowed  his  predilection 
for  their  religion.  He  exempted  church  property  from  taxation  and 
the  Catholic  clergy  from  the  "Liturgies,"  i.  e.,  from  certain  civil 
services  and  municipal  offices  which  were  incompatible  with  their 
state.  He  gave  the  Church  the  right  of  manumitting  slaves,  .and  to 
her  bishops  he  granted  judicial  power,  allowing  litigating  parties  to 
appeal  from  secular  judges  to  their  tribunal.  Practices  pointedly 
offensive  to  the  Christians  were  abolished  c  thus,  the  sanguinary  com- 


THE  CHURCH  UNDER  C0N8TANTINE.  125 

bats  of  the  gladiators  and  the  horrid  practice  of  exposing  or  murder- 
ing new-born  infants  were  interdicted,  and  the  punishment  of  cruci- 
fixion, which  the  Saviour  of  mankind  had  condescended  to  suffer,  was 
abrogated.  Heathenism,  however,  was  not  yet  proscribed.  Constan- 
tine  retained  the  title  of  "Pontifex  Maximus  "  and  continued  to  ob- 
serve certain  pagan  rrtes. 

8.  While  Constantine  was  thus  favoring  the  Christians  in  his 
dominions,  his  imperial  colleague  Licinius,  instigated  by  jealousy,  and 
wishing  to  gain  pagan  popularity,  oppressed  them  in  the  East.  Chris- 
tian officers  were  ignominiously  dismissed  from  the  court  and  army  ; 
all  public  functionaries  were  commanded  to  sacrifice  to  idols,  or,  in 
case  of  refusal,  were  deprived  of  their  rank  ;  and  bishops  were  pro- 
hibited to  meet  in  Council.  Licinius  even  permitted  the  open  perse- 
cution of  the  Christians.  Among  those  crowned  with  martyrdom 
under  Licinius  were  the  forty  martyrs  of  Sebaste  in  Amenia.  This 
brought  on  a  decisive  struggle  between  the  two  emperors,  which 
ended  in  the  total  defeat  and  death  of  Licinius  at  Adrianople,  A.  D. 
323.  This  event  leaving  Constantine  the  sole  ruler  of  the  vast  em- 
pire, he  hastened  to  extend  the  blessing  of  religious  liberty  also  to 
the  East.  He  now  openly  declared  himself  in  favor  of  Christianity 
and,  in  324,  addressed  a  formal  appeal  to  the  Heathens,  exhorting 
them  to  become  Christians. 

9.  Without  suppressing  Paganism  altogether,  Constantine  by 
slow  and  cautious  steps  proceeded  against  idolatrous  worship.  He 
interdicted  all  private  sacrifices,  forbade  governors  to  participate  in 
public  ones,  and  ordered  the  closing  of  all  such  temples  in  which 
prostitution  and  imposture  were  practiced  under  cloak  of  religion. 
Many  pagan  temples  were  converted  into  Christian  churches.  Besides 
the  churches  at  Jerusalem  and  Bethlehem,  Constantine  and  his  mother, 
the  saintly  Empress  Helena,  erected  and  endowed  others  at  Rome, 
Nigomedia,  Antioch,  Tyre  and  other  places.  The  pious  labors  of  Con- 
stantine were  rewarded  by  the  discovery  of  the  true  Cross  of  Christ, 
which  was  found  by  St.  Helena  in  the  year  326.  The  Emperor's  chil- 
dren were  brought  up  in  the  Christian  religion,  and  the  education  of 
his  eldest  son  Crispus,  was  entrusted  to  Lactantius,  the  most  eloquent 
Christian  of  his  day.  To  the  high  offices  of  the  state,  as  a  rule,  only 
Christians  were  nominated,  and  bishops  were  invariably  ranked  above 
the  highest  civil  officers.  The  new  Capital  which  Constantine  built  on 
the  site  of  ancient  Byzantium,  A.  D.  330,  and  which  was  afterwards 
called  in  his  honor  Constantinople,  was  essentially  a  Christian  city, 
adorned  with  many  magnificent  churches  and  inhabited  principally 
by  Christians. 


126  HISTORY  OF   THE   CHURCH. 

10.  Notwithstanding  his  many  eminent  qualities  and  the  valuable 
services  which  Constantine  rendered  to  the  Church,  his  character  was 
not  without  serious  blemishes.  His  father-in-law  Maximian,  his  broth- 
er-in-law Licinius,  his  own  son  Crispus,  his  nephew  Licinianus,  a  boy 
of  eleven  years,  and  lastly,  his  wife  Fausta,  were  successively,  victims 
of  his  jealousy.  He  was  vain  and  passionate,  and  could  easily  be  im- 
posed ui)on  by  flatterers  and  tricksters.  Influenced  by  heretics,  he 
curtailed  the  freedom  of  the  Church  by  meddling  in  purely  ecclesiasr 
tical  affairs  ;  the  great  Athanasius  he  had  expelled  from  his  See.  To 
the  end  of  his  life,  Constantine  remained  out  of  the  Church — delaying 
baptism  till  his  last  sickness,  when  he  received  that  sacrament,  in  the 
sixty-fifth  year  of  his  age,  from  the  hands  of  the  Arian  Bishop  Euse- 
bius  of  Nicomedia,  A.  D.  337. 

11.  The  three  sons  of  Constantine  divided  the  empire  as  their 
father's  will  directed.  Constantine  II.,  the  eldest  of  the  three,  ob- 
tained the  West  and  the  prefecture  of  Gaul ;  Constans,  the  prefect- 
ures of  Italy  and  Illyria ;  the  Orient,  or  Eastern  prefecture  was 
allotted  to  Constantius.  Constantine  II.,  dissatisfied  with  the  divis- 
ion, commenced  war  with  his  brother  Constans,  in  which  he  lost 
crown  and  life  at  Aquileia,  A.  D,  340.  He  had  been  the  protector  of 
St.  Athanasius  whom  he  caused  to  be  recalled  from  his  exile  at  Treves. 
By  the  death  of  his  brother,  Constans  became  the  recognized  ruler  of 
of  the  West.  He  was  the  protector  of  the  orthodox  party  and  the 
Catholic  faith — as  established  by  the  Council  of  Nice  against  the 
Arians  and  the  Donatists. 

12.  The  two  surviving  emperors  proceeded  against  Paganism 
with  more  zeal  but  less  discretion  than  their  illustrious  father.  They 
enacted  severe  laws  for  the  abolition  of  idolatrous  sacrifices.  Con- 
stans having  been  slain  by  Magnentius,  A.  D.  350,  Constantius  after 
the  defeat  of  the  usurper  became  sole  emperor,  A.  D.  350-361.  In 
353,  this  emperor  ordered  the  closing  of  the  pagan  temples  and  pro- 
hibited all  sacrifices  under  penalty  of  death ;  in  357,  he  also  forbade 
the  embracing  of  Judaism.  Constantius  is  known  for  his  aversion  to 
the  Nicene  creed  and  his  wicked  endeavors  to  impose  upon  the  Catholic 
world  the  Arian  heresy.  He  disgraced  his  reign  by  an  unjust  perse- 
cution of  the  Catholics,  expelling  Pope  Liberius  and  the  great  Athan- 
asius from  their  sees. 


THE  CHURCH  UNDER  JULIAN,  127 

SECTION  XLII. 'rtlE  CHURCH"  UNDER  JULIAN  THE  APOSTATE. 

Character  of  the  imperial  Apostate — Natvire  and  Causes  of  the  Persecution 
under  Julian — His  Schemes  for  extirpating  Christianity — His  Attempt  to 
rebuild  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem— Martyrs— Death  of  Julian. 

13.  Roman  idolatry,  however,  was  not  to  die  out  without  one  last 
desperate  struggle.  Julian,  surnamed  the  Apostate,  the  son  of  Julius 
Constantius  and  nephew  of  Constantine  the  Great,  believed  himself 
destined  to  re-animate  dying  Paganism  and  restore  it  to  its  former 
power  and  glory.  Owing  to  their  tender  age,  Julian  and  his  brother 
Oallus  alone  were  saved  from  the  general  massacre  of  their  family, 
which  is  ascribed  to  th6  violent  Constantius.  Julian  was  held  in  close 
confinement  in  the  castle  of  Marcellum  in  Cappadocia  and  was  brought- 
up  in  the  Arian  heresy.  His  education  was  entrusted  to  the  deceitful 
eunuch  Mardonius,  who  inspired  him  with  an  enthusiastic  admiration 
for  Grecian  mythology  and  literature  and  with  an  implacable  hatred 
of  the  emperor  and  the  Christian  religion.  At  the  age  of  twenty,  he 
was  permitted  to  pursue  his  studies  at  Constantinople  ;  but  exciting 
the  jealousy  of  Constantius,  he  was  sent  to  Nicomedia  and  afterwards 
to  Athens,  where  SS.  Gregory  Nazianzen  and  Basil  were  his  fellow- 
students.  About  this  time  he  was  also  secretly  initiated  by  Maximus 
of  Ephesus  into  the  magical  science  and  occult  mysteries  of  Eluesis. 
To  avert  the  suspicion  of  his  imperial  uncle,  Julian  dissembled  his 
pagan  sentiments  and  continued  to  take  part  in  the  Christian  worship 
which  he  inwardly  despised.  When  in  304  Gallus  was  put  to  death, 
Julian  was  involved  in  his  brother's  disgrace,  but,  by  the  intercession 
of  the  Empress  Eusebia,  his  life  was  spared. 

14.  In  35 Y,  Julian  was  made  Caesar  and  invested  with  the  gov- 
ernment of  Gaul  \  in  360  he  had  himself  proclaimed  Augustus  by  his 
troops.  Only  the  seasonable  death  of  Constantius,  A.  D.  362,  deliv- 
ered the  empire  from  the  calamities  of  civil  war  and  made  Julian 
undisputed  emperor.  He  now  openly  avowed  his  abandonment  of 
Christianity  and  his  determination  to  restore  pagan  worship.  The 
schemes  devised  by  the  wily  apostate  for  the  extirpation  of  Chris- 
tianity, suited  his  ingenious  malice.  1.  He  excluded  the  Galileans, 
as  he  contemptuously  called  the  Christians,  from  all  public  offices  and 
compelled  them  to  contribute  to  the  building  and  repairing  of  pagan 
temples.  2.  To  deprive  the  Christians  of  the  advantage  of  knowledge, 
he  forbade  in  their  schools  all  teaching  of  the  arts,  of  grammar, 
rhetoric  and  the  reading  of  the  ancient  classics.  "The  Galileans," 
he  said,  "  if  they  refuse  to  adore  the  gods  of  Homer  and  Demos- 


128  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

thenes,  ought  to  content  themselves  with  expounding  Luke  and 
Matthew."  3.  He  deprived  the  Christian  churches  and  Catholic 
clergy  of  their  incomes  and  privileges,  which  had  been  granted  to 
them  by  the  former  emperors.  4.  To  foment  divisions  among  the 
Christians,  Julian  extended  an  equal  toleration  to  all  parties,  the 
Catholics,  Donatists,  and  Arians,  and  recalled  their  bishops  from 
exile.  5.  His  implacable  hatred  of  Christ  made  him  attempt  the 
rebuilding  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem,  intending  in  this  to  give  the 
lie  to  our  Lord's  prophecy,  that  it  should  ever  remain  a  desolation. 
But  his  sacriligious  attempts  were  thwarted  by  divine  interference,  as 
contemporary  Christian  and  pagan  writers  attest.  Violent  blasts  of 
wind  and  fiery  eruptions  overturned  and  scattered  the  foundations  of 
the  new  building,  and  thus  brought  the  impious  work  to  naught. 
6.  He  wrote  a  voluminous  treatise  against  the  Christians  and  their 
supposed  errors;  the  work,  however,  has  been  lost. 

15.  To  impart  new  life  to  declining  heathenism,  Julian  intended 
not  only  to  give  external  support  to  it,  but  also  endeavored  to  restore 
its  primitive  observances  and  ennoble  it  in  the  eyes  of  mere  world- 
lings: («.)  By  giving  greater  dignity  and  solemnity  to  pagan  worship, 
particularly  by  a  pompous  display  of  ceremonies  and  costly  vestments; 
{b.)  By  an  allegorical  explanation  of  the  heathen  mythes  and  fables, 
and  the  introduction  of  preaching;  (c.)  By  adopting  many  of  the  cus- 
toms and  institutions  of  Christianity,  in  order  the  more  effectually  to 
supplant  it — establishing  hospitals  and  even  monasteries  with  pagan 
monks  and  nuns;  (d.)  By  imitating  the  hierachical  organization  of  the 
Church — his  form  of  hierarchy  consisting  of  the  Supreme  Pontiff, 
the  emperor,  vicars,  or  superior  pontiffs,  for  the  several  provinces, 
and  inferior  priests  and  ministers.  Yet,  in  spite  of  all  his  efforts, 
Julian  could  not  but  perceive  with  mortification  the  fruitless  results 
of  his  undertakings. 

16.  Notwithstanding  his  feigned  toleration,  Gregory  Nazianzen 
calls  the  persecution  under  Julian  the  most  cruel  of  all.  He 
caused  a  greater  ruin  to  souls  by  insidious  rewards,  specious  prefer- 
ments, imperial  partiality  and  other  cunning  strategems,  than  he 
could  have  compassed  by  open  persecution.  Though  unwilling 
to  assume  the  odious  character  of  a  persecutor,  Julian  freely  allowed 
the  pagan  mob  to  harass,  and  the  magistrates  to  persecute  the 
Christians.  His  reign,  therefore,  furnished  a  number  of  martyrs. 
Among  those  who  suffered  martyrdom  under  Julian  are  mentioned 
as  the  most  famous  SS.  John  and  Paul,  two  officers  of  the  army,  and 
St.  Dafrosa,  with  her  daughters,  Bibiana  and  Demetria,  who  were  all 
put  to  death  at  Rome  by  the  prefect  Apronianus;  SS.  Juventinus  and 


I 


THE  GHURGH  UNDER  JULIAN.  129 

Maximinus,  two  officers  of  the  imperial  guard,  were  beheaded  by 
order  of  the  emperor  himself.  In  many  places  the  Christians  were 
ruthlessly  slain  by  fanatical  pagan  mobs,  without  any  serious  endeav- 
ors on  the  emperor's  part  to  prevent  such  outrages;  as  for  instance, 
at  Alexandria,  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia,  Heliopolis  in  Coelesyria,  and 
in  other  cities.  It  is  more  than  probable,  that  after  his  return  from 
the  Persian  war,  Julian  would  have  commenced  a  cruel  persecution 
of  the  Christians;  but  the  apostate  fell  in  battle,  after  a  reign  of 
twenty  months,  A.  D.  363,  uttering  the  blasphemous  words:  "Thou 
hast  conquered,  O,  Galilean!"  "  Julian  was,"  as  St.  Athanasius  truth- 
fully characterized  him,  "  but  a  passing  cloud." 

SECTION     XLIII. THE     CHURCH     UNDER    THE    SUCCESSORS    OF    JULIAN 

EXTINCTION    OF    PAGANISM    IN    THE    ROMAM    EMPIRE. 

Jovian — Valentinian — Valens — Gratian  —  Theodosius  the  Great  —  Complete 
Abolition  of  Pagan  Worship — Honorius  and  Arcadius — Theodosius  II. — 
Justinian  I. 

17.  After  the  death  of  Julian,  with  whom  the  family  of  Constan- 
tine  the  Great  had  become  extinct,  the  mild  and  judicious  Jovian  was 
proclaimed  emperor.  Boldly  declaring  him^lf  a  Christian,  he  refused 
to  accept  the  nomination  until  the  army  would  also  avow  itself  Chris- 
tian. The  principal  act  of  his  short  but  glorious  reign  was  the  re- 
establishment  of  Christian  worship.  He  abrogated  the  tyrannical 
edicts  of  Julian  against  the  Christians,  and  restored  to  them  the  prop- 
erty of  which  they  had  been  despoiled ;  but  he  extended  tolera- 
tion also  to  the  Pagans,  contenting  himself  with  the  prohibition  of 
magical  arts. 

18.  Jovian  died  after  a  reign  of  about  eight  months,  A.  D.  364, 
when  Valentinian  I.  was  called  to  the  throne,  A.  D.  364-3'75.  .Being  a 
devoted  Catholic,  Valentinian  would  not  permit  any  one  to  be  oppress- 
ed on  account  of  his  religious  belief  ;  whereas  his  brother  Valens,  A. 
D.  364-378,  persecifted  the  Catholics,  while  to  Jews  and  Pagans  he 
granted  absolute  toleration.  '  The  two  emperors  enacted  severe  laws 
against  nocturnal  orgies  and  idolatrous  sacrifices.  Heathenism  which 
had  been  fondly  raised  and  cherished  by  the  wiles  of  Julian,  sank 
never  to  rise  again.  It  gradually  disappeared  from  the  cities  and  was 
still  to  be  found  only  in  villages,  hamlets,  and  other  rural  districts, 
whose  inhabitants  were  called  "pagani,"  hence  the  derivation  of 
the  words  "Pagan"  and  "Paganism." 


130  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUMCH. 

19.  Valentinian  I.  was  succeeded  in  the  West  by  his  sons  Gra- 
tian,  A.  D.  375-383,  aftd  Valentinian  II.,  A.  D.  375-392.  Gratian 
contributed  largely  to  the  downfall  of  Paganism.  He  rejected  the 
office  and  title  of  Pontifex  Maximus.  Abolishing  the  superstitions 
of  the  pagan  priests  and  Vestal  Virgins,  he  applied  to  the  service  of 
the  Church  or  state  the  revenues  that  had  accrued  from  those  vain 
practices;  and,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  the  Romans,  he  order- 
ed the  removal  of  the  altar  and  statue  of  Victory  from  the  Roman 
curia,  or  senate  chamber. 

20.  It  was  from  Theodosius  the  Great,  from  A.  D.  309,  emperor 
of  the  East,  that  expiring  Paganism  received  the  heaviest  blows. 
Apostates  from  Christianity  were  disqualified  either  to  make  or  re- 
ceive testamentary  bequests  ;  divination  by  the  entrails  of  victims 
was  forbidden  ;  and  numbers  of  heathen  temples  destroyed,  among 
which  was  the  famous  and  splendid  temple  of  Serapis  at  Alex- 
andria, A.  D.  391.  At  last,  in  392,  pagan  worship  was  formally 
proscribed  and  declared  high  treason.  These  laws  were  applied,  after 
the  defeat  of  the  usurper  Eugenius,  which  gave  Theodosius  undivided 
sway,  A.  D.  392-395,  to  the  whole  extent  of  the  Roman  Empire. 

20.  Under  the  succeeding  emperors,  the  last  remnants  of  Roman 
Paganism  gradually  vanished.  The  sons  of  the  great  Theodosius, 
Honorius,  A.  D.  395-423,  and  Arcadius,  A.  D.  395-408,  the  former  in 
the  West,  the  latter  in  the  East,  rigorously  enforced  the  laws  of  their 
father  against  Paganism.  Arcadius  ordered  the  removal  of  all  idols, 
and  civil  magistrates  failing  to  execute  the  formal  statutes  against 
pagan  practices,  were  subject  to  capital  punishment.  The  heathen 
oracles  now  everywhere  became  silent,  and  the  Sibylline  books,  by 
order  of  Stilicho,  guardian  and  prime  minister  of  Honorius,  were 
burned.  Theodosius  II.,  A.  D.  408-450,  the  son  and  successor  of  Ar- 
cadius, prosecuted  the  work  of  extirpation  with  such  effect,  that  he 
boasted  of  having  obliterated  in  the  East  every  trace  of  Paganism. 
Nevertheless,  Paganism  maintained  a  precarious  existence  in  other 
parts  of  the  empire,  as  in  the  islands  of  Sardinia^  and  Corsica,  until 
the  time  of  Gregory  the  Great.  Justinian  I.,  A.  D.  527-565,  had  yet 
to  pass  laws  condemning  to  capital  punishment  all  those  who  adored 
idols.  He  also  closed  the  school  of  Athens,  after  it  had  existed  for 
nine  hundred  years.  Although  Roman  Paganism  had  vanished,  it 
was  not  so  with  idolatry  throughout  the  world  ;  beyond  the  limits  of 
the  empire,  the  Church  had  many  a  hard  battle  and  many  a  glorious 
victory  before  her. 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  A8IA  AND  AFRICA.  131 

II.     THE  CHURCH  OUTSIDE  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

SECTION   XLIV. PROPAGATIOX    6F    CHRISTIANITY    IX    ASIA  AND  AFRICA. 

Origin  of  Christianity  in  Persia— Persecution  of  the  Christians  under  Sapor  II. 
— Martyrs — King  Isdegerd  I. — Persecution  under  Chosroes  I. — Capture 
of  Jerusalem  by  Chosroes — Nestorians  in  Persia — Chaldean  Christians — 
Conversion  of  the  Armenians — St.  Gregory  the  Illuminator — Flourishing 
Condition  of  the  Armenian  Church — Christianity  among  the  Sabaeans  in 
Arabia— Persecution  of  the  Arabian  Christians — Conversion  of  the  Iberi- 
ans and  Albanians — Christianity  in  China — Evangelization  of  Ethiopia — 
St.  Frumentius. 

22.  The  propagation  of  Christianity  was  not  confined  to  the 
boundaries  of  the  Roman  Empire,  but  with  rapid  success  was  also 
witnessed  in  the  adjacent  countries  of  Asia  and  Africa.  Christian 
communities  began  to  be  founded  in  Persia  at  a  very  early  date. 
Several  bishoprics  had  already  existed  there  in  the  first  quarter  of  the 
fourth  century,  and  were  presided  over  by  the  metropolitan  of  Se- 
leucia-Ctesiphon.  A  Persian  bishop  attended  the  Council  of  Nice. 
The  flourishing  condition  of  the  Church  in  Persia  appears  from  the 
letter  which  Constantine  the  Great,  shortly  before  his  death,  addressed 
to  King  Sapor  II.,  A.  D.  309-381,  in  behalf  of  the  Christians. 

23.  The  rapid  progress  of  Christianity  in  this  country  irritated 
the  Jews  and  heathen  Magi,  or  priests,  who  spared  no  pains  to  arouse 
the  suspicion  of  the  Persian  king  against  the  Christians,  whom  they 
represented  as  the  secret  allies  of  the  Romans  and  the  enemies  of 
their  country.  A  frightful  persecution  ensued  in  345,  which  lasted 
thirty-five  years.  Simeon,  the  aged  bishop  of  Seleucia,  together  with 
a  hundred  priests  and  deacons,  was  among  the  first  put  to  death  for 
the  faith.  Sozomenus  states  that  the  number  of  Christians  who  suf- 
fered during  this  persecution  amounted  to  sixteen  thousand,  not  in- 
cluding those  of  whom  no  particulars  could  be  obtained.  Among  the 
martyrs  are  mentioned  two  of  the  king's  officers,  Usthazanes  and 
Phusikius,  and  the  two  immediate  successors  to  Simeon  in  the  See  of 
Seleucia,  which  remained  vacant  for  twenty  years. 

24.  After  the  death  of  Sapor  II.,  the  Church  in  Persia  enjoyed  a 
respite  during  forty  years.  King  Isdegerd  I.,  A.  D.  401-420,  was  par- 
ticularly favorable  to  the  Christians  to  whom  he  granted  the  free  exer- 
cise of  their  religion.  This  was  due  mainly  to  the  influence  of  Bishop 
Maruthas  of  Mesopotaniia.  But  when  Bishop  Abdas  of  Susa,  by  an 
act  of  indiscreet  zeal,  set  fire  to  a  pagan  temple,  the  persecution  was 


132  >     HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

renewed,  and  it  continued  to  rage  with  increased  fury  under  Bahram  V . 
and  Isdegerd  II.,  until  A.  D.  450.  Abdas,  with  a  number  of  other 
Christians,  was  put  to  death.  Every  species  of  torture  that  inhuman-, 
ity  could  devise  was  employed  upon  the  confessors  of  the  faith  ;  some 
were  sawed  to  pieces  or  flayed  alive,  others  were  bound  hand  and  foot 
and  cast  into  pits  to  be  devoured  alive  by  rats  and  mice.  Of  the  mar- 
tyrs in  this  persecution  are  named  the  deacon  Benjamin,  Hormisdas, 
a  Persian  prince,  and  James  surnamed  "  Intercisus." 

25.  The  persecution  of  the  Catholics  continued  under  the  despotic 
kings  Chosroes  I.  and  Chosroes  II.,  from  whom  also  the  Christians  in 
Syria  and  Palestine  had  much  to  suffer.  Invited  by  the  Jews,  who 
even  enlisted  an  army  of  twenty-six  thousand  men  of  their  own 
nation  for  the  Persians,  Chosroes  II.,  A.  D.  614,  took  Jerusalem  ; 
the  stately  churches  of  Helena  and  Constantine  were  destroyed,  the 
patriarch  Zacharias  and  the  Cross  of  our  Lord  were  transported  into 
Persia,  and  90,000  Christians  were  massacred,  principally  by  the  Jews. 
The  Emperor  Heraclius,  afterward,  in  a  series  of  brilliant  campaigns, 
defeated  Chosroes,  reconquered  all  the  lost  possessions,  and  also  recov- 
ered the  Holy  Cross,  which  he  restored  to  its  former  place,  A.  D.  629. 

26.  The  Church,  however,  was  threatened  with  a  greater  danger 
from  within  by  the  Kestorian  heresy.  In  498,  Babaeus,  a  Nestorian, 
became  metropolitan  of  Seleucia.  With  the  aid  of  the  Persian  gov- 
ernment, he  suppressed  the  existing  Catholic  communities,  and,  sever- 
ing the  Persian  from  the  Roman  Church,  succeeded  in  undermining  the 
true  faith  among  the  Persians.  The  Nestorians  of  Persia  called  them- 
selves "  Chaldean  Christians,"  and  the  bishop  of  Seleucia-Ctesiphon, 
their  spiritual  head,  took  the  title  of  "  Catholicus,"  or  "  Universal 
Bishop." 

27.  The  Armenians  were  the  first  who,  as  a  nation,  embraced 
Christianity.  St.  Gregory,  surnamed  the  "  Illuminator,"  of  the  royal 
race  of  the  Arsacidae,  became  their  Apostle.  In  302,  he  baptized 
King  Tiridates,  and,  with  the  aid  of  Greek  priests,  propagated  the  faith 
throughout  the  whole  country.  Having  been  consecrated  bishop  by 
Leontius,  archbishop  of  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia,  and  constituted 
metropolitan  of  Armenia,  he  ordained  a  great  number  of  bishops, — it 
is  said  about  400, — for  the  converted  nation.  He  left  the  Church  of 
Armenia  in  a  flourishing  condition  when  he  died,  A.  D.  332.  Of  the 
successors  of  St.  Gregory,  the  most  illustrious  were  SS.  Nerses,  Sahak, 
and  Mesrop;  the  last  named  invented  the  Armenian  alphabet  and 
translated  the  Bible  into  Armenian.  When,  in  429,  Armenia  became 
a  Persian  province,  many  but  ineffectual  attempts  were  made  by  the 
Persian  kings  to  introduce  the  religion  of  Zendavesta,  to  which  the 


I 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  ASIA  AND  AFlilCA.  133 

Armenians  offered  a  determined  resistance.  This  nation,  which 
resisted  with  so  much  vigor  the  spreading  of  the  Nestorian  heresy, 
subsequently  fell  into  the  errors  of  the  Monophysites.  Their  recon- 
ciliation with  the  Church  never  proved  of  long  continuance. 

28.  Among  the  Homerites,  or  Sabaeans,  of  Southern  Arabia,  the 
Gospel  was  preached  by  Theophilus  of  Diu  in  India.  He  was  an 
Arian  and  had  been  sent  to  that  nation  by  Constantius,  A.  D.  350. 
Many  of  the  inhabitants  embraced  the  faith  and  three  churches  were 
built  at  Tapharan,  Aden,  and  Hormuz.  Monks  from  the  frontiers  of 
Palestine  labored  zealously  during  the  fourth  and  fifth  centuries 
among  the  nomadic  tribes  of  Arabia,  as,  for  instance,  Hilarion,  Simeon 
Stylites,  and  Euthymius.  Through  the  efforts  of  these  holy  solitaries, 
immense  multitudes  of  the  tribes  we  now  call  Bedouins,  embraced 
Christianity.  In  401,  Euthymius  converted  Aspebethos,  chief  of  a 
Saracenic  tribe,  and  also  consecrated  him  bishop  for  his  subjects. 

29.  But  the  Christians  of  Arabia  found  bitter  enemies  in  the 
Jews,  who  were  very  numerous  in  that  country.  In  522,  a  cruel  per- 
secution was  begun  by  Dunan,  a  Jew,  who  had  usurped  the  kingly 
power  over  the  Homerite  Arabians.  The  inhabitants  of  Negraan, 
nearly  all  Christians,  were  massacred  by  that  tyrant.  At  the  request 
of  Timotheus,  patriarch  of  Alexandria,  King  Elesbaan  of  Abyssinia 
hastened  to  the  succor  of  his  Christian  brethren.  Dunan  was  defeated 
and  slain.  Gregentius,  bishop  of  the  Homerite  Arabians,  was  or- 
dained by  a  Monophysite ;  and  the  bishops  and  priests,  whom  he 
appointed,  very  probably  professed  the  same  heresy.  In  the  province 
of  Hira,  south  of  Babylon,  the  Christians  were  numerous  in  the  sixth 
century  ;  but  they  soon  fell  into  heresy.  Arabia  being  the  seat  of  so 
many  heresies,  soon  fell  a  prey  to  Mohammedanism,  which  for  a  time 
tolerated  Christianity,  but  afterward  forcibly  suppressed  it. 

30.  The  Iberians,  at  the  foot  of  the  Caucasus,  were  won  to  the 
faith-  by  a  Christian  slave,  named  Nunia.  She  cured  the  queen  of  an 
illness  by  her  prayers,  and  by  this  means  lent  a  powerful  impulse  to 
the  conversion  of  the  whole  nation.  The  king,  named  Mirjeus,  is  said 
to  have  requested  Constantine  the  Great  to  send  him  Christian  mis- 
sionaries. From  Iberia,  the  Gospel  was  carried  to  the  Albanians,  and, 
in  the  sixth  century,  also  to  the  Lazi  (Colchians)  and  the  Abasgi. 
Tzathus,  the  chief  of  the  Lazi,  was  baptized  at  Constantinople  in  the 
year  522.  St.  Maximus  and  St.  Stephen  in  the  seventh  century  labor- 
ed successfully  among  these  nations.  Even  India  and  China  were 
illuminated  by  the  light  of  the  Gospel ;  for,  in  the  sixth  century,  the 
monk  Cosmas  found  Christian  congrreo^ations  in  India,  and  even  a 


134  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

bishop  at  Calliana  (Calcutta).  The  Indian  Christians,  also  called 
"  Thomas-Christians,"  were  infected  with  the  Nestorian  heresy.  Ac- 
cording to  an  old  document  written  in  ancient  Syrian  and  Chinese, 
discovered  in  1625,  a  priest  named  Jaballah,  is  said  to  have  spread 
the  faith  in  China  about  the  year  636,  and  to  have  enjoyed  the  favor 
and  protection  of  the  emperor. 

31.  The  evangelization  of  that  part  of  ancient  Ethiopia,  called 
Abyssinia,  was  commenced  by  St.  Frumentius  and  his  co-laborer 
uEdesius,  though  some  writers  attribute  that  honor  to  the  chamber- 
lain of  the  Ethiopian  queen,  Candace,  whose  baptism  by  Philip  the 
Deacon  is  recorded  in  the  Acts  viii.  38.  In  316,  Frumentius  and  his  com- 
panion were  taken  captives  into  Abyssinia  whilst  accompanying  Me- 
ropius  of  Tyre  on  a  journey,  and  were  presented  to  the  king  as  slaves. 
Tliey  eventually  rose  to  influential  positions  at  court,  and  were  per- 
mitted to  practice  and  announce  their  religion  without  restraint.  Af- 
ter the  death  of  the  king,  Frumentius  became  the  instructor  of  the 
hereditary  prince  Aizana  and  administered  the  government.  When  the 
prince  became  of  age,  ^desius  returned  to  Tyre  and  was  ordained  a 
priest;  St.  Frumentius  went  to  Alexandria,  where  St.  Athanasius 
consecrated  him  bishop  of  Abyssinia,  A.  D.  328. 

32.  Returning  to  that  country,  Frumentius  baptized  the  king,  with 
a  great  portion  of  the  people,  and  firmly  established  the  Abyssinian 
Church  whereof  Axum  became  the  metropolitan  see.  The  Emperor 
Constantius,  in  356,  vainly  endeavored  to  prevail  on  St.  Frumentius 
and  the  Abyssinian  king  to  adopt  Arianism.  When,  in  the  fifth  cen- 
tury, the  Monophysite  heresy  had  infected  the  Church  of  Alexandria, 
the  see  of  Axum  was  drawn  into  the  same  error.  The  neighboring 
Nubians  embraced  Christianity  in  the  sixth  century,  but  also,  with  it, 
the  Monophysite  heresy.  The  Monophysite  priest,  Julianus  of  Alex- 
andria, was  their  apostle. 


CONVERSION  OF  IRELAND.  135 

SECTION   XLV. CONVERSION  OF  IRELAND  BY  ST.  PATRICK. 

First  Knowledge  of  Christianity  conveyed  to  Ireland — The  pretended  Pre- 
decessors of  St.  Patrick — St.  Palladius,  the  first  Bishop  sent  to  Ireland — 
Scotia  and  the  Scots — St.  Patrick  the  Apostle  of  Ireland — ^Time  and  Place 
of  his  Birth — Early  Life  of  our  Apostle — He  studies  at  Tours  and  Lerins 
— He  visits  Rome — He  is  consecrated  Bishop  for  Ireland — His  first  Con- 
verts— Wonderful  Success  of  our  Apostle — The  Primatial  See  of  Ireland 
established  at  Armagh — Erection  of  other  Episcopal  Sees — St.  Patrick 
holds  a  Synod — His  Death — St.  Benignus,  his  Successor  in  the  See  of 
Armagh. 

38.  Ireland  was  the  first  country  in  the  West,  outside  of  the  Ro- 
man Empire,  that  was  converted  to  Christianity.  Until  the  pontifi- 
cate of  Pope  Celestine,  the  Christian  religion  was  but  little  known 
amongst  the  Irish.  There  were,  indeed,  among  the  Irish  people,  even 
before  the  period  of  St.  Patrick's  apostleship,  some  who  embraced  and 
professed  the  Christian  faith.  It  is  probable  that  some  knowledge  of 
the  Christian  faith  was  acquired  from  the  Christians  of  the  adjacent 
shores  of  Britain,  Gaul  and  Spain,  or  perhaps  from  some  merchants 
who,  as  early  as  the  days  of  Tacitus,  were  accustomed  to  frequent  the 
shores  of  Ireland.  But  the  professors  of  the  Gospel  in  Ireland  were 
at  that  time  only  few.  This  is  confirmed  by  the  authority  of  St. 
Prosper  and  the  testimony  of  St.  Patrick  himself.  "  The  Irish,"  says 
the  great  Apostle  of  that  gallant  nation,  "  who  till  this  time  had  not 
the  knowledge  of  God  and  worshipped  idols  and  unclean  things 
how  are  they  now  become  the  people  of  the  Lord  and  are  called  the 
Sons  of  God.  The  sons  of  Ireland  and  the  daughters  of  its  chieftains 
now  appear  as  monks  and  virgins  of  Christ." 

84.  It  has  been,  indeed,  maintained  that  the  Irish  Church  already 
possessed  a  hierarchy,  before  Palladius  and  Patrick  were  destined  to 
establish  that  same  Church.  The  Bishops  SS.  Ailbe,  Declan,  Ibar  and 
Kieran  are  named  as  predecessors  of  these  missionaries  in  the  Irish 
episcopacy.  Against  this,  however,  it  has  been  clearly  shown  that 
the  ecclesiastics,  who  are  represented  as  the  predecessors  of  St.  Patrick, 
belonged  to  a  later  period — the  sixth  century — than  that  in  which  Ire- 
land's Apostle  flourished.  Besides,  this  theory  is  contradicted  by  the 
statement  of  St.  Prosper,  who  was  a  contemporary  of  both  St.  Pal- 
ladius and  St.  Patrick,  and  who  in  his  Chronicle,  published  about  the 
year  484,  distinctly  calls  St.  Palladius  "  the  first  bishop,"  to  whom  the 
care  of  the  Irish  mission  was  confided. 

35.  But  little  is  known  of  the  early  career  of  St.  Palladius.  He 
held  the  high   ofHce  of    deacon  of   the  Roman  Church  under  Pope 


136  HIS  TO  BY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Celestine,  by  whom  he  was  consecrated  bishop,  and  sent  to  preach  the 
Gospel  to  "  the  Scots,"  as  the  Irish  were  then  called.  According  to 
Bede  and  Adamnan,  the  name  "  Scotia  "  in  their  time  meant  no  other 
country  than  Ireland,  and  "  Scoti  "  no  other  people  than  the  inhabit- 
ants of  that  island.  In  company  with  four  other  missionaries,  St. 
Palladius,  in  the  year  431,  entered  upon  his  mission  in  Ireland.  His 
preaching,  however,  was  not  destined  to  bear  much  fruit  o^  gather  the 
Irish  into  the  fold  of  Christ.  Meeting  with  opposition  from  the 
Druids  and  local  chiefs,  Palladius  sailed  away  the  following  year  to 
the  north,  and,  landing  in  modern  Scotland,  became  the  Apostle  of  the 
Picts.  Nevertheless,  he  made  some  converts  in  Ireland,  and  built 
three  churches  which  he  left  in  charge  of  two  of  his  assistants. 

36.  The  Apostle  of  Ireland,  to  whom  under  God  her  conversion 
is  due,  was  St.  Patrick,  who  was  appointed  to  that  mission,  A.  D.  432, 
by  the  same  Pope  Celestine  I.  who  in  the  previous  year  had  sent  St. 
Palladius  to  Ireland.^  Our  Apostle  having  then  ^.ttained  the  forty- 
fifth  year  of  his  age,  the  year  387  must  have  been  that  in  which  he 
w^as  born.  On  the  authority  of  our  Saint's  own  Confession  and  the 
tradition  of  the  Scottish  Church,  Dr.  Moran,  the  learned  archbishop 
of  Sidney,  has  clearly  shown  that  the  Apostle  of  Ireland  was  born  at 
Old-Kilpatrick,  between  Alcluaid,  now  called  Dumbarton,  and  Glas- 
gow, in  Scotland.  Other  accounts  make  him  a  native  of  Armoric 
Gaul,  which  then  formed  part  of  the  Roman  province.  He  was  the 
son  of  Calpurnius  of  illustrious  Celtic  descent,  and  of  Conchessa, 
who  is  said  to  have  been  a  near  relative,  probably  the  sister,  of  St. 
Martin  of  Tours. 

37.  Whilst  yet  in  his  boyhood,  Patrick  was  led  a  captive  to  Ire- 
land, and  there  he  was  obliged  to  act  as  herdsman.  Being  by  divine 
interposition  freed  from  captivity,  he  resolved  to  dedicate  himself  to 
the  sei-vice  of  God.  By  divers  visions  God  manifested  to  him  that 
he  was  destined  for  the  great  work  of  converting  Ireland.  Day  and 
night  he  was  haunted  by  the  thought  of  the  pagan  country,  in  which 
he  had  spent  six  years  of  servitude,  and  the  character  of  whose  people 
he  so  well  understood. 


1.    "  From  the  earliest  days  of  Christianity,"  says  Dr.  Moran,  "  the  Roman  Pontiffs  have 
occupied  themselves  with  the  conversion  of  pagan  nations,  and  continue  to  do  so  to  the 

S  resent  time,  carrying  out  the  commission  given  tb  them  in  theperson  of  St.  Peter  by 
hrist,  to  feed  his  lambs,  and  to  feed  his  sheep.  St.  Innocent  the  First,  writing  to  Bishop 
Decentius  in  the  year  402,  refers  to  this  fact:  'Is  it  not  Icnown  to  all,'  says  he,  'that 
the  things  which  have  been  delivered  to  the  Roman  Church  by  Peter,  the  Prince  of  the 
Apostles,  and  preserved  ever  since,  should  be  observed  by  all,  and  that  nothing  is  to  be 
introduced  devoid  of  authority,  or  borrowed  elsewhere  ?  Especially  as  it  is  manifest  that 
no  one  has  founded  churches  for  all  Italy,  the  Gauls,  Spain,  Africa  and  the  interjacent 
islands,  except  such  as  were  appointed  priests  (or  bishops)  by  the  venerable  Peter  and 
his  successors.'  All  the  northern  nations  of  Europe  were  converted  by  missionaries 
sent  by  Rome;  and  at  present  any  progress  made  in  converting  the  heathen  is  due  to 
the  sucessors  of  St.  Peter.  The  missionaries  sent  by  Protestant  societies  or  churches 
produce  no  ciffect."    See  Marshall's  excellent  work,  "  Christian  Missions." 


CONVERSION  OF  IRELAND.  137 

38.  It  was  at  the  famous  schools  of  St.  Martin  at  Tours,  and  of 
Lerins,  that  our  Saint  prepared  himself  for  his  missionary  career.  At 
the  last  named  place,  St.  Honoratus,  the  founder  of  this  great  school' 
St.  Hilary  of  Aries,  St.  Eucherius  of  Lyons,  St.  Lupus  of  Troyes,  and 
the  celebrated  Vincent  de  Lerins  were  contemporaries  with  our  Apos- 
tle in  his  hallowed  retreat.  At  the  solicitation  of  St.  Germanus  of 
Auxerre,  his  spiritual  adviser,  Patrick  proceeded  to  Rome  in  com- 
pany with  the  pious  priest  Segetius,  who  was  instructed  by  Germanus 
to  attest  the  virtues  and  excellence  of  our  Saint.  Patrick's  baptismal 
name  was  Succath  ;  at  the  time  of  his  ordination  it  was  changed  to  Ma- 
gonius;  but  Pope  Celestine,  to  add  dignity  to  the  Saint's  mission,  con- 
ferred on  him  the  Patrician  order,  which  had  been  instituted  by  Con- 
stantine  the  Great,  whence  he  was  afterwards  generally  called  "  Pa- 
tricius."  Having  received  episcopal  consecration,  Patrick  set  out  for 
Ireland  and,  assisted  by  Analius,  Iserninus  and  some  others,  com- 
menced the  arduous  task  of  a  nation's  conversion,  with  all  the  advan- 
tages of  profound  learning  and  piety,  and  of  a  personal  knowledge 
of  the  people,  their  language  and  manners. 

89.  Before  the  arrival  of  St.  Patrick,  the  Irish  were  Pagans  wor- 
shipping the  sun  and  the  stars ;  hills  and  mountains  were  the  places 
of  their  religious  services.  His  first  convert  was  a  chief  named  Dicho, 
who  in  proof  of  his  sincerity  built  a  church  in  Down.  Thence  our 
Saint  proceeded  to  Tara,  in  the  present  county  of  Meatb,  where  he 
preached  on  the  eve  of  Easter  before  the  Monarch  Leaguaire  and  bap- 
tized many  of  the  Druids,  lords,  and  courtiers.  The  Arch-Druid  him- 
self, the  daughters  and  a  brother  of  the  king  were  among  the  converts. 
The  king  himself,  however,  did  not  become  a  Christian,  though  he  in 
every  way  favored  the  missionaries.  Patrick  travelled  over  the  whole 
island,  visiting  every  province.  Such  was  the  fruit  of  his  preaching 
that  the  conversions  soon  were  numbered  by  tens  of  thousands.  The 
most  numerous  conversions  were  made  at  Connaught,  where  St. 
Patrick  baptized  no  fewer  than  one  hundred  and  twenty  thousand, 
including  seven  princes. 

40.  In  455,  St.  Patrick  founded  the  metropolitan  see  of  Armagh, 
and  thus  laid  the  foundation  of  the  primatial  see  of  "All  Ireland." 
The  extraordinary  success  of  this  truly  apostolic  man  is  without  a  par- 
allel in  the  history  of  the  Church.  In  the  course  of  twenty  years, 
a  whole  nation,  including  rulers  and  princes,  men  and  women,  was 
won  over  to  Christianity  without  the  shedding  of  a  single  drop  of 
blood.  Sees  were  founded  in  all  parts  of  the  island,  bishops  conse- 
crated and  priests  ordained  ;  churches  were  built  and  monasteries 
erected,  which  became  famous  seats  of  piety  and  learning,  and  nurseries 


138  '      HISTORY  OF  THE  CHVRCH. 

of  faith  for  other  nations.  St.  Bridget  founded  several  nunneries,  the 
first  and  most  celebrated  of  which  was  that  erected  at  Kildon  in  490. 
Ireland  soon  became  known  as  the  "  Island  of  Saints." 

41.  In  the  year  450,  St.  Patrick  held  a  synod  to  regulate  the  dis- 
cipline of  the  Church  which  he  had  founded.  The  acts  of  this  Coun- 
cil are  still  extant,  bearing  the  name  of  the  Saint.  He  continued  his 
mission  in  Ireland  for  sixty  years  and  reached  the  extraordinary  age 
of  ninety-six  years.  Such  an  unusual  length  of  life  and  spiritual  ac- 
tivity enabled  him  to  establish  the  Irish  Church  on  a  firm  and  lasting 
basis.  During  the  latter  part  of  his  apostolic  life  he  composed  the 
treatise  known  by  the  name  of  "  St.  Patrick's  Confessions,"  in  which 
with  fervent  gratitude  he  records  the  divine  favors  towards  himself 
and  the  nation  to  which  he  had  been  sent.  He  died  March  17,  A.  D. 
493,  in  the  monastery  of  Saul,  the  first  of  his  founding;  accounts  vary, 
however,  both  as  to  his  age  and  the  year  of  his  death.  Of  his  disci- 
ples, many  became  famous,  the  most  illustrious  of  whom  were  Benig- 
nus  who  succeeded  him  in  the  see  of  Armagh,  Kieran,  bishop  of  Clon- 
macnais,  and  later  on  St.  Finian,  bishop  of  Clonard  (f  552). 

42.  We  cannot  but  admire  the  omnipotence  of  God  and  the  power 
of  his  divine  grace  in  the  rapid  conversion  of  Ireland  by  St.  Patrick. 
So  sudden  a  change  and  transition  of  a  whole  nation  from  idolatry  to 
the  faith  of  Christ,  can  only  be  attributed  to  Him  who  has  the  power 
of  softening  the  most  callous  hearts.  It  can  be  said  with  truth  that 
no  other  nation  in  the  Christian  world  was  converted  in  so  short  a 
time  and  received  with  so  much  joy  the  religion  of  Christ.  And  we 
may  add  that  no  other  nation  has  preserved  its  faith  with  more  forti- 
tude and  courage  during  a  persecution  of  two  centuries. 

SECTION  XLVI. CHRISTIANITY  IN  BRITAIN  AND  SCOTLAND. 

Early  Traces  of  Christianity  in  Britain — Anglican  Claims  refuted— Conver- 
sion of  King  Lucius — Missionaries  sent  by  Pope  Eleutherius — Diocletian 
Persecution — St.  Alban,  the  Protomartyr  of  Britain — Origin  of  Christi- 
anity in  Scotland — Apostles  of  the  Scots — St.  Ninian — St.  Palladius — St. 
Columbkill. 

43.  Britain.  It  cannot  be  ascertained,  when  or  by  whom  Christi- 
anity was  first  preached  in  Britain.  Some  writers  ascribe  it  to  St.  Peter, 
while  Anglican  writers, —  hoping  to  show  that  the  introduction  of 
Christianity  into  England  was  independent  of  the  See  of  Rome  ! — 
claim  that  St.  Paul,  the  Apostle,  planted  the  Church  in  Britain. 
Both  opinions  are  totally  unsupported  by  any  proof.  There  is  no 
evidence  whatsoever  to  show  that  St.  Paul  ever  preached  in  Britain. 
The  testimonies   of  the   early   writers — St.   Clement,   Eusebius,   St. 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  BRITAIN  A^D  SCOTLAND.  139 

Jerome,  and  Theodoret,  who  are  quoted  in  support  of  the  Anglican 
claim,  are  wholly  ambiguous  and  unsatifactory.  It  is  certain,  how- 
ever, that  there  were  Christians  in  Britain  at  a  very  early  period. 
Tertullian  and  Origen  refer  to  the  early, triumph  of  the  Church  among 
the  tribes  of  Britain,  as  a  well-known  fact.  Of  the  Romans  who, 
since  the  subjugation  of  the  island  under  Claudius,  came  to  Britain, 
and  of  the  Britains  who  were  induced  to  visit  Rome,  some,  no  doubt, 
were  Christians  or  were  made  acquainted  at  Rome  with  the  Christian 
Religion. 

44.  The  two  celebrated  ladies  who  became  Christians  at  Rome  in 
the  time  of  the  Apostles, — Claudia,  the  wife  of  the  senator  Pudens, 
and  Pomponia  Graecina,  the  wife  of  Aulus  Plautius,  the  first  general 
who  made  any  permanent  conquest  in  the  island, — are  believed  to  have 
been  Britons.  We  are  assured  by  English  historians  that  Helena, 
the  saintly  mother  of  Constantine  the  Great,  was  also  a  native  of 
Britain.  About  the  year  182,  at  the  request  of  a  British  chieftain, 
named  Lucius,  Pope  Elentherius  sent  Fugatius  and  Damianus  to 
Britain  by  whom  Lucius  and  great  numbers  of  the  Britons  were  con- 
verted to  the  faith.  A  regular  hierarchy  had  already  been  established 
in  Britain  before  the  close  of  the  third  century  ;  for  three  British 
bishops,  Eborius  of  York,  Restitutus  of  London,  and  Adelphius  of 
Lincoln,  attended  the  Council  of  Aries  in  314.  The  persecution  of 
Diocletian  also  reached  the  faithful  of  remote  Britain,  and  St.  Alban, 
who  suffered,  A.  D.  303,  is  called  the  protomartyr  of  Britain.  When 
the  heresy  of  Pelagius,  himself  a  British  monk,  began  to  disturb  the 
faithful  of  Britain,  Pope  Celestine  L,  A.  D.  429,  sent  St.  Germanus 
of  Auxerre  (died  A.  D.  448),  and  St.  Lupus  of  Troyes  (died  A.  D.  479), 
to  Britain  to  silence  the  heretics.  Their  mission  proved  most  successful 
in  exterminating  Pelagianism. 

45.  ScoTLAXD.  Scotland,  or  North  Britain,  as  it  was  called  at  this 
period,  is  said  to  owe  the  first  introduction  of  Christianity  to  Pope  St. 
Victor  I.  According  to  an  ancient  tradition  in  the  Scottish  Church,  this 
Pope,  at  the  request  of  King  Donald,  sent  Marcus  and  Dionysius  to  Scot- 
land, by  whom  the  king  and  his  people  were  converted  to  the  faith, 
A.  D.  203.  The  first  Apostle  of  the  Lowland  Scots,  or  Picts,  as  they 
were  termed  from  the  custom  of  painting  their  bodies,  was  St.  Ninian, 
the  son  of  a  Christian  prince  and  a  native  of  Britain.  During  the 
pontificate  of  Pope  Damasus,  he  visited  Rome,  where  he  remained 
some  years,  devoting  himself  to  study.  He  was  consecrated  bishop 
by  Pope  Siricius  and  received  from  him  a  mission  to  Scotland  about 
the  year  394.  By  his  preaching  all  the  southern  Picts,  inhabiting 
the  country  south  of  the  Grampian  hills,  embraced  the  true   faith. 


140  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

He  built  a  great  monastery  and  church  at  Whithorn,  now  in  Gallo- 
way ;  here  he  also  established  his  episcopal  see,  which  from  the 
white  stone  of  his  cathedral  bore  the  name  of  "  Candida  Casa."  After 
nearly  forty  years  of  apostolic  labor,  St.  Ninian  died  in  432. 

46.  By  this  time,  St.  Palladius,  having  been  entrusted  by  Pope 
Celestine  with  the  mission  to  the  Scots,  at  once  continued  the  mission 
among  the  Picts,  left  without  a  director  by  the  death  of  St.  Ninian. 
He  preached  with  great  zeal  and  formed  in  the  Lowlands  a. consid- 
erable church.  After  an  apostolate  of  nearly  twenty  years,  St.  Palla- 
dius died,  A.  D.  450.  He  consecrated  St.  Ternan  bishop,  to  labor 
among  the  Picts,  and  St.  Servanus  to  labor  in  the  Orkneys,  and  thus 
provided  a  hierarchy  for  the  northern  and  central  parts  of  Scotland. 
St.  Kentigren,  a  disciple  of  St.  Servanus,  evangelized  Cumbria — the 
district  between  the  wall  of  Severus  and  the  river  Forth — and  founded 
the  See  of  Glasgow,  where  he  died,  A.  D.  603. 

47.  St.  Columba,  from  the  great  number  of  monasteries  which  he 
founded,  sumamed  "  Columkille,"  was  the  Apostle  of  the  Caledonians, 
(Gael  of  the  mountains,  Highlanders),  or  northern  Picts.  They  were, 
like  the  Irish,  a  Celtic  nation,  and  inhabited  the  northern  part  of  Scot- 
land, known  to  the  Romans  by  the  name  of  Caledonia.  St.  Columba 
was  born  at  Gartan  in  Ireland,  A.  D.  521,  and  was  a  disciple  of  the 
holy  bishop  Finian,  by  whom  he  was  ordained  priest  in  550.  He 
founded  a  number  of  monasteries  in  Ireland,  the  most  noted  of  which 
was  that  of  Deny,  now  called  Londonderry.  This  patriarch  of  the 
Irish  monks  was  in  the  forty-second  year  of  his  age,  when,  in  563,  he 
left  his  native  country,  and,  with  twelve  disciples,  crossed  over  to 
Scotland.  He  landed  on  the  isle  of  Jona  or  Hy,  where  he  founded  a 
celebrated  monastery,  which  became  the  center  of  numerous  monastic 
institutions  and  churches,  established  by  him  and  his  disciples  through- 
out Scotland  and  Britain.  In  565,  St.  Columba  baptized  Brude,  the 
powerful  king  of  the  Northern  Picts.  Supported  by  the  gift  of  mir- 
acles, he  soon  brought  the  whole  nation  to  profess  the  faith.  After 
thirty-four  years  of  missionary  labor,  St.  Columba  died  in  597,  leaving 
Christianity  firmly  established  in  the  Hebrides,  and  spread  over  all 
the  northern  and  western  highlands  of  Scotland.  St.  Machor,  one  of 
his  disciples,  was  sent  by  him  to  found  the  see  of  Aberdeen,  of  which 
he  was  the  first  bishop. 


r 


MIGRATION  OF  THE  NATIONS.  141 


III.     CHRISTIANITY  AMONG   THE  GERMANIC  AND 
SCLAVONIC  NATIONS. 

SECTION  XLVII. THE  MIGRATION  OF  THE  NATIONS. 

Barbarian  Invasion  of  the  different  Provinces  of  the  Empire— St.  Gregory 
Describing  the  Universal  Desolation— Mission  of  the  Barbarian  Invad- 
ers— Influence  of  the  Church. 

48.  As  early  as  the  second  century,  various  barbarian  nations, 
mostly  of  Germanic  origin,  commenced  to  invade  the  provinces  of  the 
Roman  Empire.  The  Roman  legions  guarded  in  vain  the  frontiers 
against  these  rude  but  powerful  nations  who,  coming  from  the  north- 
east of  Europe,  were  irresistably  carried  toward  the  land  in  which  had 
dawned  the  light  of  Faith.  The  danger  into  which  the  empire  was 
brought  by  the  barbarian  invaders,  continually  increased  up  to  the 
year  375,  when  the  Huns,  a  savage  nation  from  the  extreme  East, 
crossed  the  Volga,  and  extended  their  depredatory  course  westward. 
Europe,  for  two  centuries — i.  e.,  from  the  invasion  of  the  Goths  in  378 
to  that  of  the  Longobards  in  570,  became  the  battle-field  for  contend- 
ing savage  tribes,  who  strove  fiercely  with  one  another  for  the  fairest 
provinces  of  the  empire.  After  the  downfall  of  the  Western  Empire 
in  476,  Italy  was  successively  ruled  by  the  Heruli,  Ostrogoths  and 
Lombards, — Africa  was  conquered  by  the  Vandals, — the  north-western 
part  of  Spain  fell  under  the  Suevi,  and  the  rest  of  the  peninsula, 
together  with  the  South  of  France,  was  subdued  by  the  Visigoths. 
The  Burgundians,  AUemanni,  Thuringians,  Saxons,  and  Franks,  divided 
Germany  and  Gaul  among  themselves,  whilst  Britain  was  seized  by 
the  Anglo-Saxons. 

49.  Everywhere  ruin  marked  the  track  of  the  invaders.  Towns 
and  villages  were  burned,  fortresses  levelled  to  the  ground  and  Chris- 
tian churches,  of  which  there  were  then  many  in  the  Roman  colo- 
nies, destroyed.  Thousands  of  tbe  inhabitants  fell  by  the  sword 
and  thousands  were  led  away  into  captivity.  "  Lights  and  sounds 
of  war,"  writes  the  great  St.  Gregory,  "meet  us  on  every  side. 
The  cities  are  destroyed,  the  military  stations  broken  up  ;  the  land 
devastated  ;  the  earth  depopulated.  No  one  remains  in  the  country  ; 
scarcely  any  inhabitants  in  the  towns ;  yet  even  the  poor  specimens 
of  humanity  that  remain,  are  still  smitten,daily  and  without  intermission. 
Before  our  eyes  some  are  carried  away  captives,  others  mutilated  and 
murdered.    Behold  how  Rome  fares;  she  who  once  was  mistress  of  the 


142     .  HISTOBY  OF  THE  CHURCH.    . 

world,  is  worn  down  by  manifold  and  incalculable  distresses,  by  the  be- 
reavement of  her  citizens,  the  attack  of  her  foes,  the  reiteration  of 
overthrows.  Where  is  her  Senate  ?  Where  are  her  people  ?  We, 
the  few  survivors,  are  still  the  daily  prey  of  the  sword  and  of  other 
innumerable  tribulations.  Where  are  they  who  in  former  days  rev- 
elled in  her  glory  ?  Where  is  their  pomp,  their  pride,  their  frequent 
and  immoderate  joy  ? — Young  men  of  the  world,  congregating  here 
from  every  quarter,  aimed  at  secular  advancement.  Now,  no  one 
hastens  to  her  for  preferment ;  and  so  it  is  with  other  cities  also ; 
some  places  are  laid  waste  by  pestilence,  others  are  depopulated  by 
the  sword ;  some  are  afflicted  with  famine,  and  others  are  swallowed 
up  by  earthquakes."  These  words  of  St.  Gregory  are  but  a  meagre 
statement  of  the  ruin  and  desolation  brought  about  by  the  ceaseless 
ijicursions  of  the  northern  barbarians. 

50.  These  barbarians,  no  doubt,  had  a  mission  from  God.  They 
had  come  in  obedience  to  a  divine  call  to  punish  the  Roman  Empire 
for  its  widespread  corruption,  revolting  crimes,  and  savage  cruelty  to 
the  holy  martyrs  ;  to  crush  out  the  last  vestiges  of  Paganism  which, 
notwithstanding  the  closing  of  its  temples,  was  still  rife,  and  in  its 
circuses,  theatres  and  amphitheatres  continued  to  exercise  a  corrupt- 
ing influence  even  upon  Christians,  as  the  Fathers  of  that  period  so 
loudly  complained. 

51.  "Had  it  not  been  for  the  Catholic  Church,"  to  quote  the 
words  of  Herder,  "  Europe,  in  those  dark  times,  would,  most  proba- 
bly, have  become  the  spoil  of  robber  chieftains,  a  scene  of  endless 
discord,  or  it  might  be  a  Mongolian  desert."  It  was  the  Church  that 
subdued  the  savage  hordes  of  the  North,  tamed  their  unruly  passions 
and  caused  them  to  betake  themselves  peacefully  to  the  cultivation  of 
the  soil.  .Under  her  mild  but  powerful  influence,  we  see  young,  vig- 
orous states  rising  and  advancing,  slowly  but  surely,  towards  a  true 
civilization. 


r^ 


CHBISTIANlTr  IN' SPAIN  AND  ITAL  Y.  143 

SECTION    XLVIII. CHRISTIANITY    AMONG    THE    VISIGOTHS    IN    SPAIN, 

AND    OSTROGOTHS    AND    LOMBARDS    IN    ITALY. 

Visigoths  and  Ostrogoths — Origin  of  Christianity  among  the  Goths — Bishop 
Theophilus — Persecution  of  the  Christians  under  Athanaric — Martyrs — 
The  Goths  turn  Arians — Bishop  Ulfilas — Sacking  of  Rome  by  Alaric — 
The  Visigoths  in  Gaul  and  Spain — Persecution  of  the  .Catholics  under 
Eurich  and  Leovigild — King  Reccared  embraces  Catholicity — Courifcil  of 
Toledo — End  of  the  Visigothic  Kingdom— Other  Gothic  Nations— Their 
Religious  Belief — Odoacer,  King  of  the  Heruli,  overthrows  the  Western 
Empire — His  Treatment  of  the  Church — Theodoric,  King  of  the  Ostro- 
goths, in  Italy — Boethius — Cassiodorus — Theodoric  a  Persecutor — Pope 
John  I. — End  of  the  Ostrogothic  Rule  in  Italy — The  Lombards  in  Italy — 
Condition  of  the  Church  under  the  Lombard  Rule. 

52.  The  Goths,  whose  ancient  home  seems  to  have  been  Scandi- 
navia, about  the  beginning  of  the  third  century  settled  on  the  shores 
of  the  Black  Sea  and  about  the  Danube.  They  were  divided  into 
Ostrogoths  and  Visigoths,  or  Eastern  and  Western  Goths.  In  the 
latter  half  of  the  third  century,  they  began  to  invade  the  neighboring 
provinces,  extending  their  incursions  over  Illyria,  Greece,  Thracia, 
and  beyond  the  Hellespont  into  Asia  Minor.  The  Goths  were  the 
first  of  the  Germanic  nations  who  received  the  light  of  Faith,  proba- 
bly from  their  Christian  captives.  A  Gothic  bishop,  named  Theoph- 
ilus, attended  the  Council  of  Nice.  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  in  347, 
mentions  the  Goths  among  the  Christians  who  had  bishops,  priests, 
monks,  and  holy  virgins.  Under  King  Athanaric,  the  Gothic  Chris- 
tians had  to  endure  a  persecution ;  their  most  illustrious  martyrs 
were  SS.  Nicetas  and  Saba. 

53.  Driven  from  their  new  homes  on  the  Euxine  by  the  Huns  in 
3*76,  the  Goths  received  from  Emperor  Valens  ample  territories  in 
Thracia  and  Moesia,  where  they  were  induced,  mainly  by  the  efforts 
of  their  bishop  Ulfilas,  to  become  Arians.  They  continued  to  remain 
Arians  even  until  after  their  victory  over  Valens  at  Adrianople,  A.  D. 
378.  Most  of  them,  however,  were  semi-Arians,  as  was  also  Ulfilas, 
who  was  consecrated  bishop  of  his  nation  at  Constantinople  between 
the  years  341  and  348.  Ulfilas  rendered  himself  famous  by  inventing 
the  Gothic  characters  of  the  alphabet,  and  by  translating  the  Bible 
into  the  Gothic  language,  the  greater  part  of  this  work  being  still 
extant.     He  died  an  Arian,  A.  D.  388. 

54.  The  Visigoths,  under  Alaric,  invaded  Italy  and  sacked  Rome 
in  410  ;  but  unable  to  maintain  themselves  in  Italy,  they  founded 
under  their  leader  Ataulpli  a  new  kingdom,  which  subsequently 
extended  over  the  greater  part  of  Gaul"  and  Spain  ;  Toulouse  became 


144  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

its  capital.  With  few  exceptions,  the  Visigoths  were  tolerant  as  to 
the  faith  of  others.  King  Enrich,  A.  D.  466-485,  was  a  bitter  enemy 
of  the  Catholics.  Sidonius  Apollinaris,  bishop  of  Clermont,  A.  D. 
486-490,  states  that  Enrich  exiled  a  great  number  of  Catholic  bishops, 
prohibited  the  election  of  new  ones,  and  in  other  ways  desolated 
numerous  churches.  The  persecution  continued  under  King  Leovi- 
gild^who,  A.  D.  585,  put  his  own  son  Hermenigild  to  death  on 
account  of  his  Catholic  faith. 

55.  King  Reccared,  A.  D.  586-601,  second  son  and  successor  of 
Leovigild,  was  converted  to  the  Catholic  faith  by  St.  Leander,  bishop 
of  Sevilla.  With  him  most  of  his  people  abjured  the  Arian  heresy. 
The  reconciliation  of  the  entire  nation  with  the  Church  was  effected 
by  the  great  national  Council  of  Toledo,  A.  D.  58V.  In  Yll,  the 
Moors  having  been  called  to  Spain  put  an  end  to  the  Visigothic 
kingdom,  after  it  had  lasted  nearly  three  hundred  years. 

56.  From  the  Visigoths,  Arianism  passed  to  the  other  Gothic 
nations, — the  Ostrogoths,  Gepidae,  Suevi,  Alani,  Burgundians,  and 
Vandals.  The  Suevi,  who  established  themselves  in  Spain  under  King 
Rechila,  (died  448),  were  at  first  Catholics,  but  under  King  Remismund 
they  were  forced  to  adopt  the  Arian  heresy.  About  the  middle  of  the 
sixth  century,the  Suevi  returned  to  the  Catholic  faith.;  but  in  585 
they  came  under  the  dominion  of  the  Visigoths,  when  Leovigild 
persecuted  the  Catholics.  Many  of  the  clergy,  such  as  Pancratian, 
bishop  of  Braga,  and  Patanius,  suffered  martyrdom. 

57.  In  476,  Odoacer,  prince  of  the  Heruli,  dethroned  Romulus 
Augustulus,  the  last  of  the  Western  Roman  emperors,  and  assumed 
the  title  of  King  of  Italy.  Though  an  Arian,  Odoacer  treated  the 
Catholic  Church  with  much  respect.  His  reign,  however,  was  of  short 
duration,  having  been  brought  to  an  end  by  Theodoric,  king  of  the 
Ostrogoths,  who,  at  the  instigation  of  Emperor  Zeno,  invaded  Italy 
and  condemned  Odoacer  to  death,  A.  D.  493. 

58.  Theodoric  was  an  Arian,  but  the  Catholic  Church  was  left 
unmolested,  and  the  country  enjoyed  great  prosperity  under  his  reign. 
This  was  due  mainly  to  the  excellent  men  by  whom  he  allowed  him- 
self to  be  guided.  One  of  them  was  the  learned  Boethius  whom  The- 
odoric held  in  high  esteem,  but  whom  he  afterwards,  from  an  unjust 
suspicion,  put  to  death,  together  with  his  father-in-law,  A.  D.  526. 
Not  less  renowned  was  Aurelius  Cassiodorus,  whom  Theodoric 
had  appointed  his  prime  minister.  The  wisdom  of  Cassiodorus 
prevented  many  hostile  measures  of  the  king  and  the  outbreak  of  a 
schism  by  the  recognition  of  the  lawful  Pope  Symmachus  instead 
of  the  anti-pope  Laurentius.     Cassiodorus,  after  having  served  his 


CHRISTIANITY  AMONG  THE  LOMBARDS.  145 

country  fifty  years,  founded   the  monastery  Vivarium,  whose   first 
superior  he  became.     He  died,  A.  D.  575,  being  nearly  a  century  old. 

59.  Toward  the  close  of  his  reign,  A.  D.  493-526,  Theodoric 
began  to  persecute  the  Church.  Pope  John  I.  died  in  prison.  A 
general  persecution  was  prevented  only  by  the  timely  death  of  The- 
odoric. Profiting  by  the  Gothic  disorders  consequent  upon  the  death 
of  Theodoric,  Emperor  Justinian  sent  Belisarius  and  Narses  to  Italy, 
who,  after  a  twenty  years  war,  A.  D.  533-553,  put  an  end  to  the 
Gothic  rule  ;  Italy  then  became  a  province  of  the  Eastern  Empire, 
and  was  governed  by  Exarchs  who  resided  at  Ravenna. 

60.  The  union  of  Italy  with  the  Eastern  Empire  was  of  short 
duration.  The  Lombards,  who  had  been  employed  by  Justinian  in  the 
overthrow  of  the  Ostrogothic  rule,  under  Alboin  conquered  the  whole 
of  northern  Italy  and  founded  a  kingdom,  A.  D.  568,  with  Pavia  as 
its  capital.  Many  of  the  Lombards  had  remained  Pagans,  and  those 
who  had  adopted  Christianity  professed  the  Arian  heresy.  They 
manifested  the  fiercest  hatred  towards  the  Catholics  whom  they  found 
in  the  country.  After  the  assassination  of  Alboin,  A.  D.  374,  and 
that  of  his  successor  Cleph,  A.  D.  375,  Italy  was  divided  and  oppress- 
ed by  thirty-six  ducal  tyrants,  who  laid  waste  the  country  and  perse- 
cuted the  Catholics. 

61.  This  interregnum  was  for  the  Church  a  season  of  unspeaka- 
ble misery.  The  persecution  lasted  until  the  accession  of  Agilulf,  A. 
D.  590,  who  embraced  the  Catholic  faith  with  many  of  his  nation. 
This  was  largely  due  to  the  high-minded  Queen  Theodolinde,  a  Bava- 
rian princess.  Encouraged  and  aided  by  Pope  Gregory  the  Great, 
Theodolinde  labored  with  untiring  zeal  in  bringing  about  the  conver- 
sion of  the  Lombards.  After  the  death  of  Agilulf,  Arianism  was 
favored  by  some  of  his  successors  until  the  conversion  of  the  entire 
nation  was  completed  under  King  Grimoald  (died  671).  Still,  the  rude 
character  of  the  Lombards  continued  to  betray  itself  in  the  merciless 
rapacity  of  the  lords,  and  in  a  lasting  hostility  to  the  Popes.  Their 
dominion  was  finally  brought  to  a  close  by  Charlemagne,  A.  D.  774. 


146  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

SECTION    XLIX. CHRISTIANITY   AMONG   THE    VANDALS  IN  AFRICA 

THE  HUNS. 

Invasion  of  Africa  by  the  Vandals— Genseric— Persecution  of  the  Catholics- 
Distinguished  Martyrs— Persecution  under  Hunneric — Martyrs — Miracle 
of  Typasa— Conditions  of  the  Catholics  under  Guntamund  and  his  Suc- 
cessors— Overthrow  of  the  Vandalic  Rule— Invasion  of  the  Empire  by  the 
Huns— Attila  and  Pope  Leo  the  Great— Martyrdom  of  St.  Ursula  and  her 
Companions. 

62.  The  Vandals,  the  most  cruel  tribe  of  the  Germanic  race,  settled 
in  Northern  Spain,  A.  D.  410;  but  unable  to  maintain  themselves 
against  the  Visigoths,  they  accepted  the  invitation  of  Boniface,  the 
Roman  governor,  and,  under  Genseric,  A.  D.  429,  crossed  over  into 
Africa,  where  they  conquered  nearly  the  whole  of  the  northern  coast, 
— subsequently  also  Sicily,  Sardinia,  Corsica,  and  the  Balearic  Isles. 
Being  fanatical  Arians,  they  persecuted  the  Catholics  with  relentless 
fury.  Genseric,  A.  D.  427-477,  who  is  said  to  have  been  a  Catholic 
in  his  youth,  began  the  persecution  in  437,  by  putting  to  death  four 
of  his  courtiers,  Arcadius,  Probus,  Paschasius,  and  Eutychius,  who 
refused  to  renounce  the  Catholic  faith.  The  other  distinguished 
martyrs  in  his  reign  were  the  Bishops  Possidius  and  Honoratus  An- 
toninus of  Constantine.  Many  more,  including  bishops,  priests,  and 
tender  virgins,  for  instance,  St.  Julia,  were  exiled  into  the  deserts  or 
condemned  to  slavery.  To  these  cruelties  against  his  Catholic  sub- 
jects, the  king  was  strongly  incited  by  the  Arian  clergy.  Catholics 
were  deprived  of  their  churches,  and  could  assemble  for  worship  only 
in  private  houses. 

63.  Hunneric,  A.  D.  477-484,  in  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  toler- 
ated the  Catholics,  who  were  recommended  to  his  clemency  by  the 
Emperor  Zeno  and  Placidia,  his  sister-in-law.  He  even  permitted  the 
election  of  Eugenius  as  bishop  of  Carthage.  But  listening  to  the 
promptings  of  the  Arian  Bishop  Cyrila,  Hunneric  resumed  the  perse- 
cution against  the  Catholics,  A.  D.  479,  which  surpassed  in  cruelty 
even  that  of  his  father.  Eugenius,  together  with  other  Catholics,  to 
the  number  of  about  five  thousand,  mostly  priests  and  bishops,  was 
banished  to  the  deserts,  where  many  of  them  perished  miserably. 
The  religious  conference  in  Carthage  in  484,  between  Catholic  and 
Arian  bishops,  served  only  to  add  to  the  sufferings  of  the  Catholics. 
Three  hundred  and  eighty-four  bishops  were  exiled,  and  Catholics  refus- 
ing to  become  Arians  were  deprived  of  all  their  property  and  subjected 
to  the  most  cruel  and  ignominious  treatment.  Respectable  citizens, 
noble  matrons,  and  consecrated  virgins  were  stripped  naked,  their 


\ 


CHRISTIANITY  AMONa  THE  VANDALS.  147 

bodies  torn  with  scourges  or  burned  with  red-hot  irons.  The  ampu- 
tation of  the  ears,  the  nose,  the  ♦tongue,  and  the  right  hand  was  a 
common  punishment  inflicted  upon  the  Catholics,  frequently  by  the 
Arian  clergy  themselves,  who  surpassed  in  cruelty  even  the  king  and 
his  Vandals.  At  Typasa  in  Mauretania,  a  number  of  Catholics  had, 
by  the  king's  order,  their  tongues  and  hands  cut  off.  But  the  holy 
confessors  continued  to  speak  without  tongues  !  Some  of  them  came 
to  Constantinople,  where  many  heard  them  speak  and  relate  their  suf- 
ferings. This  miracle,  the  truth  of  which  even  the  infidel  Gibbon 
admits,  is  related  by  Victor  of  Vita,  an  African  bishop,  who  was  an 
eye-witness  of  what  he  describes  in  his  "  History  of  the  Vandalic  Per- 
secution," and  his  testimony  is  confirmed  by  the  philosopher  ^neas 
Gaza,  and  the  Emperor  Justinian  I.  in  a  perpetual  edict.  Victor  him- 
self was  a  confessor  under  Hunneric  who  sent  him  into  exile. 

64.  Under  King  Guntamund,  A.  D.  485-496,  the  exiled  bishops 
were  permitted  to  return  to  their  sees,  though  the  persecution  did 
not  wholly  cease.  His  successor  Thrasamund,  A.  D.  496-523,  re- 
kindled the  persecution  against  the  Catholics.  One  hundred  and 
twenty  bishops  were  exiled  to  Sardinia,  among  them  St.  Fulgen- 
tius,  bishop  of  Ruspe,  one  of  the  most  learned  defenders  of  Catholic- 
ity against  the  Arian  and  Pelagian  heresies.  Hilderic,  A.  D.  523-530, 
a  peaceful  prince,  recalled  the  exiles,  and  permitted  a  synod  to  be 
held  at  Carthage,  A.  D.  525,  which  was  attended  by  about  sixty  bish- 
ops. Hilderic  was  assassinated  by  his  cousin  Gilimer.  A  fresh  per- 
secution was  expected,  but  the  dominion  of  the  Vandals  was  finally, 
in  533,  overthrown  by  Belisarius,  and  Northern  Africa  again  became 
a  Roman  province.  After  their  overthrow  in  Africa,  the  Vandals 
vanished  from  sight.  The  African  Church  never  regained  its  former 
prominence,  and  a  century  later,  Christianity  wholly  disappeared 
before  Islamism  in  a  country,  which,  in  the  days  of  St.  Augustine, 
counted  over  six  hundred  bishoprics. 

65.  Gaul  and  Italy  were  threatened  by  the  savage  Huns  with  a 
fate  similar  to  that  which  the  invasion  of  the  Vandals  had  brought 
upon  Northern  Africa.  At  the  instigation  of  Genseric,  Attila  at  first 
invaded  the  Eastern  Empire  and,  in  450,  the  Western.  Followed  by 
seven  hundred  thousand  warriors,  he  crossed  the  Rhine  in  451  and 
sacked  Treves,  Mentz,  Metz,  and  a  number  of  other  cities.  Troyes 
was  spared  by  him  at  the  entreaty  of  St.  Lupus,  bishop  of  that  city. 
After  the  bloody  battle  on  the  Catalaunian  Plains,  Attila,  who  called 
himself  the  "  Scourge  of  God,"  directed  his  barbarian  hordes  towards 
Italy,  captured  and  burned  Aquileja,  and  filled  the  whole  country  with 
blood  and  desolation.  He  then  marched  against  Rome;  but  here  he  was 


148  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

stayed  in  his  destructive  march  by  the  commanding  appearance 
of  Leo  the  Great,  to  whom  Rome  and  Italy  owed  their  preservation. 
Returning  after  his  defeat  at  Chalons,  and  finding  in  Cologne  St. 
Ursula  and  her  companions,  who  had  fled  thither  from  Britain  through 
fear  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  Attila  unpityingly  ordered  them  to  be 
slain,  together  with  the  Christian  inhabitants  of  that  city  to  the  num- 
ber of  eleven  thousand. 

SECTION  XL. CHRISTIANITY  IN  GAUL THE  BUHGUNDIANS 

CONVERSION  OF  THE  FRANKS. 

Christianity  among  the  Burgundians — Distinguished  Bishops — Conversion  of 
the  Franks — King  Clevis— Queen  Clotilda — St.  Remigius— Council  of 
Orleans — The  Merovingians— SS.  Columbanus  and  Gall. 

66.  The  Burgundians,  whose  original  territory  lay  on  the  shores 
of  the  Baltic  Sea,  penetrated  into  Gaul  in  the  beginning  of  the  fifth 
century,  and  settling  between  the  Alps,  the  Saone,  and  the  Rhone, 
established  the  Burgundian  kingdom,  of  which  Lyons  was  the  capital. 
At  that  time  they  were  still  Pagans,  but  soon  after  embraced  the  Cath- 
olic faith.  The  priest  Orosius,  in  417,  commended  the  mildness  and 
modesty  of  these  Burgundians,  who  treated  their  subjects  of  Gaul  as 
their  Christian  brethren.  In  450,  they  were  found  professing 
Arianism,  which  was  probably  owing  to  their  Arian  neighbors,  the 
Visigoths. 

67.  However,  Arianism  was  not  generally  adopted  by  the  Burgun- 
dians. In  the  second  half  of  the  fifth  century,  there  flourished  among 
that  nation  such  men  as  St.  Eucherius,  (died  A.  D.  450),  and  Patiens, 
(died  A.  D.  491),  successively  bishops  of  Lyons;  St.  Sidonius  Apollina- 
ris,  the  poet  and  bishop  of  Clermont,  (died  A.  D.  482);  later  on,  St. 
Apollinaris,  bishop  of  Valence,  (died  A.  D.  520),  and  his  brother  St. 
Avitus,  the  learned  bishop  of  Vienna  and  champion  of  Catholicity 
at  the  religious  conference  held  between  Catholics  and  Arians  in  499. 
King  Sigismund  returned  to  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  year  516,  and 
Arianism  entirely  disappeared  among  the  Burgundians,  after  their 
kingdom  had  passed  under  the  dominion  of  the  Franks,  A.  D.  534. 

68.  An  event  of  great  importance  for  the  Catholic  Church  was 
the  conversion  of  Clovis,  the  valiant  king  of  the  Franks.  The  Franks 
occupied  all  the  North  of  Roman  Gaul,  between  the  Somme,  the 
Seine,  and  Loire,  Paris  being  the  capital  of  the  Prankish  kingdom. 
Already  inclined  to  Christianity  by  his  Catholic  queen,  the  Burgun- 
dian princess  Clotilda,  Clovis,  by  reason  of  his  great  victory  over  the 
Alemanni  at  Zuelpich,  near  Bonn,  in  496,  was  induced  to  embrace 


CONVERSION  OF  THE  ANGLO-SAXONS.  149 

the  Catholic  faith.  Within  the  same  year,  Clovis,  true  to  the  vow, 
which  he  had  made  on  the  occasion,  was  instructed  in  the  Christian 
religion  by  St.  Yedastus  of  Toul,  and  baptized  at  Rheims  on  Christ- 
mas-day, by  St.  Remigius.  With  him  were  baptized  three  thousand 
of  his  followers. 

69.  In  507,  Clovis,  after  defeating  Alaric,  king  of  the  Visigoths, 
annexed  Aquitania  to  his  realm.  In  the  year  511,  he  convoked  the 
Council  of  Orleans,  which  was  attended  by  the  bishops  of  the  newly 
conquered  dominions.  The  expectations  entertained  of  the  "  New 
Constantine  "  were  fully  realized,  although  his  conduct  as  a  Christian 
was  not  without  reproach,  and  was  stained  by  deeds  of  blood  and 
cruelty.  Clovis  died,  A.  D.  511,  whilst  his  consort,  the  saintly  Clo- 
tilda, survived  him  till  A.  D.  545, 

70.  Under  the  successors  of  the  great  Clovis,  dissension  and 
bloodshed  prevailed  among  the  Merovingians,  idolatrous  worship  still 
lingered  among  the  Franks,  and  even  apostasy  from  the  Catholic 
Church  was  no  rare  occasion.  In  their  efforts  to  civilize  the  Franks, 
the  bishops  were  supported  by  the  Irish  monks,  to  whom  must  be 
attributed  the  religious  reformation  of  this  nation;  among  them,  espec- 
ially St.  Columbanus  distinguished  himself.  He  came  to  Gaul,  A.  D.  590, 
with  twelve  companions,  and  founded  in  the  Yosges  Mountains  the 
celebrated  monastery  of  Luxeuil,  from  which  issued  many  holy 
bishops  and  disciples.  Being  compelled  to  leave  the  country,  A.  D. 
610,  he  sought  refuge  in  Alemania.  In  612  he  departed  for  Lom- 
bardy,  where  he  established  the  monastery  of  Bobbio.  He  died,  A.  D. 
616.  His  disciple,  St.  Gall,  founded  near  Lake  Constance,  a  monas- 
tery, from  which  sprung  the  famous  abbey  and  city  of  St.  Gall. 

SECTIOX  LI. COXVERSIOX  OF  THE  AXGLO-SAXOXS  IX  BRITAIX. 

The  Anglo-Saxons  in  Britain— Distinguished  Welsh  Bishops— Zeal  of  Pope 
Gregory  the  Great— St.  Avigustine,  the  Apostle  of  the  Anglo-Saxons — 
Conversion  of  King  Ethelbert — Canterbury  a  Metropolitan  See — Obsti- 
nacy of  the  Welsh  Clergy— Conversion  of  the  East-Saxons— St.  Mellitus — 
Conversion  of  the  Kingdom  of  Northumbria— St.  Paulinus  and  St. 
Aidanus— Conversion  of  the  other  Anglo-Saxon  Kingdoms— St.  Birinus 
and  St.  Wilfrid. 

71.  When  Britain,  in  the  beginning  of  the  fifth  century,  was 
abandoned  by  the  Romans  and  left  to  provide  for  itself,  it  had  much 
to  suffer  from  the  invasions  of  the  Picts  and  Scots.  Unable  to  oppose 
the  constant  invasions  of  their  hostile  neighbors,  the  Britons,  A.  D. 
449,  called  in  the  assistance  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  from  Northern  Ger- 
many.     These   Teutonic   auxiliaries,  however,   after   chastizing  the 


150  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Scottish  invaders,  retained  Britain  for  their  reward.  They  subdued 
the  greater  part  of  the  country,  and  established  themselves  as  perman- 
ent inhabitants,  driving  the  British  natives  into  Wales  and  Cornwall, 
or  to  France  (Bretagne).  One  effect  of  this  Anglo-Saxon  conquest 
was,  that  Britain  relapsed  into  heathenism,  Christianity  becoming 
wholly  extinct  within  its  borders. 

72.  The  Britons  maintained  their  independence  in  their  new 
homes,  and  Christianity  continued  to  flourish  among  them.  In  the 
sixth  century,  flourishing  monasteries  existed  in  Wales,  and  many 
holy  bishops  adorned  the  Church.  Among  them  are  mentioned  St. 
David,  archbishop  of  Menevia  (died  A.  D.  544),  St.  Dubricius  (died 
A.  D.  522),  and  his  disciple  St.  Theliaus  (died  A.  D.  560),  St.  Udoce- 
us,  St.  Paternus,  Daniel,  Itutus,  and  others.  Yet,  no  efforts, were 
made  by  the  Welsh  clergy  to  convert  the  Anglo-Saxon  invaders,  who 
probably  would  not  receive  Christianity  from  the  conquered  race. 

73.  The  honor  of  bringing  the  heathen  Anglo-Saxons,  who  had 
founded  seven  kingdoms  in  Britain,  jointly  called  the  "  Heptarchy," 
into  the  fold,  of  Christ,  is  due  to  Pope  Gregory  the  Great.  This  great 
Pontiff,  before  his  elevation  to  the  Papacy,  had  desired  to  become 
himself  their  Apostle,  but  was  prevented  from  carrying  out  his  design. 
Having  succeeded  to  the  Papal  Chair,  he  zealously  considered  the 
means  of  fulfilling  his  early  wish.  In  596,  he  sent  thirty-nine 
Benedictines  .under  the  guidance  of  the  holy  Abbot  Augustine  to 
undertake  the  conversion  of  the  Anglo-Saxons  in  Britain.  The  mis- 
mionaries,  landed  on  the  isle  of  Thanet,  and,  with  the  permission  of 
King  Ethelbert  of  Kent,  commenced  preaching  in  the  capital  city,  in 
the  chapel  of  St.  Martin,  where  divine  service  was  held  for  the  Cath- 
olic Queen.  The  effect  of  this  preaching  was,  that  King  Ethelbert, 
already  inclined  towards  Christianity  through  the  influence  of  his 
Queen  Bertha,  a  Prankish  princess,  received  Baptism  on  Pentecost,  A. 
D.  597.  On  the  following  Christmas,  ten  thousand  of  his  subjects 
followed  his  royal  example. 

74.  On  learning  the  wonderful  success  of  Augustine,  Pope  Greg- 
ory appointed  him  the  first  bishop,  and,  in  601,  metropolitan  of  the 
Anglo-Saxons  with  authority  to  found  twelve  suffragan  sees,  and,  when 
the  Northern  English  should  have  embraced  the  Faith,  also  to  ordain 
a  bishop  for  York,  which  should  likewise  be  a  metropolitan  with 
twelve  suffragan  bishops.  Augustine  chose  Dovernum,  now  Canter- 
bury, for  his  metropolitan  see.  The  Apostle  of  England,  wishing  to 
establish  uniformity  of  discipline  over  the  whole  of  Britain,  held  sev- 
eral conferences  with  the  British  bishops  of  Wales  to  have  them  con- 
form to  the  usages  of  Rome.     The  Welsh  Christians,  though  agreeing 


CONVERSION  OF  THE  ANGLO-SAXONS.  151 

in  faith  with  the  universal  Church,  yet  differed  in-  some  points  of 
discipline.  These  differences  regarded  the  time  of  celebrating  Easter, 
and  the  mode  of  administering  Baptism.  The  conferences,  however, 
failed  to  have  any  result.  Out  of  rancor  against  the  English,  the 
Welsh  bishops  and  monks  refused  to  acknowledge  Augustine  as 
their  Primate,  or  to  aid  him  in  the  conversion  of  their  heathen 
neighbors.  Indignant  at  their  uncharitable  refusal,  he  foretold  that 
punishment  would  shortly  come  upon  them.  This  prediction  was  ful- 
filled some  years  after  his  death,  when  Ethelfried,  the  pagan  king  of 
Northumbria,  had  twelve  hundred  monks  at  Bangor  put  to  death  and 
their  monasteries  destroyed,  A.  D.  613.  St.  Augustine  died  in  605, 
after  having  chosen  Lawrence,  one  of  his  companions,  to  succeed  him 
in  the  see  of  Canterbury. 

75.  From  Kent,  Christianity  rapidly  spread  among  the  other 
Anglo-Saxon  kingdoms.  The  East-Saxons,  with  their  King  Soberct, 
nephew  of  Ethelbert,  were  converted  by  St.  Mellitus,  another  com- 
panion of  St.  Augustine,  who  became  the  first  bishop  of  London,  A. 
D.  604.  Mellitus,  on  the  death  of  Lawrence,  A.  D.  619,  succeeded 
him  in  the  see  of  Canterbury,  and,  on  his  demise  in  624,  Justus,  the 
first  bishop  of  Rochester,  was  installed,  who  again,  A.  D.  630,  was 
followed  by  Honorius,  another  co-laborer  of  St.  Augustine.  In  616, 
both  Ethelbert  and  Soberct, — the  latter  the  founder  of  Westminster 
Abbey, — died. 

76.  Korthumbria  received  the  Faith  by  the  preaching  of  St.  Pau- 
linus,  by  whom  King  Edwin  and  a  great  number  of  his  people  were 
baptised,  A.  D.  627.  York  was  erected  into  a  metropolitan  see  and 
Paulinus  made  its  first  archbishop.  On  the  death  of  Edwin  in  633, 
Paulinus  retired  to  Rochester,  which  see  he  governed  till  his  death, 
A.  D.  644.  The  conversion  of  the  Northumbrians  was  afterwards 
completed  under  King  St.  Oswald  by  St.  Aidanus  from  the  monastery 
of  St.  Columba  on  the  isle  of  lona.  St.  Aidanus,  who  fixed  his  Epis- 
copal see  at  Lindisfarne,  died  in  651. 

77.  King  Edwin  of  Northumbria  also  induced  the  king  of  East- 
Anglia,  Corpwald,  to  embrace  Christianity,  A.  D.  627.  His  brother  and 
successor  Sigebert,  supported  by  Felix,  first  bishop  of  Dunwich,  con- 
tinued the  work  of  evangelization  among  the  East- Angles.  St.  Biri- 
nus,  sent  by  Pope  Honorius,  was  the  Apostle  of  Wessex.  King  Cy- 
negils  was  baptized  by  him,  A.  D.  635,  at  Dorchester,  where  Birinus 
fixed  his  episcopal  see.  In  655,  commenced  the  conversion  of  the 
kingdom  of  Mercia,  when  Peada,  son  of  King  Penda,  became  a  Chris- 
tian, in  order  to  receive  in  marriage  Alchfleda,  a  Catholic  princess  of 
Northumbria.     It  was  not  till  twenty-five  years  later  that  Sussex,  the 


153  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

last  of  the  Heptarchy,  received  the  grace  of  faith  by  the  preaching  of 
St.  Wilfrid,  about  A.  D.  680.  He  converted  King  Caedwalla,  who 
was  baptized  by  the  Pope,  at  Rome,  where  he  also  died.  Thus  in 
about  ninety  years  after  St.  Augustine's  landing  on  the  isle  of  Thanet, 
the  whole  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Heptarchy  was  brought  to  the  knowl- 
edge of  Christ. 


CHAPTER  II. 


PATRISTIC  LITERATURE. 


SECTION   LII. — THE    GREEK    FATHERS    AND    DOCTORS.^ 

Age  of  Church-Fathers— Advancement  of  Christian  Literature— Its  Causes 
—St.  Athanasius,  Father  of  Orthodoxy  —  His  Writings  against  the 
Arians  and  other  Heretics— St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem — Acacius  of  Jeru- 
salem—Writings of  St.  Cyril  — St.  Basil  of  Caesarea  — His  principal 
Works— St.  Gregory  Nazianzen — His  Writings. 

78.  No  sooner  had  peace  been  restored  to  the  Church,  than  her 
Divine  Founder  was  pleased  to  bestow  upon  her  the  charismata  of 
science  and  knowledge,  as  in  the  times  of  persecution  he  had  con- 
ferred upon  her  a  firmness  of  faith  which  was  not  to  be  shaken  by  the 
severest  trials.  The  fourth  and  fifth  centuries  are  justly  called  the 
age  of  the  Church-Fathers.  At  no  time  was  the  literary  activity  of 
God's  chosen  servants  more  wonderful  and  productive,  and  never  did 
they  arise  in  greater  "numbers  than  during  this  period.  The  chief 
causes  contributing  to  this  advancement  of  Christian  learning  and  the 
development  of  Christian  doctrine,  were  ;     1.  The  learned  schools  at 

1.  A  distinction  is  to  be  made  between  "  Fathers  of  the  Church  (patres  ecclesiae)  and 
ecclesiastical  writers  (scriptores  ecclesiastici)."  The  distinguishing-  marks  of  the  former 
are:  1.  Antiquity  (antiquitas);  2.  Orthodoxy  of  doctrine  (doctrina  orthodoxa);  3.  Em- 
inent sanctity  (insignis  sanctitas);  and  4.  Express  or  tacit  approbation  of  the  Church 
(approbatio  expressa  sive  tacita).  Early  Christian  Avriters  that  are  wanting  In  one  or  the 
other  of  these  requisites  are  pot  counted  among  the  Fathers  of  the  Church.  Such  of  the 
Fathers  and  Holy  Teachers  of  the  Church  as  united  extraordinary  learning  (doctrina 
eminens)  with  purity  of  faith,  are  called  "Doctors  of  the  Church  (doctores  ecclesiae)." 
Of  these,  SS.  Athanasius,  Basil  the  Great,  Gregory  Nazianzen  and  Chrysostom  belong  to 
the  Eastern  Church.  Doctors  of  the  Western  or  Latin  Church  are  SS.  Ambrose,  Hieron- 
ymus,  Augustine  and  Gregory  the  Great,  to  whom  afterwards  were  added  by  the  Church 
SS.  Leo  the  Great,  Thomas  Aquinas,  Bona  venture,  Hilary,  Alphonse  de  Liguori  and 
Francis  de  Sales. 


GREEK  FATHERS.  153 

Antioch,  Alexandria,  Caesarea,  Eclessa,  Nisibis,  and  Rhenocorura  in 
Egypt;  2.  The  controversies  with  pagan  writers  who  continued  to 
assail  Christianity  ;  3.  The  great  heresies  of  Arius,  Macedonius,  Pelag- 
ius,  Nestorius  and  Eutyches  and  the  various  conti;oversies  arising  from 
these  heresies  ;  4.  The  numerous  Councils  which  met  in  order  to  de- 
line,  under  the  special  guidance  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  what  was  to  be 
believed,  and  what  was  to  be  rejected  as  contrary  to  Christian  truth. 

79.  Against  each  of  the  numerous  heresies  germinating  during 
this  period,  a  glorious  array  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church  came 
forward  and  waged  a  victorious  battle.  It  was  they  who,  at  Councils, 
defined  the  Catholic  doctrine,  condemned  the  false  teachings  of  here- 
tics, laying  bare  and  demolishing  their  sophistries  with  the  most 
penetrating  acuteness.  In  their  divinely  inspired  writings,  they  have 
bequeathed  to  all  nations  and  ages  a  rich  treasure  of  solid  and 
profound  learning,  and  most  consoling  doctrine,  while  at  the  same 
time  the  incomparable  holiness  of  their  lives  has  merited  for  them  the 
honorable  title  of  Fathers  and  Doctors  of  the  Church. 

80.  The  greatest  luminary  among  the  Oriental  Doctors  was  St. 
Athanasius,  surnamed  the  Great,  whom  God  had  chosen  to  be  the 
champion  and  defender  of  His  Church  against  the  Arian  heresy.  Ath- 
anasius was  born  at  Alexandria,  about  the  year  296,  ordained  deacon  in 
319,  and  was  chosen  by  Alexander,  his  bishop,  to  accompany  him 
to  the  Council  of  Nice.  To  his  acuteness,  learning,  and  elo- 
quence in  that  Council,  was  principally  owing  the  condemnation 
of  Arianism.  On  the  death  of  Alexander  in  328,  Athanasius  became 
patriarch  of  Alexandria,  and  during  forty-five  years,  he  withstood, 
often  almost  alone,  the  whole  brunt  of  the  Arian  assault.  He  stood 
unmoved  against  four  Roman  Emperors,  was  banished  five  times, 
was  the  butt  of  every  wrong  and  calumny  the  Arians  could  devise, 
and  lived  in  constant  peril  of  death.  Firm  and  unbending  in  defence 
of  the  Catholic  faith,  he  merited  the  honorable  title  of  "  Father  of 
Orthodoxy."     He  closed  his  stormy  life  in  peace,  A.  D.  3'73. 

81.  With  few  exceptions,  the  numerous  works  of  St.  Athanasius 
have  an  apologetical  and  polemical  tenor,  having  been  w^ritten  in 
defence  of  Catholicity  against  Paganism  and  heresy.  His  diction 
and  style  are  clear,  full  of  deep  sense,  strength,  and  solid  reasoning. 
The  first  of  his  works  are  his  two  discourses  "  Against  the  Gentiles," 
and  "  On  the  Incarnation,"  which  form  one  work  addressed  to  a  con- 
vert from  heathenism,  and  which  were  written  before  the  Arian 
controversy  had  broken  out.  Most  of  his  other  works  have  a  direct 
bearing  upon  that  heresy  ;  the  principal  among  them  are  :  1.  "  Four 
Orations  against  the  Arians,"  which  he  wrote  whilst  concealed  in  the 


154  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

desert,  A.  D.  356-361  ;  2.  "  An  Apology  against  the  Arians,"  contain- 
ing thirty-six  authentic  documents  relative  to  the  history  of  Arianism  ; 

3.  Two  encyclical  letters  to  the  orthodox  bishops,  one  against  the 
illegal  intrusion  of  Gregory  the  Cappadocian  into  his  see,  the 
other  to  warn  against   the   wiles    and    stratagems   of   the    Arians ; 

4.  An  Apology  to  the  Emperor  Constantius,  and  "An  Apology  for 
His  Flight,"  both  of  which  were  written  in  the  desert. 

82.  Against  the  heresies  of  the  Macedonians  and  the  ApoUina- 
rians  St.  Athanasius  wrote  :  1.  Four  Letters  to  Serapion,  bishop  of 
Thmuis  ;  2.  A  treatise  "  On  the  Incarnation  and  against  the  Arians  ;'* 
3.  "A  Book  on  the  Trinity  and  Holy  Ghost;"  4.  "Two  Books 
against  the  Apollinarians  ;"  5.  A  treatise  "  On  the  Incarnation 
against  Apollinaris  ;"  and  6.  Another  "  On  the  Advent  of  Our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ."  St.  Athanasius  is,  however,  not  the  author  of  the 
famous  creed  bearing  his  name,  as  it  was  compiled  in  Latin  in  the 
fifth  or  sixth  century. 

83.  A  worthy  companion  of  the  great  Athanasius  in  his  struggle 
with  the  Arians  was  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem.  This  Father  was  born  at, 
or  near,  the  Holy  City  about  the  year  315.  He  was  ordained  priest 
in  345  by  Bishop  Maximus,  who  also  intrusted  him  with  the  charge  of 
the  Catachumens,  and  in  his  stead  appointed  him  preacher  to  the 
people.  In  850,  Cyril  succeded  Maximus  in  the  see  of  Jerusalem,  and 
was  consecrated  by  Acacius  of  Csesarea.  This  Acacius,  a  bitter 
Arian,  soon  became  a  severe  enemy  and  persecutor  of  Cyril,  and,  in 
358,  procured  his  deposition  and  exile  from  Jerusalem.  Cyril  was 
restored  by  the  Council  of  Seleucia,  in  359,  but,  at  the  instigation  of 
Acacius,  he  was  banished  again,  the  next  year,  by  Constantius.  On 
the  accesion  of  Julian,  Cyril  returned  to  Jerusalem.  He  witnessed 
the  attempts  of  the  apostate  emperor  to  rebuild  the  temple  of  Jerusa- 
lem, which,  however,  owing  to  his  prayers,  were  frustrated  and  had  to 
be  abandoned.  The  Emperor  Yalens,  in  367,  again  banished  Cyril 
from  his  see,  and  only  after  eleven  years  was  he  allowed  to  return. 
In  381,  he  assisted  at  the  Second  General  Council  of  Constantinople, 
and  is  recorded  as  one  of  the  presiding  prelates.  He  died,  A.  D.  386, 
after  a  troubled  episcopate  of  thirty-five  years,  sixteen  of  which  were 
spent  in  exile. 

84.  The  writings  of  St.  Cyril  still  extant,  are  :  1.  "A  Course 
of  Twenty-three  Catechetical  Discourses"  on  the  entire  Christian 
doctrine  for  the  instruction  of  the  Catechumens.  These  consist  of 
eighteen  to  the  "  competentes,"  i.  e..  Catechumens  before  baptism  ; 
and  of  five  mystagogic  discourses  addressed  to  the  Neophites  on  the 
sacrament  of  Baptism,  Confirmation  and  the  Eucharist ;  2.  A  homily 


GREEK  FATHERS.  155 

on  St.  John  v.,  2-16  ;    3.  A  letter  to  the  Emperor  Constantius  relating 
to  the  prodigy  of  the  luminous  cross  of  Jerusalem. 

85.  After  the  death  of  the  great  Athanasius,  the  three  Oappado- 
cians,  Basil  the  Great,  Gregory  Nazianzen,  and  Gregory  of  Nyssa, 
took  his  place  in  the  East  as  defenders  of  the  orthodox  faith.  St. 
Basil  was  born  at  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia,  about  the  year  330.  Two 
of  his  brothers,  Gregory  and  Peter,  became  bishops,  the  former  of 
Nyssa,  the  latter  of  Sebaste,  and,  together  with  their  parents,  grand- 
mother and  sister,  are  honored  by  the  Church  as  saints.  Basil  stud- 
ied with  great  success  at  Athens,  where  he  became  intimate  with 
Gregory  Nazianzen.  The  two  friends  vied  with  each  other  both  in 
learning  and  in  the  practice  of  virtue.  "  We  know  but  two  streets 
in  the  city,"  said  Gregory,  "  the  one  leading  to  the  Church  and  the 
other  leading  to  the  schools."  They  remained  at  Athens  four 
or  five  years,  where  they  also  made  the  acquaintance  of  Julian, 
who  afterwards  merited  the  evil  name  of  apostate.  Having  re- 
ceived Baptism  in  357,  Basil  visited  the  monastic  institutions  of 
Syria  and  Egypt,  and  founded  several  monasteries  in  Pontus  and  Cap- 
padocia. He  became  the  father  of  monachism  in  the  East;  the 
Basilians  are  to  this  day  the  jDrincipal  religious  order  in  the 
Oriental  Church.  In  364,  Basil  was  ordained  priest  by  Bishop  Euse- 
bius,  successor  of  Dianius,  and,  on  the  death  of  that  prelate,  was 
chosen  bishop  of  Caesarea,  A.  D.  370.  He  was  an  instrument  in  the 
hands  of  God  for  beating  back  the  Arian  and  Macedonian  heresies  in 
the  East.  His  energy  and  zeal,  learning  and  eloquence,  and  the 
exceeding  austerity  and  holiness  of  his  life,  have  gained  for  him  the 
reputation  of  one  of  the  greatest  bishops  of  the  Church,  and  his  charac- 
ter and  works  have  earned  for  him  the  surname  "  Great."  Basil  died 
in  the  year  379. 

86.  Of  the  works  of  St.  Basil,  the  most  important  are  :  1.  "Five 
Books  against  Eunomius,"  the  leader  of  the  extreme  Arians,  called 
"  Anomoeans  ;"  2.  "A  Book  on  the  Holy  Ghost"  to  Amphilochius, 
bishop  of  Iconium,  written  against  the  Semi-Arians ;  3.  "Nine 
homilies  on  the  Hexaemeron,"  an  explication  of  the  work  of  Six 
Days  ;  4.  A  number  of  ascetic  works,  containing  treatises  and  rules 
which  he  composed  for  his  monasteries  ;  5.  Three  hundred  and  sixty- 
six  letters,  three  of  which  are  called  "canonical,"  because  they 
explain  the  manner  and  duration  of  the  public  penances  to  be  enjoined 
on  penitents.  The  Liturgy  ascribed  to  St.  Basil  is  still  used  in  the 
Eastern  Church,  both  by  Catholics  and  Schismatics. 

87.  St.  Gregory  Nazianzen,  the  chosen  friend  of  St.  Basil,  was 
born  at  Nazianzus  in  Cappadocia,  about  the   year   329.     His   father 


156  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Gregory,  who  before  his  conversion  had  belonged  to  the  Hypsistarians, 
— a  mongrel  sect,  partly  Jew  and  partly  pagan, — became  bishop  of 
Nazianzus  and,  with  his  mother  Nonna,  is  honored  by  the  Church  as 
a  saint.  On  his  return  from  Athens  to  Nazianzus,  Gregory  was 
baptized,  and  for  some  years  lived  in  seclusion  as  a  hermit,  in 
company  with  St.  Basil.  He  was  ordained  priest  in  361,  though,  in 
his  extreme  humility,  he  was  quite  reluctant  to  accept  that  dignity  ; 
and  he  henceforth  assisted  in  the  government  of  his  father's  diocese. 
About  the  year  372,  he  was  consecrated  by  St.  Basil,  bishop  of  Sas- 
ima,  but  he  was  never  able  to  occupy  that  see.  In  381,  Gregory  was 
chosen  bishop  of  Constantinople  by  the  Second  General  Council,  yet, 
on  account  of  the  opposition  against  him,  he  resigned  this  see  and 
retired  to  Nazianzus,  where  he  died  about  the  year  389. 

88.  The  writings  of  St.  Gregory  contain  :  1.  Forty-five  orations 
which,  properly  speaking,  are  dogmatical  treatises  on  tiie  Holy  Trinity. 
Of  these,  the  most  famous  are  his  five  theological  orations  on  the 
Divinity  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  against  the  Eunomians 
and  Macedonians,  which  acquired  for  their  author  the  name  of 
"  Theologian ;"  2.  Two  hundred  and  forty-two  letters,  which  are 
highly  interesting  and  are  distinguished  for  their  clearness  and 
brevity. 

SECTION  LIII. GREEK  FATHERS,  CONTINUED. 

St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa— His  early  Career— His  Writings— St.  Epiphanius— His 
Writings— St.  John  Chrysostom — His  Zeal  as  Patriarch  of  Constantinople 
— His  Banishment — His  Works— Treatise  on  the  Priesthood — St.  Cyril  of 
Alexandria— His  Writings — St.  Sophronius  of  Jerusalem— His  Writings 
—St.  Maximus  the  Confessor— His  Works— St.  John  of  Damascus— His 
Zeal  against  the  Iconoclasts— His  Writings. 

89.  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  a  younger  brother  of  St.  Basil,  was 
born  in  331.  He  was  married,  but,  after  the  death  of  his  wife,  was 
induced  by  Basil  and  their  common  friend  Gregory  Nazianzen  to 
dedicate  his  talents  to  the  sacred  ministry.  In  371,  Gregory  was 
made  bishop  of  Nyssa  in  Cappadocia.  He  was  deposed  by  the  Ari- 
ans  and  exiled  under  Yalens,  but  upon  the  death  of  that  emperor,  he 
was  restored  to  his  see  by  the  Emperor  Gratian.  He  was  deputed, 
A.  D.  379,  by  the  Council  of  Antioch  to  visit  the  churches  of  Jeru- 
salem and  Arabia.  In  the  Second  Ecumenical  Council  of  Constanti- 
nople, Gregory  held  an  important  place,  and  the  high  reputation 
of  his  learning  procured  for  him  the  title  of  "  Pater  Patrum."  He 
died  about  the  year  395. 


GREEK  FATHERS.  157 

90.  The  works  of  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa  contain  the  most  complete 
exposition  of  Christian  dogma  given  by  any  of  the  Greek  Fathers 
after  Origen.  The  writings  of  our  Saint  may  be  grouped  as  follows  : 
1.  Exegetical :  of  this  class  we  have  numerous  commentaries  and 
homilies  on  the  Holy  Scriptures,  principally  of  the  Old  Testament,  as 
for  instance  on  the  "  Hex^emeron,"  or  "  The  Six  Days  ;"  On  the  Work 
of  Creation  ;  On  the  Inscriptions  of  the  Psalms  ;  fifteen  homilies  On  the 
Book  of  Canticles,  etc.  2.  Polemical  and  Doctrinal :  The  great  work 
of  Gregory  is  his  twelve  Books  against  Eunomius,  in  which  he  proves 
against  that  heretic  the  "  Homoiision  "  of  the  Son  and  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,  and  vindicates  the  memory  of  his  brother  Basil.  His  other 
works  of  this  class  are  his  "  Antirrhetic  "  against  Apollinaris,  "  The 
Catechetical  Discourse "  for  the  instruction  of  Jews  and  Pagans. 
3.  Ascetic  and  Practical,  which  contain  a  number  of  treatises  and 
sermons  on  various  subjects  and  for  different  occasions,  for  example, 
"  On  Virginity,"  "  On  Christian  Perfection,"  "  On  Pilgrimages  to 
Jerusalem,"  etc.  4.  Twenty-six  Letters  addressed  to  various  persons. 
Gregory  follows  Origen  in  his  scientific  method ;  however,  he 
expressly  combats  the  heterodox  opinions  imputed  to  Origen. 

91.  A  zealous  opponent  of  all  heresy  and  a  firm  defender  of 
orthodoxy  was  the  pious  and  learned  Epiphanius  of  Salamis,  born 
near  Eleuthoropolis  in  Palestine,  about  the  year  310.  He  embraced 
the  monastic  life  and  founded  a  monastery  near  the  place  of  his 
birth,  which  he  governed  for  thirty  years  until  367,  when  he  was 
made  bishop  of  Salamis  in  Cyprus.  Owing  to  his  great  sanctity  and 
the  general  veneration  in  which  he  was  held,  he  was  almost  the  only 
Catholic  bishop  who  was  exempt  from  the  persecutions  by  the  Arians. 
Epiphanius  was  well  read  and  a  man  of  great  learning  ;  he  mastered  five 
languages,  but  was  less  acute  and  critical,  and  an  over-zealous  oppo- 
nent of  Origen  whom  he  considered  as  the  real  author  of  Arianism.  By 
the  persuasion  of  Theophilus  of  Alexandria,  he  was  induced  to  assem- 
ble a  Council  in  Cyprus,  A.  D.  401,  at  which,  without  distinction,  the 
writings  of  the  great  Alexandrian  scholar  were  condemned.  His 
immoderate  zeal  toward  Origen  involved  him  in  a  controversy  with 
John  of  Jerusalem,  the  successor  of  St.  Cyril,  and  St.  John  Chrysos- 
tom  of  Constantinople.  The  most  important  of  his  w^ritings  are  "  The 
Panarion,"  or  Box  of  Antidotes  ;  "  Against  Eighty  Heresies,"  which 
is  a  history  of  the  heresies  before  and  after  Christ ;  his  "  Anchorate," 
which  was  written  by  him  to  confirm  weak  and  unsettled  minds  in 
the  true  faith,  particularly  of  the  doctrine  on  the  Trinity  and  Incar- 
nation. St.  Epiphanius  died  on  board  a  ship  bound  to  Cyprus,  A.  D. 
403. 


158  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

92.  The  incomparable  John  of  Constantinople,  from  his  sanctity 
and  eloquence  called  "  Chrysostom,''  or  "  Golden-mouthed,"  was  born 
at  Antioch  in  34*7.  He  received  his  literary  education  from  the  fa- 
mous Libanius  and  the  philosopher  Andragathius  ;  and  such  was  his 
proficiency  in  studies,  particularly  in  eloquence,  that  Libanius  predicted 
the  eminence  which  his  favorite  pupil  afterward  attained.  After 
spending  six  years  in  monastic  solitude,  where  he  devoted  himself  to 
prayer  and  the  study  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  he  was  baptized  in  369. 
In  386,  he  became  a  priest  and  commenced  his  course  as  preacher. 
After  the  death  of  Bishop  Nectarius  in  397,  John  was,  much  against 
his  will,  advanced  to  the  See  of  Constantinople  and  consecrated  by 
Theophilus  of  Alexandria  (secnod  successor  of  St.  Athanasius),  who, 
afterwards  becoming  his  enemy,  was  instrumental  in  procuring  his 
removal  from  Constantinople. 

93.  In  his  new  post,  John  displayed  a  wonderful  zeal  and  energy  ; 
the  effect  of  his  sermons  was  really  wonderful.  Greatly  loved  as  he 
was  by  the  people,  his  bold  denunciation  of  vice  made  him  numerous 
enemies,  especially  at  court,-  who  in  403  procured  his  banishment. 
Although  almost  instantly  recalled,  he  was,  at  the  instigation  of  the 
licentious  Empress  Eudoxia,  again  exiled  the  following  year  to  Cucu- 
sus  in  Armenia.  Honorius,  emperor  of  the  West,  and  Pope  Innocent  I. 
tried  in  vain  to  obtain  his  release.  Three  years  after,  a  new  decree 
banished  John  to  Pityus  in  Colchis,  the  farthest  limits  of  the  empire  ; 
but,  before*  reaching  that  place,  he  died  at  Comona  in  Pontus,  A.  D. 
407.  In  438,  his  remains  were  brought  back  by  Theodosius  II.  who, 
falling  on  his  knees  before  the  bier,  in  the  name  of  his  parents 
begged  pardon  of  the  Saint. 

94.  Of  all  the  Greek  Fathers,  the  writings  of  St.  Chrysostom  are 
the  most  voluminous.  They  consist  of  numerous  commentaries  and 
homilies  on  the  Bible,  of  sermons,  dogmatical  and  moral  treatises,  and 
of  a  number  of  letters.  His  homilies  and  commentaries  on  the  Bible 
alone  fill  nine  volumes,  and  embrace  nearly  all  the  sacred  books  of 
both  Testaments.  Besides  these,  our  Saint  composed  a  number  of 
elegant  sermons  and  homilies  on  Christian  doctrine  and  Christian 
virtues  and  duties.  Most  of  his  homilies  he  preached  at  Antioch, 
while  yet  a  presbyter. 

95.  Of  his  moral  works,  must  be  mentioned  his  incomparable 
treatise  on  the  Priesthood  in  six  books,  which  he  composed  to  excuse 
himself  to  his  friend  Basil,  for  whom  by  his  flight  he  had  left  open 
the  way  to  the  episcopal  dignity.  With  the  exception  of  a  few,  all 
his  letters,  to  the  number  of  243,  were  written  during  his  exile.  Of 
these,  two  are  addressed  to  Pope  Innocent  I.     The  Liturgy  bearing 


I 


GREEK  FATHERS.  159 

the  name  of  St.  Chrysostom  is  used  to  this  day  throughout  the  East 
by  the  Catholics  and  Schismatics  alike. 

96.  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria  was  a  nephew  of  the  above-named 
Patriarch  Theophilus  of  Alexandria,  whom,  A.  D.  403,  he  also  accom- 
panied to  the  famous  Synod  of  the  Oak  (ad  Quercum)  in  Chalcedon, 
which  sentenced  St.  Chrysostom  to  deposition  and  banishment.  In 
412,  Cyril  succeeded  his  uncle  in  the  see  of  Alexandria.  He  began  to 
exercise  his  authority  by  closing  the  churches  of  the  Novatians,  and 
driving  the  Jews,  on  account  of  their  violence,  out  of  the  city.  This 
step  was  followed  by  a  bitter  quarrel  between  him  and  Orestes,  the 
Prefect  of  Egypt,  and  by  the  murder  of  Hypatia,  the  celebrated 
pagan  female  philosopher,  in  which,  however,  Cyril  had  no  part. 
From  his  uncle  he  had  imbibed  prejudices  against  St.  Chrysostom,  but 
he  was  finally  prevailed  on  to  replace  his  name  in  the  Dyptics  of  his 
church.  St.  Cyril  was  the  great  champion  of  orthodoxy  against 
Nestorius,  whence  he  is  called  the  "  Doctor  of  the  Incarnation."  He 
died,  A.  D.  444. 

97.  Of  his  voluminous  works,  apologetical,  controversial,  and 
doctrinal,  the  most  important  are  :  1.  His  great  work  "  Against  the 
Emperor  Julian "  in  ten  books,  which  he  dedicated  to  the  Emperor 
Theodosius  II.,  and  which  is  a  complete  refutation  of  the  work 
written  by  the  imperial  apostate  against  the  Christians  ;  2.  His  book 
"  On  the  Holy  and  Consubstantial  Trinity,"  consisting  of  seven 
dialogues,  and  establishing  the  Divinity  of  the  Son  against  the  Arians  ; 
3.  Against  the  Nestorian  heresy,  his  principal  works  are  :  "  On  the 
Incarnation  of  the  Only-Begotten  ;"  "  Five  Books  against  the  Blas- 
phemies of  Nestorius  ;"  "  A  Dialogue  with  Nestorius  "  to  prove  that 
the  Blessed  Virgin  is  the  Mother  of  God  (Deipara),  and  not  merely 
Mother  of  Christ  (Christipara) ;  4.  Commentaries  on  the  Pentateuch, 
the  Psalms,  the  Prophets,  and  the  Gospels  of  SS.  Luke  and  John  ; 
5.  Besides  eighty-seven  letters,  we  have  of  St.  Cyril  thirty  "Paschal 
Homilies,"  or  circular  letters,  written  in  conformity  with  a  Kicene 
decree  to  other  bishops, — in  particular  to  the  Roman  Pontiff, — to 
acquaint  them  with  the  time  and  day  of  the  coming  Easter. 

98.  St.  Sophronius  was  born  at  Damascus,  about  the  year  560. 
He  was  a  sophist,  or  rhetorician,  and  the  friend  of  John  Moschus,  a 
distinguished  hermit  of  Palestine,  who  dedicated  to  him  his  work 
entitled,  "  Pratum  Spirituale,"  or  Spiritual  Meadow.  After  the  death 
of  his  friend,  Sophronius  became  a  monk  of  St.  Sabas,  about  A.  D. 
620.  In  him,  Providence  had  provided  his  Church  with  a  faithful 
champion  against  the  rising  heresy  of  the  Monothelites.  Sophronius 
strenuously  but  vainly  opposed  the  adoption  of  the  Monothelite  form- 


IGO  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Ilia,  composed  by  Cyrus  and  Sergius,  the  patriarchs  of  Alexandria  and 
Constantinople  respectively.  Being  soon  afterward  chosen  patriarch 
of  Jerusalem,  A.  D.  633,  he  held  a  synod  and  issued  a  synodal  letter, 
in  which  he  ably  defends  the  Catholic  faith  against  the  new  heresy. 
He  also  seht  Bishop  Stephen  of  Dora  to  Rome,  to  warn  the  Pope  and 
the  Western  bishops  of  the  rising  heresy.  Sophronius  lived  to  see 
the  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Mohammedans  under  Osmar,  A.  D. 
627;  but  died  soon  after.  Besides  the  synodal  letter,  which  was 
adopted  and  approved  by  the  Sixth  General  Council,  we  have  of  this 
Father  seven  sermons,  a  liturgical  commentary  on  the  ceremonies  of 
the  Mass,  and  collections  of  prayers  and  hymns. 

99.  Another  zealous  defender  of  the  Catholic  faith  against  the 
Monothelites  was  St.  Maximus  the  Confessor.  He  was  a  scion  of  a 
noble  family  and  was  secretary  to  Emperor  Heraclius  ;  but  resigning 
his  office  at  court,  he  retired  to  a  monastery  near  Constantinople,  of 
which  he  became  abbot.  In  645,  he  held  a  public  conference  at  Car- 
thage with  the  Monothelite  Patriarch  Pyrrhus  of  Constantinople,  whom 
he  induced  to  abjure  his  errors.  Under  Emperor  Constans  II., 
Maximus  was  cruelly  persecuted  for  refusing  to  sign  the  "Typos;" 
he  was  deprived  of  his  tongue  and  right  hand,  and  sent  into  exile, 
where  he  died,  A.  D.  662.  Of  the  many  works  of  this  Father  are  to 
be  mentioned  his  commentaries  on  divers  books  of  Scripture,  and  all 
the  works  attributed  to  Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  besides  a  number 
of  smaller  theological  treatises  and  polemic  discourses  against  the 
Monothelites. 

100.  St.  John  of  Damascus,  the  last  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church, 
was  born  in  the  decline  of  the  seventh  century  at  Damascus,  from 
which  city  he  received  the  surname  Damascene;  by  the  Saracens  he 
was  called  "  Mansur,"  and  on  account  of  his  eloquence  was  surnamed 
"  Chryssorroas,"  or  "  Gold-streaming."  John  received  his  education 
from  a  pious  and  learned  monk  named  Cosmas,  who  was  taken  a  pris- 
oner and  brought  to  Damascus.  Like  his  father,  he  held  a  high  office 
under  the  Caliphs.  His  zeal  in  defending  the  sacred  images  against 
the  Iconoclasts  exposed  him  to  the  resentment  and  persecution  of  the 
Greek  Emperor.  On  the  suspicion  of  a  treasonable  correspondence, 
he  was  deprived  of  his  right  hand,  which,  however,  was  miraculously 
restored  by  the  Mother  of  God.  He  resigned  his  office,  distributed 
his  wealth  among  the  poor  and  retired  into  the  Laura  of  St.  Sabas, 
where  after  some  time  he  was  ordained  a  priest.  He  died  about  the 
year  754. 

101.  John  Damascene  has  left  many  works  which,  on  account  of 
their  solid  learning  and  great  literary  merit,  have  been  held  in  high 


OTHER    GREEK   WRITERS.  161 

esteem  in  both  the  Latin  and  the  Greek  Church.  His  great  work  enti- 
tled "  The  Source  of  Knowledge  "  (Fons  Scientiae)  may  be  called  the 
first  dogmatic  work  in  systematic  form.  It  consists  of  three  parts: 
1.  "Things  Philosophical,  or  Dialectics,"  in  which  are  explained  the 
elements  of  philosophy  (principally  Aristotle's)  ;  2.  "  Compendium  of 
Heresies;"  3.  "An  Accurate  Exposition"  of  the  orthodox  faith  in  four 
books.  In  his  "  Parallels "  he  laid  down  the  principles  of  Christian 
morality  in  passages  extracted  from  the  Scripture  and  the  Fathers. 
Besides  these,  we  have  several  minor  treatises,  "On  the  Trinity," 
"  On  Confession,"  "  On  the  fast  of  Lent,"  and  other  Christian  dogmas 
and  observances.  His  polemical  writings  against  the  Manicheans, 
Nestorians,  Monophysites,  Monothelites,  and  Mohammedans  are 
very  numerous ;  those  against  the  Iconoclasts  are  widely  known. 
His  other  works  comprise  commentaries  on  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul, 
hymns  and  twelve  homilies  on  the  Saints,  five  of  them  on  the  Virgin 
Mary. 

SECTION    LIV. — OTHER    GREEK    WRITERS THE    CHRISTIAN    SCHOOLS    OF 

ALEXANDRIA  AND  ANTIOCH. 

Schools  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch — Principal  Points  of  Difference  between 
the  two  Schools — Famous  Pupils  and  Scholars — Eusebiusof  Cassarea — 
His  Attitude  towards  the  Arian  Controversy — His  Historical  Works — His 
other  Writings — Didymus  the  Blind— His  Writings — Distinguished  Rep- 
resentatives of  the  Antiochian  School— Theodore  of  Mepsuestia — His 
Errors  and  Writings — Polychronius — Theodoret  of  Cyrus — His  Attitude 
towards  the  Nestorians  and  the  Council  of  Ephesus — His  Writings — Greek 
Church  Historians — Their  Writings — Other  Greek  Writers. 

102.  No  schools  were  better  known  in  the  early  ages  of  the 
Church  than  those  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch,  which  had  been 
founded  for  the  instruction  of  the  Catechumens,  and  the  advancement 
of  Christian  learning  in  general.  These  famous  lyceums,  under  a  long 
line  of  illustrious  teachers,  pursued  each  its  own  traditions  and  sys- 
tem, the  one  in  a  certain  sense  opposing,  yet  supplementing,  the  other. 
The  principal  points  of  difference  between  the  two  schools  referred  to, 
were  :  1.  The  inspiration  and  rule  for  the  interpretation  of  the  Holy 
Scriptures.  While  the  Alexandrian  theologians  defended  the  verbal 
inspiration,  and  sought  principally  the  mystical  and  allegorical  inter- 
pretation of  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  the  Antiochians  assumed  a  more 
limited  inspiration,  restricting  it  to  matters  of  faith  and  morals,  and 
insisted  on  the  literal,  grammatical  and  historical  sense  of  the 
sacred  writings.  2.  The  use  of  philosophy  in  theology.  The 
Alexandrian   School   manifested   a  predilection   for   Plato,  whereas 


163  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

the  Antiochian  rejected  philosophy  altogether,  or,  at  the  best,  accepted 
only  the  dry  formalism  of  Aristotle.  3.  The  terms  made  use  of  in 
explaining  and  defining  the  dogmas  of  the  Incarnation  and  the  union 
of  the  two  natures  in  Christ.  The  Syrian  School  tended  to  draw  a 
sharp  distinction  between  the  two  natures,  while  the  Alexandrian 
defended  their  intimate  (hypostatical)  union  in  Christ. 

103.  These  schools  gave  to  the  Church  a  great  number  of  learned 
bishops,  priests  and  writers.  That  of  Alexandria  counted  among  its 
pupils  St.  Pamphylus  and  Eusebius  of  Csesarea,  St.  Athanasius,  Ma- 
carius  of  Egypt,  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria,  and  Didymus  the  Blind, 
but  also  the  heresiarch  Apollinaris.  Among  the  scholars  formed  in 
the  school  of  Antioch  were  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  Diodore  of  Tarsus, 
Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  St.  Meletius  and  St.  Flavian  of  Antioch,  St. 
Chrysostom,  Theodoret  of  Cyrus,  and  Isidor  of  Pelusium.  Of  this 
school  were  also  Arius  and  Nestorius  and  most  of  the  Arian  and 
Semi-Arian  leaders,  such  as  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  Asterius,  Maris, 
Theognis,  Leontius,  Eunomius,  Theodore  of  Heraclea  in  Thracia,  and 
Eusebius  of  Emesa.  To  the  Nestorian  and  Monophysite  heresies,  and 
partly  also  to  the  Origenist  controversies,  must  be  ascribed  the  decay 
and  final  extinction  of  the  two  once  renowned  seats  of  Christian 
enlightenment. 

104.  Eusebius  of  Csesarea  in  Palestine  was  born  betw^een  A.  D. 
260  and  2*70.  He  was  a  disciple  of  the  learned  priest  and  martyr  St. 
Pamphylus  of  Caesarea,  whose  name  he  afterwards  assumed  in  mem- 
ory of  their  friendship.  About  the  year  314,  he  was  made  bishop  of 
Caesarea.  He  attended  the  Council  of  Nice,  and,  not  without  some 
hesitation,  however,  subscribed  the  Kicene  Creed.  In  the  long  Arian 
struggle,  Eusebius  sided  with  the  opponents  of  the  orthodox  bishops  ; 
he  presided  at  the  Council  of  Antioch,  A.  D.  330,  which  deposed 
Eustathius,  patriarch  of  that  city,  and  took  part  in  the  Council  of 
Tyre,  A.  D.  335,  which  decreed  the  like  fate  to  St.  Athanasius.  This, 
as  well  as  his  equivocal  attitude  and  views  with  regard  to  the  leading 
question  of  the  day,  the  Divinity  of  Christ,  caused  him  to  be  justly 
suspected  of  heresy.  However,  his  piety  and  zeal  for  the  Church  is 
highly  praised.  Besides,  St.  Athanasius  is  generally  silent  about 
him,  mentioning  him  rarely,  and  then  without  any  special  reproach. 
Eusebius  died  about  the  year  340.  His  life  was  written  by  Acacius, 
his  pupil  and  successor  in  the  bishopric  of  Caesarea,  the  bitter  and 
uncompromising  adversary  of  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem. 

105.  Eusebius  is  called  "The  Father  of  Ecclesiastical  History" 
and  was  one  of  the  most  learned  prelates  of  his  age.  The  splendid 
library  founded  at  Caesarea  by  Pamphylus,  his  protector,  enabled  him 


OTHER   GREEK  WRITERS.  163 

to  collect  vast  treasures  of  erudition.  His  principal  historical  works 
are  :  1.  An  Ecclesiastical  History  from  Christ  down  to  the  year  324, 
in  ten  books,  in  which  are  preserved  many  valuable  extracts  from  the 
works  of  earlier  writers  since  lost;  2.  Chronicon,  a  conspectus  of 
universal  history  down  to  the  year  325,  which  was  translated  into 
Latin  by  St.  Jerome  ;  3.  The  Life  of  Constantine  in  four  books  ;  4.  • 
A  work  "  On  the  Martyrs  of  Palestine  "  and  another  entitled  "  Collec- 
tion of  Ancient  Martyrdoms  "  and  5.  "  The  Acts  of  St.  Pamphylus  and 
his  Companions."  Eusebius  also  completed  and  published  the  Apology 
of  Origen  begun  by  Pamphylus.  His  other  works,  chiefly  biblical  and 
apologetical,  are  :  "  An  Evangelical  Preparation "  in  fifteen  books, 
and  an  "  Evangelical  Demonstration  "  in  twenty  books  ;  a  Topography 
of  Judea  and  Jerusalem  ;  Commentaries  on  the  Psalms,  etc.;  "  Con- 
cord of  the  Four  Gospels " ;  two  books  "  Against  Marcellus "  (of 
Ancyra),  an  elaborate  work  in  twenty-five  books  "  Against  Porphyry," 
and  three  books  "On  Ecclesiastical  Theology." 

106.  One  of  the  last  heads  of  the  School  of  Alexandria  was  Didy- 
mus  the  Blind.  Born  in  309,  he  lost  his  sight  when  only  four  years 
old.  Nevertheless,  Didymus  afterwards  learned  the  alphabet  from 
tablets  with  raised  letters  and  became  so  deeply  versed  in  sciences, 
divine  and  human,  that  he  was  appointed  to  take  charge  of  the  Cate- 
chetical School  of  Alexandria.  His  learning  and  eloquence,  which 
were  looked  upon  as  oracular,  attracted  a  large  number  of  pupils. 
Our  fullest  information  about  him  is  derived  from  St.  Jerome  who 
calls  the  blind  scholar  his  teacher.  "In  many  points,"  Jerome 
writes,  "  I  give  him  thanks  ;  I  learned  from  him  things  which  I  had 
not  known  ;  what  I  did  know,  his  teaching  has  helped  me  to  retain." 
Didymus  was  a  writer  of  eminence  ;  but  of  his  numerous  writings,  only 
a  few  remain,  of  which  his  "  Three  Books  on  the  Trinity,"  a  work  "  On 
the  Holy  Spirit,"  which  St.  Jerome  translated  into  Latin,  and  a  trea- 
tise "  Against  the  Manicheans  "  are  the  principal.  Didymus  died,  A. 
D.  394,  and  was  succeeded  as  head  of  the  Alexandrian  School  by 
Rhodon,  after  whom  that  once  renowned  institution  became  extinct. 

107.  The  most  distinguished  representatives  of  the  School  of  Anti- 
och  were  Diodorus  of  Tarsus,  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  and  Theodoret 
of  Cyrus.  Diodorus  was  born  in  the  beginning  of  the  fourth  century 
at  Antioch,  and  received  his  education  at  Athens,  his  native  city, 
under  the  learned  Eusebius,  bishop  of  Emesa-  He  was  appointed 
bishop  of  Tarsus  in  Cilicia  and  took  part  in  the  General  Council 
of-  Constantinople,  A.  D.  387.  Among  his  disciples  at  Antioch 
were  St.  Chrysostom,  and  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia.  Diodorus 
died,  A.  D.   390.     Of  his  many  writings,  apologetical,  controversial, 


164  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

doctrinal,  and  exegetical,  which  he  composed  against  Pagans,  Jews, 
and  the  prevailing  heresies  of  the  age,  only  fragments  have  reached  us. 

108.  Theodore,  bishop  of  Mopsuestia  in  Cilicia  was  born  at  An- 
tioch,  about  the  year  350.  St.  Chrysostom,  his  school-fellow  under 
Diodorus  and  Libanius,  induced  him  to  embrace  the  monastic  and 
clerical  state.  As  interpreter  of  the  Holy  Scriptures,  he  gained  great 
renown.  Nestorius  the  heresiarch  was  among  his  pupils.  In  his 
writings  "  On  the  Incarnation  "  against  the  Apollinarian  heresy,  Theo- 
dore laid  the  seeds  of  Nestorianism.  He  is  likewise  accused  of  having 
favored  Pelagianism  ;  at  least,  he  was  the  protector  of  Julian  the 
Pelagian  when  he  took  refuge  in  the  East,  and  he  wrote  against  the  doc- 
trine of  original  sin.  Of  his  numerous  writings  which  were  con- 
demned by  the  Fifth  General  Council,  A.  D.  553,  only  fragments  have 
been  preserved.  He  died,  it  is  said,  in  communion  with  the  Church, 
A.  D.  428.  His  brother  Polychronius,  bishop  of  Apamea  in  Syria, 
who  did  not  share  his  errors,  was  an  eminent  exegetist  and  wrote 
valued  commentaries  on  Holy  Scripture.     He  died  A.  D.  431. 

109.  Theodoret,  bishop  of  Cyrus  in  Syria,  was  born  at  Antioch, 
A.  D.  390,  and  was,  with  Kestorius,  a  pupil  of  Theodore  of  Mopsu- 
estia. He  was  one  of  the  most  learned  men  of  his  age.  His  friend- 
ship for  Nestorius  embroiled  him  with  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria.  When 
the  Ecumenical  Council  of  Ephesus  met  in  431,  Theodoret  refused, 
with  John  of  Antioch,  to  enter  it  and  took  part  in  the  schismatical 
conventicle  which  pretended  to  excommunicate  the  Fathers  of  the 
lawful  Council.  After  a  prolonged  controversy  with  St.  Cyril,  he 
finally  submitted  and,  at  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  in  451,  subscribed 
the  condemnation  of  Nestorius.  He  died,  A.  D.  458.  Theodoret  is 
esteemed  as  a  profound  exegetist  and  eminent  historian.  He  wrote, 
besides  various  exegetical  works,  an  "Ecclesiastical  History"  from 
A.D.  320  to  328,  an  "Epitome  of  Heretical  Fables,"  and  a  "Religious 
History"  containing  the  lives  of  thiry-three  hermits.  In  addition  to  these 
there  are  extant  one  hundred  and  seventy-nine  letters.  His  writings 
against  St.  Cyril  and  the  Council  of  Ephesus,  together  with  those 
of  his  master  Theodore,  were  condemned  at  Constantinople,  A.  D.  559. 

110.  Besides  Eusebius  and  Theodoret,  the  principal  Greek  Church- 
historians  of  the  period  were:  1.  Socrates,  a  Scholasticus,  or  lawyer 
of  Constantinople,  under  Theodosius  II.,  who  wrote  a  continuation  of 
Eusebius  in  seven  books,  reaching  from  A.  D.  305  to  430;  2.  Sozome- 
nus,  another  lawyer  and  continuator  of  Eusebius,  was  a  native  of  Pales- 
tine, whence  he  moved  to  Constantinople.  He  died,  A.  D.  450.  His 
"Ecclesiastical  History"  in  nine  books,  which  he  dedicated  to  Theodo- 
sius II.,  begins  with  A.  D.  304  and  ends  with  423;  3.  Philostorgius  of 


OTHER    GREEK  WRITERS.  165 

Cappadocia,  an  Eunomian,  who  wrote  a  church-history  in  twelve 
books,  in  which  he  attempts  to  show  that  the  teachings  of  Arianism 
were  the  primitive  doctrines  of  the  Church  ;  of  this  work  only  an 
abstract  by  Photius  is  extant;  4.  Theodore  the  Lector,  of  Constanti- 
nople who  wrote,  in  the  sixth  century,  an  abridgement  of  Socrates, 
Sozomenus  and  Theodoret,  and  also  a  continuation  of  Socrates  doT\Ti 
to  the  death  of  Justin  I.,  A.  D.  627;  5.  Evagrius,  scholasticus  of  An- 
tioch,  born  A.  D.  536,  whose  " Ecclesiaetical  History"  in  six  books 
contains  the  history  of  the  Church  from  431  to  294;  6.  The  anony- 
mous author  of  the  "  Chronicon  Paschale  "  in  two  parts,  containing  a 
chronology  from  the  Creation  down  to  A.  D.  354,  and  from  thence  to 
A.  D.  630;  7.  Gelasius,  bishop  of  Cyzicus,  who,  in  the  fifth  century, 
compiled  a  history  of  the  first  General  Council  of  Nice  in  three  books. 
111.  To  complete  the  list  of  the  Greek  writers,  we  add  the  names 
of  :  1.  Macarius  of  Egypt,  a  contemporary  of  St.  Athanasius.  We  have 
of  his  writings  fifty  homilies,  or  exhortations  to  monks.  His  name- 
sake, Macarius  of  Alexandria,  or  Macarius  the  Younger,  has  left  a  few 
minor  ascetical  works.  2.  Palladius,  bishop  of  Hellenopolis,  was 
a  disciple  of  the  latter.  He  wrote  a  history  of  the  monks  and 
anchorets  of  both  sexes  living  at  his  time.  3.  Synesius,  bishop  of 
Ptolemais  in  Egypt,  who  died  A.  D.  414.  Of  his  many  writings, 
there  remain  one  hundred  and  fifty-five  letters,  besides  several  hom- 
ilies and  minor  treatises.  4.  Asterius,  bishop  of  Amasea  in  Pontus. 
He  was  a  contemporary  of  St.  Chrysostom,  and  has  left  us  twenty-one 
homilies.  5.  Xemesius,  bishop  of  Emesa  in  Phcenicia,  of  whom  we 
have  a  valuable  philosophical  treatise  "  On  Human  Nature."  6.  Pro- 
clus,  a  disciple  of  St.  Chrysostom,  and  afterward  patriarch  of 
Constantinople,  who  died,  A.  D.  447.  There  are  extant  of  his  writings 
several  synodical  letters  and  twenty-five  homilies.  7.  Isidore,  for- 
merly a  philosopher  and  rhetorician,  afterward  abbot  of  Pelusium  in 
Egypt,  flourished  under  Theodosius  II.,  and  was  much  esteemed  for 
his  learning.  He  is  said  to  have  left  ten  thousand  letters,  two 
thousand  of  which  still  remain.  8.  St.  Nilus,  abbot  of  a  monastery 
on  Mount  Sinai,  lived  to  the  year  430  ;  he  is  the  author  of  a  number 
of  ascetic  works. 


166  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

SECTION  LV. DOCTORS  OF  THE  LATIN  CHURCH. 

Four  great  Latin  Doctors — St.  Ambrose— His  Apostolic  Zeal— His  Writings — 
Ambrosian  Chant  and  Liturgy— St.  Jerome— Account  of  His  Life— His 
Writings— Latin  Vulgate— St.  Augustine— His  Early  Life— His  City  of 
God— His  Other  Works— Pope  St.  Gregory  the  Great— His  Writings — 
Palatine  Library. 

112.  SS.  Ambrose,  Jerome,  Augustine,  and  Gregory  the  Great  are 
called  the  great  doctors  of  the  Latin  Church.  St.  Ambrose,  born  about 
the  year  340,  was  Roman  governor  when,  upon  the  death  of  the 
Arian  Auxentius,  he  was,  though  then  only  a  Catechumen,  miraculously 
chosen  bishop  of  Milan,  A.  D.  374.  Rising  at  once  to  the  full  height 
of  his  sacred  office,  Ambrose  distributed  all  his  goods  among  the  poor, 
and  with  unwearied  zeal  devoted  himself  to  the  performance  of  his 
pastoral  duties.  With  great  mildness  and  moderation  he  united  a 
wonderful  firmness  and  inflexibility  wherever  the  divine  law  was  con- 
cerned. He  resisted  the  attempts  of  the  Arian  Empress  Justina  to 
obtain  from  him  one  of  the  churches  of  Milan  for  the  use  of  the 
Arians ;  and  with  fearless  zeal,  he  compelled  the  Emperor  Theodosius 
to  a  humiliating  penance  for  the  indiscriminate  massacre  of  about 
seven  thousand  persons,  which,  in  a  moment  of  irritation,  he  had 
ordered  at  Thessalonica,  A.  D.  390.  Such  was  his  zeal  and  success  in 
rooting  out  heresy  and  propagating  the  orthodox  faith,  that  it  caused 
St.  Jerome  to  write  that,  when  Ambrose  became  bishop  of  Milan,  all 
Italy  was  converted  to  the  true  faith.  To  him,  also,  in  part,  is  to  be 
ascribed  the  conversion  of  the  great  St.  Augustine. 

113.  The  writings  of  Ambrose  are  numerous  and  various,  com- 
prising dogmatical,  exegetical,  and  ascetic  treatises,  besides  a  num- 
ber of  letters  and  hymns.  They  contain  practical  instruction  for  all 
classes,  though  maintaining  throughout  an  ascetictone ;  they  consist 
mainly  of  addresses  and  expositions  which  had  been  first  delivered 
in  the  church  and  afterwards  were  revised  for  publication.  His 
principal  dogmatical  writings  are  his  treatises  "  On  Faith,"  "  On  the 
Mysteries,"  "  On  the  Sacraments  "  and  "  On  Penance."  His  biblical 
commentaries  were  originally  sermons  which  he  preached  to  his 
people,  as,  for  example,  those  "  On  a  happy  Death,"  "  On  Paradise," 
"  On  Flight  from  the  World."  The  most  important  of  his  works  are 
his  ascetic  treatises,  particularly  those  "  For  Virgins,"  "  On  Virgin- 
ity," "  On  the  Instruction  of  a  Virgin,"  etc.  Such  was  the  effect  of 
his  preaching  that  mothers  would  prohibit  their  daughters  to  attend 
his  sermons,  for  fear  they  might  embrace  the  virginal,  or  monastic 
state.     Of  his  letters,  only  ninety-one  have  been  preserved,  and  of 


I 


DOCTORS  OF   THE  LATIN  CHURCH.  167 

his  many  beautiful  hymns,  several  have  been  adopted  by  the  Church 
in  her  divine  office.  We  have  a  narrative  also,  from  St.  Ambrose's 
own  pen,  of  the  wonderful  discovery  of  the  remains  of  the  holy  mar- 
tyrs Servasius  and  Protasius  in  the  year  386.  Whether  or  not  he  was 
the  joint  author  of  the  "  Te  Deum,"  has  not  been  determined.  The 
commentary  on  the  Epistles  of  St.  Paul,  known  under  the  name  of 
"  Ambrosiaster,"  or  Pseudo-Ambrosius,  was  formerly  attributed  to 
him,  but  has  been  proved  to  be  the  work  of  another  author,  perhaps 
of  St.  Hilary,  to  whom  it  is  ascribed  by  St.  Augustine.  To  St.  Am- 
brose is  traced  the  Chant  and  Liturgy  bearing  his  name.  The  Ambro- 
sian  Liturgy  is  still  in  use  at  Milan.  The  life  of  this  illustrious* 
Doctor  was  written  in  411  by  Paulinus,  his  secretary,  at  the  suggestion 
of  St.  Augustine. 

114.  St.  Jerome,  who  is  regarded  as  the  most  learned  of  the 
Latin  Fathers,  was  born  at  Stridon  in  Dalmatia,  A.  D.  340.  His. 
youth  was  passed  in  Rome,  whither  he  was  sent  to  complete  his 
studies  under  ^Elius  Donatus,  a  celebrated  grammarian.  His  thirst 
for  knowledge  caused  him  to  visit  foreign  cities,  among  others 
also  Treves,  where  he  transcribed  for  his  friend  Rufinus  a  commen- 
tary on  the  Psalms,  and  a  treatise  on  Synods  by  St.  Hilary.  In 
company  with  several  friends,  Jerome  in  372  set  out  for  the  East, 
travelling  through  Asia  Minor  to  Antioch.  Here,  he  attended  the 
biblical  lectures  of  Apollinaris,  the  future  heresiarch.  He  afterwards 
withdrew  into  the  Syrian  desert  of  Chalcis,  where,  for  four  years,  he 
led  a  solitary  life,  learning  at  the  same  time  of  a  converted  Jew  the 
rudiments  of  the  Hebrew  language.  Whilst  living  in  the  desert,  he 
wrote  the  life  of  St.  Paul,  the  first  hermit,  and  his  dialogue  against 
the  Luciferian  schismatics.  The  Meletian  schism  caused  him  to 
return  to  Antioch,  where  he  was  ordained  priest,  A.  D.  379.  In  381, 
Jerome  went  to  Constantinople,  to  study  the  Holy  Scriptures  under  St. 
Gregory  Nazianzen,  and  thence  returned  to  Rome.  He  was  the  intimate 
friend  of  Pope  Damasus  who  appointed  him  his  secretary.  At  the 
Pope's  request,  Jerome  began  his  revision  of  the  Old  Latin,  or  Italic, 
Version  of  the  Bible.  After  the  death  of  Damasus,  he  set  out 
again  for  Palestine,  where  he  founded  and  superintended  several 
monasteries  until  his  death,  which  occurred  at  Bethlehem,  A.  D.  420. 
He  was  buried  amid  the  ruins  of  one  of  his  monasteries  which  had 
been  destroyed  by  the  partisans  of  Pelagius. 

115*  St.  Jerome,  who  is  called  by  the  Church  "  the  greatest  Doctor 
raised  up  by  the  divine  hand  to  interpret  the  Sacred  Scriptures," 
was  the  author  of  the  Latin  translation  of  the  Bible,  known  as  the 
Vulgate.     Of  all  his  writings  this  is  the  most  useful  and  the  most 


1(38  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

widely  known.  His  complete  works  comprise,  besides  those  already 
named  :  1.  Topographical  and  grammatical  dissertations  on  Hebrew 
History  and  Geography ;  2.  Commentaries  on  the  Scriptures ;  3. 
Polemical  and  doctrinal  treatises  ;  the  most  important  of  them  are 
his  "  Apology  against  Rufinus,"  and  his  writings  against  Helvidius  and 
Jovinian,  in  defence  of  the  perpetual  virginity  of  Mary,  the  Mother 
of  Christ,  and  against  Vigilantius  who  denied  the  merit  of  holy  vir- 
ginity ;  4.  Historical  works,  the  most  valuable  of  which  is  his  "  Cata- 
logue of  Illustrious  Men,"  also  called  Catalogue  of  Church  Writers, 
which  contains  a  list  of  ecclesiastical  writers  with  their  works  from 
the  time  of  the  Apostles  down  to  his  own  ;  5.  One  hundred  and  fifty 
letters,  many  of  which  are  rather  treatises  on  various  questions, 
particularly  biblical  and  ascetic.  Many  other  works  written  by  this 
Father  have  been  lost. 

116.  The  most  illustrious  among  the  Doctors  of  the  Church,  St. 
Augustine,  was  born  in  354,  at  Tagasta  in  Africa.  He  received  his 
literary  education  at  the  schools  of  Madaura  and  Carthage,  and  was 
brought  up  by  his  mother  St.  Monica  in  the  Christian  faith  ;  but,  as 
his  own  Confessions  tell  us,  his  conduct  was  far  from  exemplary  ;  he 
early  lost  his  faith  and  innocence.  At  the  age  of  twenty,  he  embraced 
the  Manichean  heresy,  and  for  a  space  of  nine  years  was  more  or  less 
under  its  influence.  From  Manicheism  he  went  over  to  Neo-Platon- 
ism  without,  however,  finding  a  resting-place  in  that  system.  The  read- 
ing of  "  Hortensius  "  by  Cicero  roused  him  to  a  diligent  search  after 
truth.  Setting  out*for  Rome  and  thence  to  Milan,  he  was,  by  God's 
grace,  rescued  from  the  errors  of  his  youth,  and,  together  with  his  son 
Adeodatus  and  his  friend  Alypius,  baptized  by  St.  Ambrose,  A.  D. 
387.  He  was  then  thirty-three  years  of  age.  From  this  time  forth, 
Augustine  devoted  himself  with  his  whole  mind  and  soul  to  the 
service  of  truth  and  the  Church.  His  mother  having  died  at  Ostia, 
Augustine  returned  to  Carthage  and  lived  for  three  years  with  several 
friends  in  monastic  retirement.  He  was  ordained  priest  by  Valerius, 
bishop  of  Hippo,  who  also,  about  the  year  395,  appointed  him  coadju- 
tor and  successor  in  his  see.  For  thirty-five  years,  Augustine  was  the 
centre  of  ecclesiastical  life  in  Africa,  and  the  Church's  mightiest 
champion  against  heresy;  he  bore  the  great  burden  of  the  contro- 
versy against  the  Donatists,  Manicheans,  and  Pelagians.  His  death 
occurred  in  430,  while  Hippo  was  besieged  by  the  Vandals.  These 
barbarians  entered  and  burned  the  city,  but  the  library  of  Augustine 
was  providentially  saved. 

IIV.  Of  his  multitudinous  works,  St.  Augustine  gives  a  critical 
review  in  his  "Retractations"  which  he  wrote  toward  the  end  of  his 


DOCTORS  OF   THE  LATIN  CHURCH.  169 

life,  to  correct  whatever  seemed  doubtful  or  extravagant  in  his  writ- 
ings and  to  harmonize  discordant  opinions.  The  most  famous  of  his 
works  are  the  "  Confessions,"  and  the  twenty  books  of  the  "  City  of 
God."  In  the  former,  he  gives  a  history  of  his  own  life  up  to  the 
year  400,  when  the  work  appeared.  This  extraordinary  work  is 
classed  as  one  of  the  choicest  ascetic  books.  The  "City  of  God," 
which  was  begun  in  413  and  finished  in  427 — thus  engaging  the  ma- 
turest  years  of  the  author's  life — is  Augustine's  masterpiece  and  one  of 
the  noblest  apologetical  works  which  the  ancient  Church  can  boast  of. 
It  is  a  learned  defence  of  the  Christian  Religion  against  the  absurd 
calumnies  of  the  Pagans,  who  accused  the  Christians  of  having  brought 
about  all  the  calamities  then  befalling  the  empire  by  renouncing  the 
time-honored  deities  of  ancient  Rome. 

118.  Augustine  was  a  philosopher  and  dogmatical  theologian,  as 
well  as  a  mystic,  and  a  powerful  controversialist.  His  works,  conse- 
quently, are  of  many  kinds  and  may  be  grouped  as  follows  :  1.  Phi- 
losophical. Of  this  class  are  his  three  books  "Against  the  Academ- 
ics," who  asserted  the  impossibility  of  man  ever  knowing  the  truth  ; 
the  treatises  "  On  a  Happy  Life,"  "  On  the  Immortality  of  the  Soul," 
and  his  "  Soliloquies."  These  are  composed  mostly  in  the  form  of 
dialogues.  2.  Dogmatical.  Of  these  we  have  treatises  "  On  the 
Faith  and  the  Symbol  "  and  "  On  the  Christian  Combat."  After  the 
"  City  of  God,"  Augustine's  greatest  dogmatical  work,  should  be 
ranked  his  fifteen  books  "  On  the  Trinity,"  which  he  wrote  between 
the  years  400  and  416;  if  is  a  masterly  exposition  and  defence  of  that 
august  mystery  against  the  Arians.  3.  Polemical,  which  he  wrote  in 
defence  of  the  Catholic  doctrine  against  the  prevailing  heresies  of  the 
age.  Against  the  Manicheans  are  directed  his  treatises  "On  the 
Manners  of  the  Catholic  Church  and  on  the  Manners  of  the  Mani- 
cheans," "Of  the  two  Souls,"  "On  the  Advantage  of  Believing," 
etc.  Against  the  Donatists  he  wrote  "  On  Free  Will,"  "  On  Baptism," 
and  "  On  the  Unity  of  the  Church."  He  also  left  a  "  Breviculum,"  or 
Abridgment  of  the  Conference  with  the  Donatists  at  Carthage  in  411. 
His  principal  writings  against  the  Pelagians,  which  procured  him  the 
title  of  "  Doctor  of  Grace,"  are  "  On  the  Demerit  of  Sin,"  "  On  the 
Baptism  of  Children,"  "  On  Nature  and  Grace,"  "  On  the  Grace  of 
Jesus  Christ,"  and  "  On  Original  Sin."  Against  the  Semi-Pelagians, 
we  have  his  treatises  "  On  Grace  and  Free  Will,"  "  On  the  Predesti- 
nation of  the  Saints  "  and  "  On  the  Gift  of  Perseverance."  4.  Exe- 
getical.  Of  these  there  are  extant  "  An  Exposition  of  the  Sermon  of 
Our  Lord  on  the  Mount,"  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  "  Tracts  on 
the  Gospel  of  St.  John,"  Expositions  of  St.  Paul's  Epistles  to  the 


170  HISTORY   OF   THE   CHURCH 

Romans  and  the  Galatians,  one  hundred  and  fifty  "  Enarrations,"  or 
Discourses  on  the  Psalms,  besides  a  number  of  homilies  and  commen- 
taries on  nearly  all  the  books  of  the  Bible.  5.  Ascetic.  To  these 
belong,  besides  his  "  Confessions "  and  "  Soliloquies,"  the  treatises 
"  On  the  Sanctity  of  Marriage  "  against  Jovinian,  "  On  Holy  Virgin- 
ity "  and  "  On  the  Work  of  Monks."  6.  Besides  a  large  collection  of 
sermons,  three  hundred  and  sixty-four  in  number,  there  remain  two 
hundred  and  seventy  letters  of  Augustine,  containing  doctrinal,  moral, 
and  ascetic  instructions.  Many  other  works  written  by  our  Saint 
are  lost,  and  several  others,  attributed  to  him,  are  doubtful,  or  spurious. 

11 9;  St.  Gregory,  called  the  Great,  was  a  no  less  distinguished 
writer  than  Pope.  The  number  of  his  writings  is  truly  mar- 
velous. If  we  except  Benedict  XIV.,  no  other  Pope  has  left  so  many 
learned  works,  written  chiefly  for  the  use  and  instruction  of  the  clergy, 
as  this  truly  great  Pontiff.  As  a  writer  he  was  intellectually  eminent, 
and  deserves  the  place  assigned  to  him  among  the  Doctors  of  the 
Church.  His  principal  work  is  the  exposition  of  the  book  of  Job,  or 
"  Morals  "  in  thirty-five  books,  which  he  composed  at  the  request  of 
St.  Leander,  bishop  of  Hispalis.  It  is  not  so  much  an  exposition  of 
the  scriptural  text  as  of  the  principles  of  morality,  whereof  this 
admirable  work  has  been  regarded  ever  since  as  the  great  repertory 
and  armory.  His  incomparable  work,  "  Liber  Regulae  Pastoralis,"  or, , 
"  On  Pastoral  Care,"  is  an  excellent  instruction  for  pastors,  setting 
forth  the  requisite  qualifications,  duties,  obligations  and  dangers  of  the 
pastoral  charge,  which  he  calls  the  "  Art  of  arts."  By  order  of  the 
Emperor  Mauritius,  it  was  translated  into  Greek  by  Anastasius,  patri- 
arch of  Antioch  ;  King  Alfred  translated  it  into  Saxon. 

120.  The  other  works  of  Gregory  consist  of  forty  homilies  on  the 
Gospels,  and  twenty-two  on  Ezekiel ;  four  books  "  On  the  Life  and 
Miracles  of  Italian  Fathers,"  and  "  On  the  Eternity  of  Souls,"  besides 
eight  hundred  and  eighty  letters,  which  are  arranged  in  fourteen 
books.  To  Gregory  are  also  ascribed  several  liturgical  works,  which 
he  wrote  to  reform  the  Sacramentary,  or  Missal,  and  Ritual  of 
the  Roman  Church.  To  these  belong :  (a.)  The  Sacramentary 
of  St.  Gregory ;  [b.)  The  Antiphonarium ;  and  (c.)  The  An- 
tiphonarius  and  Liber  Gradualis.  Other  works  attributed  to  him 
are  doubtful.  Gregory  the  Great  is  regarded  as  the  author  of  what 
is  called  the  Cantus  firmus,  or  Gregorian  Chant.  He  established  at 
Rome  a  school  of  chanters,  which  existed  for  three  centuries  after  his 
death.  The  statement  of  subsequent  writers,  such  as  John  of  Salis- 
bury, that  Gregory  ordered  the  Palatine  library  and  the  History  of 


FATHERS  OF   THE  LATIN  CHURCH  171 

Livy  to  be  burned,  is  an  invidious  fabrication.  His  life  was  written 
by  Paul  the  Deacon,  in  the  eighth  century,  and  by  John  the  Deacon, 
in  the  ninth  century. 

SECTION  LVI. OTHER  DOCTORS   AND    FATHERS    OF    THE    LATIN    CHURCH. 

St.  Hilary  of  Poictiers — His  Principal  Works — St.  Peter  Chrysologus — His 
Extant  Writings — Pope  St.  Leo  the  Great — His  Sermons  and  Epistles — 
St.  Optatus  of  Milevis — St.  Zeno  of  Verona— His  Extant  Treatises — St. 
Maximus — His  Writings— St.  Paulinus  of  Nola — His  Extant  Writings — 
St.  Gregory  of  Tours— His  Works— St.  Isidore  of  Seville— His  Principal 
Works. 

121.  To  the  preceding  illustrious  names  may  be  added  those  of 
SS.  Hilary  of  Poictiers,  Peter  Chrysologus  of  Ravenna,  and  Pope  Leo 
the  Great,  whom  the  Church  reckons  among  her  Doctors  and  honors 
as  such  in  her  liturgy.  St.  Hilary,  called  the  "Athanasius  of  the 
West,"  on  account  of  the  unshaken  courage  which  he  displayed  in  the 
struggle  with  Arianism,  was  born  about  the  year  320,  at  Poictiers 
in  Aquitaine,  of  wealthy  pagan  parents.  He  was  far  advanced  in 
years  when,  with  his  wife  and  daughter,  he  embraced  the  Catholic 
faith.  In  355,  he  was  chosen  bishop  of  his  native  city,  but,  together 
with  St.  Rhodanus,  bishop  of  Toulouse,  banished  the  next  year  by 
Emperor  Constantius,  for  his  fearless  defence  of  St.  Athanasius 
against  his  own  metropolitan,  the  Arian  Saturninus  of  Aries.  He 
attended  the  Council  of  Seleucia  and  returned  to  his  see,  A.  D.  359. 
His  death  occurred  in  the  year  366. 

122.  Hilary's  principal  work  is  his  treatise  "  On  the  Trinity"  in 
twelve  books, which  he  completed  during  his  banishment  in  Phrygia. 
It  became  the  standard  of  orthodoxy  in  the  western  churches.  At 
that  time,  also,  he  wrote  his  work  "  On  the  Synods,"  or,  "  On  the 
Faith  of  the  Orientals,"  to  instruct  the  western  bishops  on  the  various 
creeds  adopted  by  the  principal  Arian  and  Semi- Arian  Synods,  held 
between  the  years  341  and  358.  Of  his  other  writings,  we  have  the 
valuable  Comments  on  the  Psalms  and  the  Gospel  of  St.  Matthew, 
besides  two  books  "Against  Constantius,"  and  another  "Against 
Auxentius,"  the  intruding  Arian  bishop  of  Milan.  Hilary,  whom 
Jerome  calls  "the  Rhone  of  Latin  eloquence,"  was  declared,  in 
1852,  Doctor  of  the  Universal  Church  by  Pope  Pius  IX. 

123.  St.  Peter  Chrysologus  was  born  at  Imola  in  the  year  415. 
In  433,  he  was,  by  divine  intervention,  made  bishop  of  Ravenna  and 
consecrated  by  Pope  Sixtus  III.  His  life  was  thenceforth  that  of  a 
zealous  pastor.     To  eminent  piety   and   great  austerity  of  life,   he 


172  HISTORY  OF   THE   CHURCH. 

joined  great  zeal  and  learning.  He  is  chiefly  famous  for  the  brilliancy 
of  his  oratory,  which  won  for  him  the  title  of  "  Chrysologus  (golden 
speech),  or  the  "  Chrysostom  of  the  West."  Of  his  sermons,  there 
still  remain  one  hundred  and  seventy-six,  which  were  collected  in  the 
eighth  century  by  Archbishop  Felix  of  Ravenna.  They  are  remarka- 
ble for  their  elegance  and  extreme  brevity.  "VYe  have  also  the  letter 
which  our  Saint  wrote  in  reply  to  the  appeal  of  Eutyches  against  his 
condemnation.  "We  exhort  you,"  he  wrote  to  the  heresiarch,  "to 
submit  obediently  to  the  decision  of  the  Pope,  since  the  blessed  Peter 
lives  and  presides  in  his  own  Cathedra  and  gives  the  true  faith  to  all 
who  seek  it."     He  died  in  the  year  450. 

124.  Pope  St.  Leo  I.,  called  the  Great,  has  earned  the  undying 
gratitude  of  the  Church  also  as  a  writer.  His  writings  are  remark- 
able for  elegance  and  nobleness  of  style,  precision  of  thought,  as  well 
as  for  depth  and  strength  of  reasoning.  Besides  his  ninety-six  ser- 
mons on  the  festivals  of  Our  Lord  and  the  Saints  and  other  subjects, 
there  remain  one  hundred  and  seventy-three  letters  which  the  great 
Pontiff  addressed  to  bishops.  Councils  and  princely  persons.  The 
most  famous  of  these  is  his  Dogmatical  Epistle  to  Flavian,  patriarch 
of  Constantinople.  Benedict  XIV.,  in  1754,  decreed  upon  him  the 
title  and  cultus  of  Doctor  of  the  universal  Church. 

125.  Other  Latin  writers  of  this  period,  who,  on  account  of  the 
sanctity  of  their  lives  and  the  orthodoxy  of  their  teachings,  are  reck- 
oned among  the.  Fathers  of  the  Church,  were  Optatus  of  Milevis, 
Zeno  of  Verona,  Paulinus  of  Nola,  Maximus  of  Turin,  Gregory  of 
Tours,  and  Isidore  of  Seville.  St.  Optatus^  bishop  of  Milevis  in 
Numidia,  flourished  under  Pope  Damasus.  St.  Augustine  ranks  him 
among  the  most  renowned  writers  of  the  Church.  His  treatise  "  On 
the  Donatist  Schism "  against  Parmenianus  (the  Donatist  bishop  of 
Carthage),  in  seven,  originally  in  six,  books,  is  a  short  but  valuable 
and  highly  interesting  disquisition  giving,  besides  much  historical 
information,  a  brief,  clear  and  precise  explanation  of  the  doctrines 
and  customs  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  that  age.  It  contains  a  list  of 
the  Roman  Pontiffs  from  St.  Peter  down  to  Pope  Siricius  whose 
accession  Optatus  lived  to  see. 

126.  St.  Zeno  was  a  contemporary  of  St.  Optatus,  and  became  the 
eighth  bishop  of  Verona,  in  362.  He  is  honored  as  a  confessor  of  the 
faith,  and,  by  St.  Gregory  the  Great,  is  styled  a  martyr,  on  account  of 
the  persecutions  he  drew  upon  himself  by  the  zeal  which  he  displayed 
in  opposing  Arianism  and  in  the  conversion  of  heathens^  He  died  in 
380.  There  are  extant  ninety-three  of  his  "  Treatises,"  a  title  given 
in  that  age  to  familiar  discourses  made  to  the  people.     He  is  the  first 


FATHERS  OF  THE  LATIN  CHURCH.  173 

among   the   Latin   Fathers  whose  sermons  were  collected  and  pub- 
lished. 

127.  St.  Maximus,  bishop  of  Turin,  was  celebratad  in  the  fifth 
century  as  a  Christian  orator  and  for  his  zeal  in  preaching,  for  which 
function  he  qualified  himself  by  the  study  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and 
the  writings  of  St.  Ambrose.  Maximus  acted  a  prominent  part  in  the 
Council  of  Milan  in  451,  which  subscribed  to  the  Dogmatical  Epistle 
of  Leo  the  Great  to  Flavian,  and  at  the  Council  of  Rome  in  465,  in 
which  he  subscribed  first  after  Pope  Hilary,  on  account  of  his  seniori- 
ty. The  precise  year  of  his  death  is  not  known.  The  works  of 
Maximus  consist  of  one  hundred  and  seventeen  homilies  on  the 
principal  festivals  of  the  year,  and  one  hundred  and  sixteen  sermons, 
three  treatises  on  Baptism,  two  treatises  entitled  respectively  "  Contra 
Paganos  "  and  *'  Contra  Judaeos,"  besides  a  collection  of  expositions 
"  De  Capitulis  Evangeliorum." 

128.  St.  Paulinus  was  born  of  a  wealthy  and  ancieut  senatorial 
family,  about  the  year  353.  His  acquaintance  with  SS.  Ambrose, 
Augustine,  and  Jerome  induced  him  to  give  up  all  his  dignities  and 
retire  from  the  world.  In  409,  he  became  bishop  of  Nola  in 
Campania.  He  died  in  431.  Many  of  the  works  of  this  distinguished 
Father  are  lost ;  there  only  remain,  besides  thirty  poems,  fifty  letters 
written  to  friends,  such  as  Sulpicius  Severus,  St.  Augustine,  St. 
Jerome,  and  other  distinguished  contemporaries. 

129.  St.  Gregory  was  born  of  a  noble  family  in  Auvergne,  A.  D. 
539.  Members  of  his  father's  and  mother's  families  had  held  high 
offices  in  both  Church  and  State.  His  education  was  directed  by  his 
uncle,  St.  Gall,  bishop  of  Clermont,  and  by  Avitus,  at  first  arch-deacon, 
afterwards  bishop  of  Auvergne.  In  573,  he  was  chosen  bishop  of  Tours, 
and  as  such,  he  displayed  great  zeal  and  courage  in  vindicating  the  rights 
of  the  Church  and  the  oppressed  against  the  Merovingian  kings.  He 
died  about  the  year  595.  Gregory  has  left  several  valuable  historical 
works.  His  principal  work,  the  "Ecclesiastical  History  of  the 
Franks,"  procured  him  the  name  of  "Father  of  French  History." 
His  other  works  are  four  books  "  On  the  Miracles  of  St.  Martin,"  two 
books  "  On  the  Glory  of  Martyrs,"  and  one  book  "  On  the  Glory  of 
Confessors." 

130.  St.  Isidore  of  Seville  was  born  in  Carthagena  in  Spain,  of 
which  city  his  father  Severianus  was  prefect.  He  was  a  brother  of 
the  bishops  Fulgentius  of  Carthagena  and  St.  Leander  of  Seville,  suc- 
ceeding the  latter  as  bishop,  A.  D.  600.  He  presided  at  the  Synods  of 
Seville  and  Toledo,  A.  D.  619  and  633.  He  died  in  637,  and  was 
declared  a  Doctor  of  the  Church,  A.  D.  1828.     Isidore  was  undoubt- 


174  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

edly  the  greatest  man  and  scholar  of  his  time  in  the  Church  of  Spain. 
His  writings  are  many  and  multifarious.  His  most  important  work, 
entitled  "  Originum  sive  Ethymologiarum  Libri  XX,"  is  an  encyclo- 
poedia  of  the  arts  and  sciences  then  known.  His  other  works  deserving 
mention  are  a  Chronicon,  or  history  of  the" world,  from  the  Creation  to 
the  year  526  ;  a  Chronicon,  or  history  of  the  Visigoths,  from  A.  D.  172 
to  A.  D.  628  ;  and  a  Book  of  Ecclesiastical  Writers,  a  continuation  of 
a  similar  work  composed  by  St.  Jerome  and  Gennadius,  to  which 
he  added  the  names  of  thirty-three  other  authors.  The  collection  of 
Canons,  formerly  ascribed  to  him,  is  not  his  work.  With  St.  Isidore 
closes  the  line  of  the  Latin  Fathers  of  the  Church. 

SECTION  LVII. OTHER  LATIN  WRITERS. 

Latin  Church-Historians— Sulpicius  Severus— His  Writings— Rufinus  of  Aqui- 
leja — His  Translations — Dispute  with  St.  Jerome — Cassiodorus — Monas- 
terium  Vivariense  —  His  Writings  —  Other  Latin  Writers— Victorinus, 
Philastrius,  Cassianus  and  Prosper— African  Writers— SS.  Victor  and 
Fulgentius— Boethius— His  Consolation  of  Philosophy— Dionysius  Exigu- 
us— Christian  Era — Lerinum — SS.  Eucherius,  Hilary,  and  Sidonius  Apol- 
linaris  — St.  Vincent  of  Lerins  — His  Commonitory  — Salvianus  and 
Caesarius—Other  Christian  Writers. 

131.  Besides  the  Fathers  already  named,  other  Latin  Christian 
writers  flourishing  in  this  period  deserve  mention,  inasmuch  as  they 
have  bequeathed  to  posterity  much  valuable  historical,  as  well  as 
doctrinal,  information  concerning  the  ancient  Church.  Chief  among 
these  are  the  Church-historians,  Sulpicius  Severus,  Rufinus,  Cassiodo- 
rus, and  Paulus  Orosius.  Sulpicius  Severus,  born  in  Gaul  about  the 
year  363,  was  a  famous  lawyer,  but,  on  the  death  of  his  wife,  he 
embraced  an  ascetic  life.  He  died  in  406.  His  writings  comprise  : 
"The  Life  of  St.  Martin,"  "Three  Dialogues"  on  the  virtues  and 
miracles  of  St.  Martin,  and  on  the  virtuous  example  of  the  Oriental 
monks;  "A  Sacred  History"  in  two  books,  from  the  beginning  of 
the  world  to  the  year  400,  in  which  he  furnishes  much  information 
respecting  the  ancient  Church  of  Gaul,  and  a  collection  of  letters  to 
St.  Paulinus  and  others.  His  pure,  classical  style  has  merited  for  him 
the  name  of  the  "  Christian  Sallust." 

132.  Tyrannius  Rufinus,  a  priest  of  Aquileja,  was  born  in  345. 
Most  of  his  later  years  were  passed  in  the  East.  He  was  intimately 
connected  with  St.  Jerome  till  394,  when  the  Origenist  controversy 
became  the   cause  of  a  disagreement  between  them.    Besides  the 


OTHER  LATIN  WRITERS.  175 

writings  of  Josephus  Flavins,  several  works  of  Origen,  SS.  Basil  and 
Gregory  Nazianzen,  Ruiinus  also  translated  the  Church  History  of 
Eusebius  to  which  he  added,  in  two  books,  a  very  inaccurate  "  History 
of  the  Arians  "  to  the  death  of  Theodosius  the  Great.  The  original 
works  of  Rufinus  are  his  "AjDology"  against  St.  Jerome  in  two 
books,  "A  History  of  the  Monks,"  and  "An  Exposition  of 
the  Symbol."  He  died  in  410.  Paulus  Orosius  was  a  priest  of 
Bracara  in  Spain,  and  a  friend  of  SS.  Augustine  and  Jerome. 
At  the  request  of  the  former,  he  wrote,  in  seven  books,  a  History  of 
the  World,  from  its  beginning  to  A.  D.  416,  directed  against  the 
Pagans.  He  also  published  an  "  Apologeticus "  against  Pelagius. 
The  year  of  his  death  is  not  known. 

133.  Marcus  Aurelius  Cassiodorus,  born  in  470,  was  a  distin- 
guished statesman  under  Odoacer  and  Theodoric,  filling  under  various 
titles  the  highest  offices  of  the  state.  When  seventy  years  of  age,  he 
retired  to  the  monastery  of  Viviers  (monasterium  Vivariense)  which 
he  had  founded  in  Calabria.  Here  he  spent  the  remainder  of  his  days 
in  religious  and  literary  pursuits.  Under  his  direction,  his  monks 
devoted  themselves  to  the  copying  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  and 
ancient  manuscripts  of  Christian  and  classical  writers.  As  a  historian 
and  man  of  letters,  Cassiodorus  has  made  for  himself  a  considerable 
name.  His  writings  on  education,  embracing  grammar,  rhetoric,  and 
dialectics  (trivium);  and  arithmetic,  music,  geometry,  and  astronomy 
(quadrivium),  form  a  considerable  part  of  his  literary  remains. 
His  chief  historical  works  are  :  1.  Twelv.e  books  of  various  epistles 
or  state  papers,  a  valuable  collection,  extending  from  the  year  509 
to  539  ;  2.  "History  of  the  Goths"  in  twelve  books,  of  which  only  the 
epitome  by  Jornandes  is  extant ;  3.  "Chronicon,"  a  universal  history 
down  to  the  year  519  ;  4.  "Tripartite  History,"  an  abridgment  of  the 
ecclesiastical  histories  of  Socrates,  Sozomenus,  and  Theodoret.  He 
also  continued  the  history  of  the  first-named  author  down  to  A.  D. 
518,  which,  together  with  the  writings  of  Rufinus,  were,  during  the 
Middle  Ages,  the  principal  sources  for  the  study  of  primitive  Church 
History.  To  these  must  be  added  several  theological  treatises.  Cas- 
siodorus died,  A.  D.  562. 

134.  Of  other  Latin  writers  flourishing  in  this  epoch,  we  mention 
Marius  Victorinus,  a  famous  rhetorician,  who  had  the  honor  of  a 
statue  set  up  in  the  Roman  Forum.  He  was  advanced  in  age,  when, 
to  the  amazement  of  the  Pagans  and  the  joy  of  the  Christians,  he 
embraced  Christianity,  A.  D.  361.  He  wrote  several  works  against 
the  Arians  and  Manicheans,  and  commentaries  on  three  of  St.  Paul's 


176  HISTORY  OF  THE  GHUBCH. 

Epistles.  St.  Philastrius,  bishop  of  Brescia,  left  a  work  "  On  Her- 
esies," containing  a  catalogue  of  one  hundred  and  fifty-eight  heresies. 
In  it,  however,  the  author  incorrectly  reckons  among  heresies,  opinions 
that  have  never  been  declared  heretical,  and  are,  at  the  most,  only 
problematical. 

135.  Cassian,  a  Scythian  by  birth,  was  a  disciple  of  St.  Chrysos- 
tom,  by  whom  he  was  ordained  deacon.  He  had  been  brought  up  in 
the  monastery  of  Bethlehem,  and  afterwards  became  celebrated  as  a 
founder  of  monasticism  in  the  West.  He  died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity 
in  the  year  433..  His  "  Institutions  of  the  Monastic  Life,"  and  his 
"  Conferences  of  the  Fathers  "  were  written  for  the  instruction  of 
monks.  In  his  thirteenth  Conference  some  Semipelagian  principles 
are  unwittingly  favored.  By  the  request  of  the  Roman  deacon,  after- 
wards Pope  Leo  the  Great,  he  also  wrote  "  On  the  Incarnation  of 
Christ "  in  seven  books,  a  work  directed  against  Nestorius. 

136.  St.  Prosper  of  Aquitaine  was  a  disciple  of  St.  Augustine  and 
secretary  of  Pope  Leo  the  Great.  He  was  a  zealous  defender  of  the 
orthodox  doctrine  against  the  Pelagian  heresy.  He  died  in  455.  There 
remains  of  his  writings  an  "Exposition  of  the  Psalms"  100-150;  a 
treatise  "  On  the  Grace  of  God  and  Free  Will ;"  several  works  writ- 
ten to  answer  the  objections  raised  against  St.  Augustine  by  the 
Semipelagians  ;  a  poem  "  On  the  Ungrateful,"  meaning  the  Semipela- 
gians,  and,  besides  two  letters  and  several  minor  works,  a  brief  Chron- 
icle in  which  he  registered  under  each  successive  year  some  few  of  the 
leading  facts  connected  with  its  history.  In  it  is  recorded  also  the 
mission  of  St.  Palladius  to  Ireland. 

137.  Victor,  bishop  of  Vite  in  Africa,  who  was  exiled  by  the 
Arian  King  Hunneric,  is  the  author  of  a  "  History  of  the  Vandalic 
Persecution,"  which  he  wrote  in  427,  and  is  one  of  the  principal 
sources  of  the  history  of  the  Yandals.  His  countryman  St.  Fulgen- 
tius,  bishop  of  Ruspe,  was,  together  with  sixty  other  Catholic  bishops, 
exiled  to  Sardinia  by  the  Yandal  King  Thrasamund,  but  was  restored 
to  his  see  under  King  Hilderich.  He  died  A.  D.  533.  Fulgentius  was 
a  great  theologian,  and  is  styled  the  "  Augustine  of  his  age."  Of  his 
writings,  which,  are  deeply  polemical,  written  against  the  Arians,  Pela- 
gians and  Nestorians*,  there  are  yet  extant  a  treatise  "  On  the  Rule  of 
the  True  Faith,"  a  book  "  On  the  Trinity,"  a  work  "  Against  the 
Arians,"  three  books  to  King  Thrasamund,  and  treatises  "On  the 
Incarnation  "  and  "  On  the  Remission  of  Sins."  In  defence  of  the 
Augustinian  doctrine  on  Grace  he  wrote  three  books  "  On  the  Two-fold 
Predestination,"  and  as  many  "  On  the  Truth  of  Predestination 
and  Grace." 


OTHER  LATIN  WRITERS.  177 

138.  Boethius,  the  senator  and  philosopher,  called  "the  last  of 
the  Romans,"  was  born  between  the  years  4V0  and  475.  He  was  one 
of  the  most  accomplished  scholars  of  his  age.  He  was  consul  from 
the  year  508  to  510  and  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  King  Theodoric. 
His  strict  honesty  and  bold  advocacy  of  the  cause  of  the  innocent  and 
weak,  had  made  him  many  enemies  by  whom  he  was  accused  of 
plotting  with  the  Byzantine  emperor  to  free  Rome  from  the  Ostro- 
gothic  rule.  He  was  imprisoned  by  order  of  King  Theodoric,  and 
ultimately  executed,  A.  D.  524,  in  the  fiftieth  year  of  his  age. 
His  father-in-law,  Symmachus,  was  involved  in  his  ruin.  A  mag- 
nificent mausoleum,  with  an  epitaph  by  Pope  Sylvester  II.,  was  erected 
to  the  memory  of  Boethius  by  the  Emperor  Otto  III. 

139.  The  works  of  Boethius  are  chiefly  philosophical,  containing 
translations  with  notes,  of  the  works  of  Plato,  Aristotle,  and  other 
Greek  philosophers.  His  principal  literary  relic  "Consolation  of 
Philosophy "  in  five  books,  Boethius  composed  in  prison  at  Pavia, 
shortly  before  his  execution.  It  is  a  dialogue  between  the  author  and 
philosophy,  showing  the  inconstancy  and  insufiiciency  of  earthly 
happiness,  and  that  true  happiness  is  to  be  sought  in  God  alone.  Its 
tone  is  elevated,  its  style  eloquent  and  pure,  but  the  fact  that  the 
name  of  Christ  or  of  the  Christian  Religion  is  not  even  once  men- 
tioned in  the  work,  has  led  many  to  question  the  author's  belief  in 
Christianity.  The  several  theological  tracts  written  against  the 
Arian,  Nestorian,  and  Eutychian  heresies,  which  are  attributed  to 
our  author,  are  by  many  regarded  as  not  genuine. 

140.  Dionysius,  surnamed  Exiguus,  a  Roman  abbot,  was  a  Scyth- 
ian by  birth,  and  flourished  under  the  Emperors  Justin  and  Justinian 
in  the  sixth  century.  He  is  the  reputed  founder  of  the  Christian  Era, 
also  called  the  Dionysian  Era,  which  has  been  in  general  use  among 
Christian  nations  since  the  tenth  century.  He  likewise  laid  the  foun- 
dation of  Canon  Law  by  his  collection  of  ecclesiastical  canons.  His 
collection  comprises  the  so-called  canons  of  the  Apostles  and  of 
several  Councils,  and  the  decretal  epistles  of  the  Popes  from  Siricius, 
who  succeeded  Damasus,  A.  D.  354,  to  Anastasius  II.  who  succeeded 
Gelasius,  A.  D.  496. 

141.  The  island  of  Lerins,  now  called  St.  Honorat,  had,  at  this 
epoch,  become  famous  for  the  monastery  (Lerinum)  founded  there  by 
St.  Honoratus,  about  the  year  410.  This  monastery  in  the  fifth  and 
sixth  centuries  was  the  principal  theological  centre  of  Europe,  giving 
to  the  Church  a  number  of  illustrious  bishops  and  distinguished 
scholars.  Such  were  the  bishops,  St.  Eucherius  of  Lyons,  St.  Hilary 
of  Aries,  and  St.  Sidonius  Apollinaris  of  Clermont,  who,  as  their 


178  HI8T0ET  OF  THE  CHURCB. 

extant  writings  show,  were  distinguished  no  less  for  their  learning 
than  for  their  piety  and  apostolic  zeal.  They  flourished  in  the  fifth 
centuiy.  Of  the  writings  of  Eucherius  and  Hilary  but  few  remain  ; 
while  Sidonius  Apollinaris,  a  poet  of  some  note,  who  had  been  hon- 
ored by  the  Roman  Senate  with  a  statue,  left  nine  books  of  Epistles 
of  considerable  historical  interest,  besides  twenty-four  poems  and 
panegyrics. 

142.  From  the  same  school  proceeded  St.  Vincent  of  Lerins, 
Salvianus,  and  CsBsarius  bishop  of  Aries.  The  first-named  has  ren- 
dered himself  famous  by  his  admirable  "  Commonitory  against  Here- 
tics," which  he  composed  to  guard  the  faithful  against  the  wiles  of 
false  teachers.  Vincent  died  in  450.  Salvianus,  a  priest  of  Mar- 
seilles, called  the  *' Jeremias  of  his  age,"  died  in  485.  Among  his 
writings,  which  have  an  important  bearing  on  the  history  of  his  age, 
should  be  mentioned  his  treatises  "  Against  Avarice  "  and  "  On  the 
Government  and  Providence  of  God."  The  object  of  the  last- 
named  work  is  similar  to  that  of  St.  Augustine's  "  City  of  God."  St. 
Caesarius,  a  truly  apostolic  bishop,  manifested  his  zeal  particularly 
in  holding  synods  for  the  reformation  of  ecclesiastical  discipline.  He 
presided  in  the  Council  of  Orange,  A.  D.  529,  at  which  semi-Pelagi- 
anism  was  condemned.  He  died  in  542.  We  have  of  his  writings  one 
hundred  and  fifty  sermons  ;  two  "  Monastic  Rules,"  one  for  monks, 
the  other  for  nuns,  besides  three  epistles,  relating  to  monastic  duties. 
His  book  against  the  Semi-Pelagians,  entitled  "De  Gratia  et  libero 
arbitrio,"  was  sanctioned  by  Pope  Felix  IV. 

143.  To  close  the  list  for  this  period,  we  simply  add  the  names  of 
Gennadius,  a  priest  of  Marseilles,  who,  living  toward  the  end  of  the 
fifth  century,  continued  St.  Jerome's  "  Catalogue  of  Illustrious  Men  " 
down  to  his  own  time ;  the  African  writers,  Marius  Mercator  who 
wrote  against  Pelagius  and  Nestorius  ;  Vigilius  and  Victor,  bishops 
respectively  of  Tapsus  aiid  Tumunum ;  the  deacon  Fulgentius  Fer- 
randus  of  Carthage  ;  the  bishops,  Junilius  and  Primasius,  and  the 
Christian  poets,  Juvencus,  Prudentius,  Claudianus  Mamertus,  and 
Venantius  Fortunatus. 

SECTION  LVIII. SYRIAN  FATHERS  AND  WRITERS. 

Schools  at  Edessa— Oldest  Syriac  Documents— Letters  of  Mara— Aphraates— 
St.  Ephraem  Syrus— His  Writings— St.  Maruthas— Other  Syrian  Writers. 

144.  Edessa,  the  metropolis  of  Mesopotamia,  was  the  seat  of 
various  schools.  Here  were  Syrian  schools  attended  by  heathen 
and  Christian  youths  in   common.     At  Edessa  too  St.   Ephrsem,  in 


SYRIAN  FA  THER8.  179 

338,  founded  his  own  school  for  the  instruction  of  Syrian  Chris- 
tians and  the  advancement  of  Syriac  literature  in  general.  The  school 
of  Ephraem  which  lasted  long  after  his  demise,  became  the  bulwark 
of  orthodoxy  against  the  Nestorian  and  Monophysite  heresies.  At 
Edessa  also  existed  the  celebrated  Persian  Christian  school,  founded 
for  the  education  of  the  Persian  clergy.  It  was,  since  the  Council  of 
Ephesus,  the  centre  of  Nestorianism.  After  its  closing,  in  489,  by 
the  Emperor  Zeno,  this  school  was  transferred  to  Nisibis,  where  it 
conkd  freely  develop  itself  under  the  Persian  government.  The  school 
at  Nisibis  became  the  chief  educational  seat  of  the  Nestorians  in  the 
Persian  Empire,  and  was  famous  for  the  prosecution  of  the  study  of 
Holy  Scripture,  carried  on  in  the  liberal  spirit  of  Theodore  of  Mop- 


t 


145.  The  most  ancient  Syriac  documents  extant  relative  to  Chris- 
tianity are  the  "  Doctrine  of  Addaeus,  the  Apostle,"  and  the  letter  of 
Mara  to  his  son  Serapion,  both  belonging  to  the  first  century.  The 
former  relates  the  conversion  of  King  Abgar  of  Edessa  and  many  of 
his  subjects  by  St.  Addaeus,  or  Thaddseus,  one  of  the  seventy  Disciples 
of  Our  Lord.  It  also  contains  the  supposed  correspondence  between 
Christ  and  Abgar.  There  is  no  doubt  that  the  work,  though  interpo- 
lated, is,  in  the  main,  genuine.  It  was  written  by  Labubna,  who  was 
notary,  or  secretary,  to  the  king  of  Edessa.  In  the  Letter  of  Mara, 
Christ  is  praised  as  a  Wise  King  and  Great  Lawgiver  whose  murder 
by  the  Jews  is  greatly  deplored.  Whether  or  not  the  writer  was  a 
Christian  cannot  be  ascertained. 

.146.  Jacob  Aphraates  and  St.  Ephrsem  are  the  earliest  orthodox 
writers  of  the  Syriac  Church.  Aphraates,  a  Syrian  bishop  who  flour- 
ished in  the  first  half  of  the  fourth  century,  has  left  twenty-three 
homilies  or  discourses  of  great  merit,  which  have  been  wrongly  attrib- 
uted to  St.  James  of  Nisibis.  St.  Ephrsem  Syrus,  the  most  illustrious 
of  the  Syrian  Fathers,  was  born  A.  D.  306.  He  was  a  disciple  of  St. 
James,  bishop  of  Msibis,  whom  he  accompanied  to  the  Council  of 
Nice.  After  the  taking  of  Nisibis  by  the  Persians  in  363,  Ephraem 
went  to  Edessa,  where  he  was  made  a  deacon  and  became  the  founder 
and  head  of  a  flourishing  school.  He  is  the  most  elegant  and  the 
most  prolific  Syrian  author  preserved  to  us.  What  St.  Chrysostom 
was  in  the  Greek  Church,  St.  Ephraem  was  in  the  Syriac.  Ephrsem, 
who  was  a  poet  of  no  common  order,  is  styled  by  his  countrymen  the 
"prophet  of  the  Syrians"  and  the  "harp  of  the  Holy  Ghost."  His 
extant  works  in  Syriac  and  Greek,  the  latter  probably  translated  even 
in  his  own  time,  comprise  commentaries  on  the  entire  Bible,  and  a 
large  number  of  sermons  and  discourses  on  devotional  and  moral  sub- 


180  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUM  OH. 

jects  and  against  the  heresies  of  the  age.  We  here  mention  particu- 
larly his  many  beautiful  prayers  to  the  Blessed  Virgin,  which  are 
remarkable  for  their  warm  and  animated  feelings  and  expressions  of 
devotion.     St.  Ephraem  died,  A.  D.  373. 

147.  St.  Maruthas,  bishop  of  Tagrit,  or  Marty ropolis,  in  Mesopo- 
tamia, was  truly  one  of  the  most  learned  and  illustrious  writers  of  the 
Syriac  Church.  He  was  a  contemporary  and  the  intimate  friend  of 
St.  Chrysostom,  and  assisted  at  the  Council  of  Constantinople.  He 
converted  a  great  number  of  Persians  and  extended  the  faith  through- 
out Persia.  Of  his  works  extant  are  "  Acts  of  the  Persian  Martyrs," 
who  suffered  under  Sapor  II.  and  his  successors,  a  "  History  of  the 
Council  of  Nice  "  and  a  "  Syriac  Liturgy."  The  thirty-six  canons  of 
the  Synod  held  in  410  at  Seleucia,  in  which  the  Procession  of  the 
Holy  Ghost  from  the  Father  and  the  Son  is  clearly  expressed,  are  in 
part  his  work. 

148.  Other  orthodox  Syrian  writers  were  :  Balaeus  Chorepiscopus 
of  Aleppo,  and  Cyrillonas,  probably  a  nephew  of  St.  Ephraem,  both 
of  whom  flourished  in  the  second  half  of  the  fourth  century ;  St. 
Rabulas,  bishop  of  Edessa,  a  zealous  opponent  of  the  Nesto- 
rian  heresy ;  Isaac  of  Antioch,  abbot  of  a  monastery  near  that  city, 
who  flourished  in  the  middle  of  the  fifth  century ;  the  priest  Cosmas, 
who  wrote  the  life  of  St.  Simeon  the  Stylite ;  and  Jacob,  bishop  of 
Batnas  in  Sarug,  who  was,  after  St.  Ephraem,  the  most  prolific  writer 
of  the  ancient  Syrian  Church.  Only  a  few  of  his  extant  works,  which 
are  very  numerous,  have  been  published.  Of  his  hymns,  the  one  on 
the  Blessed  Virgin  deserves  special  mention.  These  Syrian  Fathers 
are  very  explicit  in  the  statement  of  the  Catholic  doctrines  on  the 
Church,  the  Primacy  of  the  Roman  See,  the  Sacraments,  the  Sacrifice 
of  the  Mass  and  the  Invocation  of  the  Saints.  Their  writings  clearly 
demonstrate  the  uniformity  in  faith  of  the  ancient  Syriac  Church  with 
that  of  the  Catholic  Church  of  to-day. 


ARIANI8M.  181 


CHAPTER  III. 


HISTORY  OF  HERESIES  AND  SCHISMS. 


I.     HERESIES. 


SECTION    LIX. ARIANISM ECUMENICAL    COUNCIL    OF    NICE. 

Arian  Heresy — Contrasted  with  Sabellianism — Arius — Alexander  of  Alexan- 
dria— Council  of  Alexandria — System  of  Arianism — Supporters  of  Arius 
— Bishop  Hosius  in  Alexandria— Council  of  Nice — Distinguished  Cham- 
pions of  Orthodoxy — Nicene  Creed — Settlement  of  Other  Questions. 

149.  Arianism,  one  of  the  most  powerful  heresies  in  the  history  of 
the  Church,  was  directed  against  the  Divinity  of  Christ  and  indirectly 
against  the  whole  dogma  of  the  Trinity.  Arianism  is  the  opposite  ex- 
treme of  Sabellianism.  While  the  former,  urging  too  much  the 
personal  distinction  in  the  Trinity,  teaches  an  inequality  and  subor- 
dination of  the  three  Divine  Persons,  the  latter  denies  this  distinction 
of  Persons,  asserting  only  a  Trinity  of  names.  The  fundamental  tenet 
of  Arianism  was,  that  the  Son  of  God  was  a  creature,  not  born  of  the 
Father,  but  made  out  of  nothing.  The  author  of  this  heresy  was 
Arius,  a  priest  of  Alexandria.  He  was  a  disciple  of  Lucian  of  Anti- 
och,  who  was  excommunicated  for  heresy,  but,  afterward,  submitting 
to  the  authority  of  the  Church,  attained  some  renown  for  learning  and 
piety,  and  died  a  martyr  in  311.  Having  finished  his  studies,  Arius 
came  to  Alexandria.  Here  he  joined  the  schismatical  party  of  the 
Meletians  ;  but  abandoning  this  p^rty,  he  was  ordained  a  deacon  by 
Peter,  bishop  of  Alexandria.  Arius  afterward  returned  to  the  Mele- 
tians and  was  excommunicated ;  he  was  re-admitted  by  Achillas,  the 
successor  of  Peter,  who  also  ordained  him  priest  and  appointed  him 
one  of  the  public  preachers  of  Alexandria.  He  is  said,  on  the  death 
of  Achillas  in  313,  to  have  aspired  to  the  see  of  Alexandria,  to  which, 
however,  the  mild  and  saintly  Alexander  was  appointed. 


182  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

150.  At  first,  Arius  taught  his  blasphemous  doctrine  only  in  pri- 
vate ;  but  in  318,  he  boldly  defended  it  in  a  public  conference  of  the 
clergy  against  his  diocesan  bishop  Alexander,  whom  he  accused  of 
Sabellianism.  Not  only  did  he  refuse  to  recant  his  error,  but  he  had 
the  boldness  to  send  a  written  confession  of  his  faith  to  several  bish- 
ops, requesting  their  support  against  his  ordinary.  His  eloquence  and 
affected  virtues  gained  him  many  admirers,  especially  among  the  con- 
secrated virgins.  After  trying  in  vain  to  draw  Arius  from  his  errors, 
Alexander  in  320  convened  a  Council  at  Alexandria  which  was  attend- 
ed by  about  one  hundred  Egyptian  bishops  ;  Arius  and  his  adherents, 
among  them  the  two  bishops  Secundus  and  Theonas,  were  expelled 
from  the  Church  by  the  Council. 

151.  As  Arius  nevertheless  continued  to  teach  and  hold  divine 
service,  Alexander,  summoning  another  conference,  addressed  a  circu- 
lar letter  signed  by  all  his  clergy  to  the  bishops,  in  which  he  gives  a 
full  statement  of  all  the  errors  maintained  by  the  heresiarch  :  1.  God, 
who  existed  prior  to  the  Son  was  not  always  Father.  2.  The  Logos  ex- 
isted indeed  before  all  time,  i.  e.,  before  all  creation  ;  yet  He  is  not  co- 
eternal  with  the  Father,  who  is  prior  to  Him.  3.  Neither  is  He  of 
the  same  essence  with  the  Father,  and,  therefore,  not  true  God.  4. 
He  is  not  born  of  the  Father,  but  was  created  out  of  nothing  by  the 
will  of  the  Father.  5.  He  is  a  creature  and  not  immutable  according 
to  his  nature,  consequently  it  was  possible  for  Him  to  sin.  6.  Yet,  He 
is  superior  to  all  other  creatures  and  in  dignity  next  to  God.  He  is 
the  Son  of  God,  but  only  by  adoption.  V.  He  was  formed  for  our 
sake  ;  God,  being  too  great  for  the  world,  created  the  Logos,  through 
whom,  as  through  an  instrument,  all  things  including  time  were  made. 
8.  He  would  not  have  had  subsistence,  had  not  God  willed  our 
making. 

152.  Banished  from  Alexandria,  Arius  went  to  Palestine,  whence 
he  addressed  a  defence  of  his  doctrine  to  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia. 
Eusebius,  a  fellow-disciple  of  Arius  under  Lucian,  henceforth,  is  to  be 
accounted  the  real  head  of  the  heretical  party.  Upon  his  invitation, 
Arius  came  to  Nicomedia  and  thence  addressed  a  letter  to  Alexander, 
in  which  he  defends  his  doctrine  as  that  of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church. 
Here  he  also  wrote  his  most  important  work,  the  "  Thalia"  (Banquet), 
designed  to  promulgate  his  principles  among  the  people.  Fragments 
of  the  "Thalia"  are  preserved  in  the  writings  of  Athanasius.  A 
Synod  was  held  in  Bithynia,  A.  D.  323,  which  restored  Arius,  and 
addressed  a  letter  to  Alexander  and  the  other  bishops  with  a  view  of 
effecting  his  re-admission  into  the  Church.  Arius  returned  to  Alex- 
andria, between  the  years  322  and  323,  and  openly  propagated  his 


ARIANISM.  188 

blasphemous  doctrines  in  defiance  of  his  ordinary.  The  controversy 
now  began  to  excite  all  classes,  and  the  Pagans  even  in  their  theatres 
ridiculed  the  division  among  the  Christians. 

153.  About  this  time,  Constantine,  by  the  defeat  of  Licinius,  be- 
coming master  also  of  the  Orient,  entered  Nicomedia,  where  Eusebius 
acquainted  him  with  the  controversy  which  agitated  all  Egypt.  Igno- 
rant of  the  importance  of  the  question,  which  he  looked  upon  as  an 
idle  war  of  words,  the  emperor  at  once  directed  a  letter  to  Alexander 
and  Arius  jointly,  and  sent  Bishop  Hosius  of  Corduba  in  Spain,  to 
Alexandria,  to  mediate  between  the  contending  parties.  But  the 
efforts  of  Hosius  in  restoring  harmony  proved  ineffectual ;  whereupon, 
at  his  advice,  and,  as  the  Sixth  Ecumenical  Council  of  Constantinople 
expressly  states,  with  the  consent  of  Pope  Sylvester  I.,  the  emperor 
convoked  the  Ecifmenical  Council  of  Nice. 

154.  This  First  Ecumenical  Council  met  in  May,  A.  D.  325,  at 
Nicaea,  or  Nice,  Bithynia  (now  a  miserable  Turkish  village,  Is-nik.)  It 
was  attended  by  three  hundred  and  eighteen  bishops,  mostly  Oriental, 
and  was  presided  over  by  the  venerable  Hosius  of  Corduba,  and  by 
the  two  Roman  priests,  Vitus  and  Vincentius,  as  Legates  of  Pope 
Sylvester.  Constantine,  who  opened  the  Council  with  an  address  to 
the  bishops,  attended  also  the  principal  sessions  in  person,  without, 
however,  interfering  with  the  proceedings  of  the  assembled  prelates. 
The  principal  defenders  of  the  orthodox  doctrine  were,  besides 
Hosius,  Alexander  of  Alexandria,  Eustathius  of  Antioch,  Macarius  of 
Jerusalem,  Marcellus  of  Ancyra,  but  pre-eminently  the  learned  and 
eloquent  Athanasius,  then  only  a  deacon  of  about  twenty-seven  years  of 
age,  whose  unwavering  opposition  against  the  new  heresy  obtained  for 
him  the  title  of  "Father  of  Orthodoxy."  Of  the  Fathers,  some;  as 
James  of  Nisibis,  Nicolas  of  Myra,  etc.,  were  eminent  for  their  sanc- 
tity and  miracles  ;  others,  Patamon,  Paphnutius  and  Paul  of  Neo- 
Caesarea,  as  confessors  of  the  faith,  bearing  yet  the  marks  of  the  tor- 
ture they  had  endured  in  the  last  persecution.  The  number  of  the 
A.rian  bishops  is  reckoned  at  twenty-two,  chief  among  whom  was 
Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  whence  the  Arians  were  also  called 
"  Eusebians." 

155.  The  principal  questions  submitted  to  the  decision  of  the 
Council  were  :  1.  The  Arian  heresy  ;  2.  The  time  of  celebrating 
Easter  ;  3.  The  Meletian  schism.  Arius  was  introduced  and  exam- 
ined by  the  Fathers,  who  were  shocked  at  the  impieties  he  uttered. 
To  exclude  all  subterfuges,  the  Council,  adopting  the  term  "  Homou- 
sios,^^  or  consubstantial,  as  the  crucial  test  for  the  heresy  of  Arius, 
clearly  defined  :     1.  That  the  Son  was  begotten  of  the  Father,  i.  e.,  of 


184  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  essence  of  the  Father ;    2.  That  the  Son  was  begotten  and  not 
made,  and  consubstantial  with  the  Father. 

156.  Two  symbols,  or  forms  of  creed,  were  presented  :  the  one 
drawn  up  by  Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  which  carefully  omitted  the 
Hormousion  and  imperfectly  expressed  the  orthodox  doctrine,  was  re- 
jected ;  the  other,  ascribed  to  Hermogenes,  secretary  of  the  Council 
and  afterward  bishop  of  Caesarea,  which,  in  distinct  terms,  declared 
the  c(ynsuhstantiahility  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  was  adopted 
by  the  Fathers  and  has  since  been  known  as  the  "  Nicene  Creed." 
Anathemas  were  added  against  all  who  maintained  the  heretical 
teaching.  The  clause  of  the  new  symbol,  bearing  upon  the  heresy  of 
Arius,  reads  as  follows  :  "  And  we  believe  in  the  one  Lord  Jesus 
Christ,  the  Son  of  God  begotten  as  the  only  begotten  of  the  Father,  i. 
e.,  of  the  essence  of  the  Father,  God  from  God,  Light  from  Light, 
true  God  from  true  God,  begotten,  not  made,  consubstantial  with  the 
Father^  through  whom  all  things  were  made."  The  symbol  was  sub- 
scribed first  by  the  papal  legates,  then  by  the  remaining  Fath- 
ers ;  after  some  hesitation,  also  by  the  partisans  of  Arius,  except  the 
two  Egyptian  bishops,  Theonas  and  Secundus,  who,  with  the  here- 
siarch,  were  banished  into  Illyria.  Three  months  later,  Eusebius  of 
Nicomedia  and  Theognius  of  Nicaea  shared  the  same  fate.  Constantine 
ordered  the  writings  of  Arius  to  be  burned,  making  it  a  capital  crime 
even  to  own  them. 

157.  The  Easter  controversy  was  next  disposed  of  by  the  Coun- 
cil. To  establish  uniformity  in  that  important  point  of  discipline,  the 
Council  fixed  the  celebration  of  Easter  on  the  Sunday  after  the  full 
moon  following  the  vernal  equinox  ;  and  if  the  full  moon  happens  on 
a  Sunday,  then  Easter-day  to  be  on  the  succeeding  Sunday^  It,  more- 
over, devised  means  for  the  healing  of  the  Meletian  Schism,  and  for  the 
re-admis*sion  of  the  Novatians  and  Paulicianists.  While  the  Council 
admitted  the  validity  of  baptism  conferred  by  the  heretics,  the  baptism 
administered  by  the  Paulicianists,  who  denied  the  Trinity  of  persons 
in  God,  was  rejected  as  invalid.  Twenty  canons  were  added,  regu- 
lating various  points  of  ecclesiastical  discipline,  and  a  collective  letter 
addressed  to  the  bishops  of  Egypt  and  Lybia  communicating  to  them 
the  decisions  of  the  Council.  Constantine,  after  giving  all  the  pre- 
lates a  magnificent  entertainment,  dismissed  them  with  rich  presents 
to  their  respective  sees,  and  published  several  edicts  enforcing  the 
Nicene  decrees. 


EUSEBIAN8.  185 

SECTION    LX. INTRIGUES     OF     THE     EUSEBIANS PERSECUTION    OF 

ORTHODOX    BISHOPS. 

Arian  Exiles  Recalled— Defenders  of  the  Nieene  Faith  Persecuted— Council 
I  of  Antioch — Banishment  of  Eustathius  of  Antioch — Return  of  Arius  from 
Exile— False  Accusations  against  St.  Athanasius — Councils  of  Caesarea 
and  Tyre— First  Exile  of  Athanasius— Arius'  Restoration  attempted  by 
Constantine — Death  of  the  Heresiarch — Death  of  Constantine — Restora- 
tion of  St.  Athanasius— His  Second  Exile — The  Intruders  Pistus  and 
Gregory  of  Cappadocia — Paul  of  Constantinople — Councils  of  Rome  and 
Antioch— Great  Council  of  Sardica — Its  Object — Eusebian  Council  at 
Philipopolis  —  First  Formula  of  Sirmium — Council  of  Aries — Third  Exile 
of  Athanasius — Fall  of  Vincent  of  Capua — Council  of  Milan — Exile  of 
Pope  Liberius — Banishment  of  Catholic  Bishops. 

158.  The  three  years  succeeding  the  Council  of  Mce  had  scarcely 
elapsed,  when  Constantine  was  induced  by  his  sister  Constantia  to 
recall  the  Arian  exiles.  Eusebius  and  Tlieognis  were  restored  to 
their  sees,  and  those  who  had  been  consecrated  in  their  stead  were 
banished.  Soon  after  Arius  was  also  permitted  to  return.  This 
lamentable  inconsistency  of  Constantine  renewed  all  the  discussions 
which  had  been  settled  by  the  Council  of  Nice,  and  opened  the  way 
to  endless  intrigues.  As  the  Arian  leaders,  or  Eusebians  as  they  were 
also  called,  after  the  Kicene  Council  dared  not  openly  avow  their 
heresy,  they  directed  their  assaults  against  the  principal  defenders  of 
the  Catholic  faith,  Eustathius  of  Antioch,  Marcellus  of  Ancyra,  Paul 
of  Constantinople,  and  particularly  against  the  learned  and  energetic 
Athanasius,  who,  upon  the  death  of  Alexander,  A.  D.  328,  had  been 
elevated  to  the  patriarchal  chair  of  Alexandria. 

159.  Eustathius,  from  A.  D.  325,  bishop  of  Antioch,  distinguished 
himself,  both  during  and  after  the  Council  of  Nice,  by  his  strenuous 
resistance  to  the  Arian  heresy,  and  had,  on  that  account,  incurred  the 
hatred  of  the  Arians.  The  Eusebians  assembled  in  council  at  Antioch, 
A.  D.  330,  and,  on  charges  of  Sabellianism  and  immorality — a  general 
slander  with  which  they  aspersed  all  orthodox  bishops, — pronounced 
sentence  of  deposition  against  Eustathius.  Constantine  banished  him 
into  Illyria,  where  he  died,  A.  D.  337.  The  same  fate  was  shared  by 
the  bishops  Asklepas  of  Gaza  and  Eutropius  of  Hadrianople. 

160.  But  their  most  rancorous  enmity  and  most  persevering 
efforts  were  directed  against  Athanasius.  To  rid  themselves  of  so 
dangerous  a  foe,  the  Eusebians  impugned  the  validity  of  his  election 
and  ordination,  a  charge  which  was  refuted  by  the  solemn  and  unani- 
mous testimony  of  the  Egyptian  bishops.  In  the  meantime,  Arius 
having  returned  from  exile,  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia  endeavored  to 


186  HISTOBY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

secure  his  re-instatement  at  Alexandria,  but  was  refused  by  Athana- 
sius,  who  resisted  even  the  emperor  in  his  attempts  to  have  Arius 
restored  ;  the  intrepid  patriarch  answered  that  a  heretic  could  have  no 
communion  with  the  Catholic  Church. 

161.  The  Arian  party  now  had  recourse  to  calumny  and  violence. 
An  attempt  was  made  to  convict  Athanasius  of  political  offenses  ;  but 
on  examination,  Constantine  became  convinced  of  his  innocence. 
Dismissing  him  with  honor,  the  emperor  addressed  a  letter  to  the 
Alexandrians,  warning  them  against  the  intrigues  of  the  enemies  of 
their  bishop.  The  Eusebians  next  prepared  another  assault  against 
the  much  hated  prelate  ;  charges  of  a  serious  character  were  alleged 
against  him  :  1.  That  he  had  sacrilegiously  broken  a  consecrated 
chalice  ;  2.  That  he  had  murdered,  or  at  least  mutilated,  Arsenius,  a 
Meletian  bishop  ;    and  3.    That  he  had  ravished  a  consecrated  virgin. 

162.  These  charges  against  Athanasius  were  examined  in  two 
Councils,  held  successively  in  Csesarea  and  Tyre  in  334  and  335,  the 
Meletians  appearing  as  accusers,  and  avowed  enemies  of  Athanasius 
being  the  judges  in  the  trial.  Notwithstanding  the  absurdity  of  the 
allegations  and  the  protest  of  forty-eight  Egyptian  bishops,  who  clearly 
proved  the  innocence  of  their  patriarch,  the  Synod  of  Tyre  pro- 
nounced sentence  of  deposition  and  exile  against  Athanasius.  Con- 
stantine banished  him  to  Treves.  Marcellus,  bishop  of  Ancyra  in 
Galatia,  another  strenuous  opponent  of  the  Arians,  was  also  deposed 
and  banished,  on  the  ground  of  reviving  Sabellianism. 

163.  To  complete  their  triumph,  the  Eusebians  occupied  themselves 
with  the  restoration  of  Arius  into  the  church  at  Alexandria.  They 
had  received  him  into  their  communion  in  a  council,  held  at  Jerusa- 
lem, A.  D.  335.  On  the  refusal  of  the  Alexandrians  to  admit  Arius, 
Constantine  recalled  him  to  Constantinople,  and  issued  a  peremptory 
order  to  Alexander,  bishop  of  the  city,  that  the  heresiarch  should  be 
restored  to  Catholic  communion.  Alexander,  after  vainly  using  every 
effort  to  move  the  emperor,  had  recourse  to  prayer,  that  God  would 
avert  this  frightful  sacrilege  from  the  Church.  While  on  the  evening 
of  his  proposed  triumph,  Arius  was  passing  through  the  city  with  his 
party  in  an  ostentatious  manner,  death  overtook  him  ;  his  bowels 
bursting  out  while  stepping  aside  to  attend  an  urgent  call  of  nature, 
(A.  D.  336).  The  unexpected  death  of  the  heresiarch,  which  was  gen- 
erally attributed  to  divine  interposition,  caused  many  Arians  to  return 
to  the  Catholic  faith.  Alexander  died  soon  after,  when  the  Arians 
chose  Macedonius  to  succeed  him,  and  Paul  was  elected  by  the 
Catholics.  At  the  instigation  of  the  Eusebians,  Constantine  exiled 
Paul,  but  refused  to  recognize  Macedonius. 


EUSEBIAN8.  187 

164.  Corjstantine  died  in  337.  Of  his  three  sons,  Constantine  II. 
and  Constans,  the  former  ruling  in  the  West,  the  latter  over  Italy  and 
Africa,  adhered  to  the  Nicene  Creed ;  while  Constantius,  the  emperor 
of  the  East,  was  a  pronounced  supporter  of  Arianism.  The  exiled 
bishops  were  recalled,  and  through  the  efforts  of  Constantine  II., 
Athanasius,  after  an  exile  of  twenty-eight  months,  was  also  permitted 
to  return  to  his  see,  A.  D.  338.  The  Eusebians  soon  recommenced 
the  persecution  of  orthodox  bishops  :  Paul  of  Constantinople,  having 
been  deposed  by  them  for  a  second  time  was  exiled  by  Constantius, 
and  the  crafty  Eusebius  of  Nicomedia  was  raised  to  his  see.  When 
Eusebius  of  Csesarea  died  in  340,  his  disciple  Acacius,  a  rigid  Arian, 
was  promoted  to  that  see.  The  Eusebians  next  renewed  their  accusa- 
tions against  Athanasius.  With  the  approval  of  Constantius,  they 
appointed  Pistus  bishop  of  Alexandria.  To  secure  the  recognition  of 
the  intruder,  they  sent  letters  and  deputies  to  the  emperors  and  Pope 
Julius  I.  Being  informed  of  this  by  the  Pope,  Athanasius  in  339  called 
a  Synod  in  Alexandria,  composed  of  nearly  a  hundred  bishops,  to  re- 
fute the  Arian  slanders  against  him,  and  then,  at  the  invitation  of 
the  Pope,  hastened  to  Rome.  In  the  meantime,  a  Eusebian  Synod  at 
Antioch  had  again  deposed  Athanasius. 

165.  In  place  of  the  deposed  Athanasius,  the  Arians  intruded  the 
violent  Gregory  of  Cappadocia,  who,  by  force  of  arms,  was  placed  in 
the  see  of  Alexandria,  A.D.  340.  On  the  arrival  of  Athanasius  at 
Rome,  Pope  Julius  I.  summoned  both  parties  before  him.  After 
awaiting  in  vain  the  appearance  of  the  Eusebians,  the  Pope  in  341 
held  a  Council  of  fifty  bishops,  which  declared  Athanasius  and  Mar- 
cellus  innocent  and  restored  them  to  their  sees.  The  same  year, 
about  ninety  bishops  assembled  at  Antioch  for  the  dedication  of  a 
new  basilica.  The  Synod,  held  on  the  occasion  by  the  Eusebians, 
confirmed  the  deposition  of  Athanasius.  When  Eusebius  of  Constan- 
tinople died  in  342,  the  Catholics  recalled  their  exiled  pastor  Paul, 
while  the  Arians  sought  to  intrude  Macedonius,  the  founder  of  the 
heresy  of  the  Pneumatomachists.  This  was  the  signal  for  a  bloody  sedi- 
tion, which  ended  in  the  murder  of  Hermogenes,  the  imperial  gover- 
nor. Constantius  hastened  to  Constantinople  ;  Paul  was  exiled  a 
third  time,  and  the  intruder  Macedonius,  after  much  bloodshed, 
gained  possession  of  nelarly  all  the  churches. 

166.  To  terminate  these  conflicts,  Pope  Julius  at  last  prevailed 
on  Constans  and  Constantius  (Constantine  the  Younger  having  died, 
A.  D.  340)  to  convoke  a  general  Council  at  Sardica  in  lUyricum,  A. 
D.  343;  at  which  about  one  hundred  and  seventy  bishops  assembled, 
of  whom  seventy-six  were  Arians.     The  Council  was  presided  over 


188  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

by  the  venerable  Ilosius  and  two  Roman  priests  as  legates  of  Pope 
Julius.  Its  chief  object  was  :  1.  To  decide  all  disputes,  particularly 
those  relating  to  the  bishops  that  had  been  deposed ;  2.  To  clear  the 
Catholic  doctrine  from  all  misconceptions  caused  by  the  many  Eusebian 
formulas.  But  immediately  before  the  opening  of  the  Council,  a 
schism  arose  among  the  members.  Finding  that  Athanasius  and  the 
other  deposed  prelates  were  allowed  seats  in  the  Council,  the  Eusebi- 
ans  retreated  to  Philipopolis  and  there,  holding  a  separate  Council, 
confirmed  the  condemnation  and  deposition  of  Athanasius,  as  well  as 
of  the  other  exiles,  and  renounced  all  communion  with  the  Western 
Church  and  Pope  Julius,  to  whom  they  even  denied  the  right  to  pass 
judgment  upon  them. 

167.  Unmoved  by  the  secession  of  the  Arians,  the  true  Council 
of  Sardica,  finding  the  exiled  bishops  innocent,  decreed  their  restora- 
tion and  excommunicated  the  chiefs  of  the  Eusebian  faction.  The 
cowardly  Constantius,  yielding  to  the  remonstrances  of  his  brother 
Constans,  consented  to  recall  Athanasius,  who,  after  an  exile  of  six 
years,  returned  to  Alexandria,  A.  D.  346.  The  other  exiled  prelates, 
Paul,  Marcellus  and  Asclepas,  likewise  were  restored  to  their  sees. 
Of  the  canons  framed  by  the  Council  of  Sardica,  the  most  important 
are  those  which  establish  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome. 

168.  The  tragic  end  of  Constans,  A.  D.  350,  deprived  the  Catho- 
lic party  of  a  powerful  and  generous  protector.  Constantius,  now 
sole  ruler  of  the  empire,  recommenced  the  persecution  of  the  orthodox 
bishops.  Photinus,  bishop  of  Sirmium  in  Pannonia  and  a  disciple  of 
Marcellus  of  Ancyra,  by  advocating  a  doctrine  savoring  of  Sabellian- 
ism,  afforded  the  Eusebians  a  welcome  opportunity  to  calumniate 
Catholic  doctrine  ,and  teaching.  They  held  a  Council  at  Sirmium 
A.  D.  351,  and  deposed  Photinus,  who  was  banished  by  the  emperor. 
Also  a  new  creed — the  first  of  the  three  dated  at  Sirmium^was 
framed.  Though  orthodox  in  its  terms,  this  formula  carefully 
avoided  the  ^''Hcymousion "  and  was,  on  that  account,  rejected  by  St. 
Athanasius. 

169.  The  Eusebians  again  undertook  to  prejudice  the  emperor 
against  Athanasius,  who  was  accused  by  them  of  high  treason.  Con- 
stantius in  353  '  convened  a  Council  at  Aries,  and  not  at  Aquileja  as 
had  been  proposed  by  Pope  Liberius  ;  and,  by  his  influence  extorted 
from  the  Fathers,  including  the  papal  legate,  the  condemnation  of 
Athanasius.  Paulinus  of  Treves  who  alone  resisted  the  emperor,  was 
banished  to  Phrygia.  Nothing  is  more  lamentable  than  the  fall  of 
Vincent  of  Capua,  the  papal  legate,  who  had  always  shown  himself  a 
zealous  supporter  of  orthodoxy. 


ARIAN  PARTIES.  .  189 

170.  Liberius,  deeply  afflicted  at  the  fall  of  his  legate,  rejected 
the  proceedings  of  the  Council  of  Aries  against  Athanasius,  and 
deputed  Lucifer,  bishop  of  Cagliari  in  Sardinia,  and  Eusebius  of  Ver- 
cellae  to  the  emperor  to  ask  for  another  Council.  Meeting  at  Milan 
in  355,  the  new  Council,  which  was  attended  by  about  three  hundred 
bishops,  had,  however,  no  better  result.  By  threats  and  violence, 
Constantius  compelled  the  bishops  to  condemn  Athanasius  and  com- 
municate with  the  Arians.  "  My  will  must  be  your  canon,"  exclaimed 
the  tyrannical  emperor ;  "  so  the  Syrian  bishops  have  decided,  and  so 
must  you  decide,  if  you  would  escape  exile." 

171.  The  few  bishops  who  refused  to  subscribe  to  the  imperial 
dictation  were  exiled.  Among  the  exiles  were  Dionysius  of  Milan, 
the  papal  legates  Lucifer  of  Cagliari,  Eusebius  of  VercelLne  and  the 
Roman  deacon  Hilarius.  Pope  Liberius  and  the  aged  Hosius,  refusing 
to  condemn  Athanasius  and  communicate  with  the  Arians,  were  likewise 
banished  :  the  one  tf  Beroea  in  Thrace,  the  other  to  Sirmium,  A.  D. 
355.  Later  on,  also  St  Hilary  of  Pictavium  was  exiled  to  Phrygia. 
Although  a  prize  was  offered  for  his  capture,  Athanasius  escaped 
arrest  by  fleeing  to  the  desert,  and  the  Arian  George,  a 
man  of  illiterate  mind  and  savage  manners,  was  substituted  in  his 
see  by  force  of  arms.  In  spite  of  all  persecutions,  however,  the 
people  in  general  remained  true  to  their  exiled  pastors  and  to  the 
faith  which  had  been  basely  betrayed  by  so  many  bishops,  and 
refused  to  hold  communion  with  the  intruders. 

SECTIOX    LXI. ARIAN    PARTIES THE    PRETENDED    FALL    OF 

LIBERIUS    AND    BISHOP    HOSIUS. 

Divisions  among  Arians— Pure  Arians— Semi-Arians— Their  Doctrine — Their 
Leader — Homoeans  or  Acacians— Their  Symbol — Acacius  of  Caesarea — 
Anemoeans— Their  Formula — Their  Leaders — Aetius  and  Eunomius — 
Synods  of  Sirmium— Second  Formula  of  Sirmium — Third  Formula  of 
Sirmium — Pope  Liberius — Evidences  Disproving  His  Fall — Pretended 
Fall  of  Hosius. 

172.  The  Arians,  now  everywhere  triuniphant,  soon  became  di- 
vided into  parties  which,  while  at  variance  with  one  another,  were 
united  only  by  their  aversion  to  the  Nicene  Creed.  There  were  :  1. 
The  original  Arians  who,  rejecting  the  "  Homousion,'''*  or  "  Consuh- 
stantial^''  taught  that  the  Son  is  a  creature,  though  the  first  creature  of 
God ;  that  He  is  made  out  of  nothing,  and  of  an  "  alterable  nature," 
which  is  wholly  distinct  from  that  of  the  Father,  and  that  He  is  essen- 
tially different  from  the  Father  ;  hence  they  were  also  called  '•'-Exucon- 


190  ,  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

ti(m&  "  and  "  Hetero-ousiasts.^''  2.  The  Semi-Arians  or  "  Homoeusians^'* 
as  they  were  also  cafled,  aap^rted&liki^aLe^  of  substance  between  the 
Father  and  the  Son.  Their  symbol  was  the  "  ISymmmam^^  "  similar  in 
substance,"  which  they  substituted  for  the  orthodox  *'  Homoidsiom^'^ 
"  same  in  substance,"  or  consubstantial.  The  recognized  leader  of  the 
Semi-Arians  was  the  learned  Basil,  bishop  of  Ancyra,  who,  after  the 
deposition  of  Marcellus,  had  been  intruded  into  that  see  by  the  Arians. 
3.  The  Hommans  (holding  the  Hommon,  or  like),  in  their  vague  and 
comprehew^Te  creed,  mer^  de«i,^ced  tioat  tke  "  Son  in  all  things  is 
like  the  Father,"  or  simply"  like  Him  " — "  like  "  as  opposed  to  the  oae 
in  substance.  Acacius  of  Caesarea  in  Palestine  (died  A.  D.  366),  the 
opponent  of  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  was  the  inventor  of  this  new  form- 
ula, whence  its  advocates  were  also  called  "Acacians."  The  distinguish- 
ing pretensions  of  this  new  pigment  of  heresy  was  adherence  to  the 
Scripture  phraseology;  wherefore  the  Acacians  adopted  the  phrase 
"like  in  all  things  according  to  the  Scripture  !" 

173.  4.  The  Anomoeans  rejected  both  the  Nicene  and  Semi- 
Arian,  teaching,  and,  in  opposition  to  it,  developed  a  strict 
subordinationism.  Reviving  rigid  Arianism,  they  affirmed  that 
the  Son  was  not  consubstantial  nor  even  similar  in  essence, 
but  wholly  "unlike  or  dissimilar"  to  the  Father.  Hence  their 
formula  of  the  "  Anomoeon,  or  unlike  in  substance.  The  found- 
ers of  the  Anomoeans  were  Aetius,  a  deacon  of  Antioch,  and 
Eunomius,  bishop  of  Cyzicus  in  Mysia,  from  whom  they  were  also 
called  "Aetians  "  and  "Eunomians."  From  his  denial  of  the  Divinity 
of  Christ,  Aetius  was  surnamed  the  "  Atheist."  At  the  instigation 
of  the  Semi-Arians,  he  was  banished  under  Constantius,  but  recalled 
under  Julian,  and  made  bishop.  Aetius  died  in  370,  and  his  disciple 
Eunomius  in  395.  The  Eunomians  rejected  all  mysteries,  denied  the 
incomprehensibility  of  the  divine  nature  and  the  Divinity  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,  whom  they  called  a  "  creature  of  the  Son." 

174.  The  intestine  divisions,  which  distracted  the  Arians,  be- 
came particularly  conspicuous  in  the  two  Synods  of  Sirmium-,  A.  D. 
357,  and  Ancyra,  A.  D.  358.  The  Anomoeans  at  Sirmium  rejected 
both  the  Homousion  of  the  Catholics  and  the  Ilomceusion  of  the  Semi- 
Arians,  and  in  their  profession  of  faith — the  second  formula  of  Sirmium 
— expressly  declared  that  "  the  Father  is  greater  than  the  Son  and 
superior  to  Him  in  glory,  dignity,  power  and  majesty."  The  Semi- 
Arians  at  Ancyra  condemned  the  extreme  teachings  of  the  Anomoeans, 
especially  the  one  maintaining  the  Son  to  be  only  a  creature  and 
dissimilar  in  essence  to  the  Father.  Emperor  Constantius,  favoring 
Semi-Arianism,  convoked  the   third  Synod  of  Sirmium,  A.  D.  358, 


I 


ARIAN  PARTIES.  191 

which  in  its  profession,  after  rejecting  the  word  "  substance  "  as  un- 
biblical,  declared  that  "  the  Son  is  in  all  things  like  to  ih&  Father, 
according  to  the  Holy  Scriptures."  This  third  formula  of  Sirmium 
does  not  clearly  contain  the  Arian  heresy,  though,  indeed,  it  omits 
the  term  "  Homoiision,"  or  "  consubstantial." 

175.  It  has  been  asserted,  and  for  a  long  time  admitted  by  even 
Catholic  writers,  that  Pope  Liberius  obtained  his  recall  from  exile  by 
condemning  St.  Athanasius,  and  subscribing  to  one  of  the  three  creeds 
of  Sirmium.  Now,  first  of  all,  it  is  certain  that  Liberius  did  not  sign 
the  first  or  second  Sirmium  creed,  and  secondly,  it  is  highly  im- 
probable that  he  signed  the  third.  For,  1.  Liberius  was  exiled 
after  the  Council  of  Milan,  i.  e.,  towards  the  close  of  tiie  jesr 
355.  After  an  exile  of  over  two  years,  he  returned  to  Rome  in  the 
year  358.  Now,  contemporary  historians,  such  as  Sulpitius  Severus, 
Socrates  and  Theodoret,  without  mentioning  any  condition  or  terms, 
ascribe  the  return  of  Liberius  simply  to  the  urgent  entreaties  of  the 
Roman  ladies,  who  presented  themselves  in  a  body  to  Constantius  on 
his  visit  to  Rome,  and  to  the  seditions  of  the  Romans  which  forced 
the  emperor  to  recall  the  illustrious  exile.  2.  Rufinus,  after 
seeing  Bishop  Fortunatian  of  Aquileja,  who  was  said  to  have  in- 
duced Liberius  to  sign  the  formula  in  question,  writes  :  "  Liberius, 
bishop  of  Rome,  returned  to  his  see  during  the  lifetime  of 
Constantius;  but  whether  this  permission  was  given  him  because  he 
consented  to  subscribe  to  the  Arian  formula,  or  because  the  emperor 
thought  he  would  conciliate  the  Roman  people  by  this  act  of  clem- 
ency, I  have  not  been  able  to  ascertain."  3.  The  Roman  people  were 
hostile  to  the  Arians  and  would  not  endure  Felix  the  anti-pope  who, 
though  professing  ihe  Nicene  faith,  communicated  with  the  sectaries; 
he  was  on  that  account  deserted,  and  afterward  expelled  by  them  from 
Rome.  But  on  the  return  of  Liberius  the  Roman  people  went  forth 
to  meet  him  and  give  him  a  triumphal  entry  into  the  city.  Now,  the 
Roman  people  would  not  have  given  him  such  a  reception,  had  he 
fallen  in  faith.  4.  Nor  could  Liberius,  had  he  fallen,  have  established 
himself  and  re-assumed  his  attitude  as  defender  of  the  Nicene  faith 
without  a  public  recantation.  Of  such  a  recantation,  however,  noth- 
ing is  known,  nor  that  Liberius  afterward  communicated  with  the 
Arians.  On  the  contrary,  he  condemned  the  Arians  as  before,  repu- 
diated the  Council  of  Rimini ;  and,  when  fifty-nine  Semi-Arian  bishops 
applied,  A.  D.  365,  to  be  admitted  into  communion  with  the  Roman 
Church,  Liberius  received  them  on  condition  of  their  accepting  the 
Nicene  symbol  and  the  "  Homoiision  "  which,  in  his  letter  to  them,  he 
called  "  the  bulwark  of  the  orthodox  faith  against  Arian  heresy." 


192  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

176.  Of  the  writings  and  passages  in  which  mention  is  made  of 
the  alleged  fall  of  Liberius,  some  are  evidently  not  genuine,  others  are 
interpolated,  (a.)  Thus,  the  four  letters  which  are  ascribed  to  our  Pope 
bear  intrinsic  evidence  of  another  authorship  and  of  their  forgery. 
That  the  Arians  did  not  shrink  from  forging  documents,  is  a  well- 
known  fact  in  the  history  of  Athanasius.  (b.)  The  two  passages  of  St. 
Athanasius  in  his  Apology  against  the  Arians  and  History  of  the 
Arians,  which  refer  to  this  imputation,  are  manifestly  interpolated, 
since  the  two  works  were  written  at  a  period  prior  to  the  supposed 
fall  of  Liberius.  (c.)  The  fragments  of  St.  Hilary  which  are  cited 
against  Liberius,  on  account  of  the  intrinsic  contradictions  they  con- 
tain, are  evidently  spurious.  The  account  given  of  the  charge  by 
writers  who  were  almost  contemporaries  of  Liberius,  leaves  no  doubt 
that  it  was  a  fiction  of  the  Arians,  which  was  believed  also  on  popu- 
lar rumor  by  St.  Jerome,  who  heard  the  calumny  from  the  Arians  in 
Palestine  !  Besides,  the  passages  of  Jerome  referring  to  our  question, 
if  not  interpolated  as  they  seem  to  be,  are  founded  on  the  forged  let- 
ters of  Liberius  and  the  spurious  fragments  of  Hilary.  But,  be  this 
as  it  may,  even  if  we  admit  the  fall  of  Liberius,  no  argument  can  be 
derived  therefrom  against  papal  infallibility.  His  yielding  to  open 
violence  was  but  a  personal  weakness  and  does  not  prove  that  the 
Pope  fell  by  heresy,  since  he  gave  no  doctrinal  definition,  nor  imposed 
a  heresy  upon  the  Church.  One  admitted  requirement  for  an  "  ex-ca- 
thedra" definition  was  wanting,  i.  e.,  freedom.  His  defence  of 
orthodoxy,  as  well  before,  as  after  his  banishment,  is  unquestionable. 

111.  The  supposed  fall  of  the  illustrious  Bishop  Hosius  is  no  less 
improbable,  since  it  is  plainly  rejected  by  such  authorities  as  Sulpitius 
Severus  and  St.  Augustine.  About  him  similar  lies  were  fabricated 
and  circulated  as  they  were  about  Liberius.  St.  Athanasius  assures  us  that 
Hosius,  broken  down  by  old  age  and  vanquished  by  tortures,  gave  way  for 
a  moment  and  communicated  with  the  Arians,  but  without  subscribing 
against  him  or  the  orthodox  faith.  Renewing  the  condemnation  of 
the  Arian  heresy,  the  venerable  prelate  died  in  exile,  or  according  to 
another  account,  in  Spain,  A.  D.  357. 


DECLIl^E  AND  END  OF  ART  AN  ISM.  193 

SECTION  LXII. DECLINE  AND  END  OP  ARIANISM  IN  THE  ROMAN  EMPIRE. 

Councils  of  Seleucia  and  Rimini— Triumph  of  Arianism— Death  of  €onstan- 
tius — Fourth  and  Fifth  Exile  of  St.  Athanasius  under  Julian  and  Valens 
— Final  Triumph  of  the  Nicene  Faith  under  Theodosius  the  Great — 
Arianism  among  the  Barbarians. 

1*78.     With  the  view  of  uniting  the  conflicting  parties  among  the 
Arians  and  forcing  their  creed  upon  the  Catholic  Church,  Constantius 
caused  the  convocation  of  two  separate  Synods  :  one  at  Rimini  in 
Italy,  for  the  Western,  and  the  other  at  Seleucia,  for  the  Eastern 
bishops,  A.  D.  359.     The  former  w^as  attended  by  about  four  hundred 
bishops,  eighty  of  whom  were  Arians  ;  while  one  hundred  and  six 
assembled  at  Seleucia,  of  whom  one  hundred  and  five  belonged  to  the 
Semi-Arian  party.    A  Semi-Arian  formula,  similar  to  the  last  of  Sirmi- 
um  and  known  as  the  fourth  Sirmian  creed,  was  held  in  readiness  to 
be  presented  to  the  bipartite  Council.     This  the  Catholic  bishops  at 
first  rejected,  insisting  upon  the  adoption  of  the  word  "  Usia,"  or 
"substance,"  in  the  creed,  and  demanding  that  all    present  should 
forthwith  subscribe  to  the  condemnajbion  of  the  Arian  heresy.     After 
a  prolonged   struggle   between    the    contending   parties,   the   artful 
hypocrisy  of   the  Arians,  and  the  threats   of   the    emperor  induced 
nearly  all  the  bishops  of  both  Councils  to  give  up  the  "  Homoiision," 
and  to  sign  the  "  Homoean  "  formula  expressing  "  a  mere  likeness  of  the 
Son  to  the  Father,  according  to  the  Scriptures  !"     Thus  the  Fathers, 
(the   majority  of  whom  were   and   remained   orthodox,  suffered   the 
[palladium  of  the  Catholic  faith  to  be  w^renched  from  their  hands  by 
fraud  and  open  violence.     It  was   on   this  occasion  that  St.  Jerome 
^wrote  :     "  The  w^hole   world  groaned   to   find  itself  Arian."      Pope 
aberius  had  no  part  in  these  synods  and  promptly  annulled  their  acts. 
179.     With  the  death  of  Constantius,  A.  D.  361,  Arianism  began 
decline    rapidly.      Julian   recalled   the   banished   bishops   of   all 
jarties  ;    St.  Athanasius  also,  after  an  exile  of   six  years,  returned 
[to  Alexandria,  George,  the  Arian  usurper  of  his  see,  having  been 
jlain  by  the  Pagans  the  year  before.     On  account  of  the  numerous 
Iconversions  he  made,  Athanasius  was  banished  for  the  fourth  time, 
but  was  recalled  by  Jovian,  A.  D.  363,  and  with  him  came  the  triumph 
jof  his  cause.     The  Nicene  Faith  was  now  everywhere  re-established, 
|and,  under  Valentinian  I.,  became  predominant  throughout  the  West- 
em  Empire.     In  the  East,  Arianism  found  a  zealous  supporter  in  the 
Emperor  Valens.     Under   him,  Athanasius  in    365  suffered  his  fifth 
ibanishment,   and    for   four   months  lay  hid  in  his  father's  tomb,  till 


194  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  fear  of  an  insurrection  moved  Valens  to  recall  him.  The  great 
champion  of  orthodoxy  was  thenceforth  permitted  to  govern  his 
church  in  peace  until  his  death,  A.  D.  373. 

180.  With  the  death  of  Valens,  Arianism  lost  its  last  support. 
The  Emperor  Gratian,  who  professed  the  Nicene  faith,  issued  an 
edict  of  toleration,  which  greatly  strengthened  the  orthodox  cause. 
The  downfall  of  Arianism  was  completed  by  the  celebrated  edict  of 
Theodosius,  A.  D.  380,  in  which  that  emperor  exhorted  all  his  sub- 
jects to  embrace  the  teachings  of  Nice.  He  took  the  churches  from 
the  Arians,  restoring  them  to  the  Catholics,  and  prohibited  the  assem- 
blies of  heretics.  In  the  Eastern  Empire,  under  Arcadius  and  Theo- 
dosius II.,  Arianism  dwindled  into  utter  insignificance.  In  Italy, 
the  Empress  Justina,  mother  of  Yalentinian  II.,  favored  the 
Arians,  but  her  efforts  were  thwarted  by  St.  Ambrose  of  Milan. 
The  most  prominent  of  those  who  labored  earnestly  in  the  defence  of 
the  Catholic  faith  against  the  Arians,  after  the  great  Athanasius,  were, 
the  Cappadocians — Basil  the  Great,  Gregory  Nazianzen  and  Gregory 
of  Nyssa — Ephraem  the  Syrian,  Diodorus  of  Tarsus,  Cyril  of  Jeru- 
salem, Epiphanius  of  Salamis,  and  St.  John  Chrysostom. 

181.  Crushed  out  of  the  Roman  Empire,  Arianism  took  refuge 
among  the  Germanic  nations,  which,  in  subsequent  centuries,  overran 
Italy,  Gaul,  Spain  and  Africa.  These  barbarians  had  received  Chris- 
tianity in  the  form  of  Arianism  during  the  reign  of  the  Emperor 
Valens.  The  Ostrogoths  in  Italy  remained  Arians  till  A.  D.  553, 
w^hen  Italy  was  reconquered  by  Justinian  ;  the  Visigoths  in  Spain  till 
the  Synod  of  Toledo,  A.  D.  589  ;  the  Vandals  in  Africa  till  530,  when 
they  were  expelled  by  Belisarius  ;  the  Burgundians  till  their  subjuga- 
tion by  the  Franks  in  534  ;  and  the  Lombards  in  Italy  till  the  reign 
of  King  Grimoald,  A.  D.  662-672. 

SECTION  LXIII. THE   HERESIES   OF   MACEDONIUS,  APOLLINARIS   AND 

PHOTINUS — SECOND  GENERAL  COUNCIL  OF  CON- 
STANTINOPLE,   A.    D.    381. 

Second  Ecumenicad  Council — Its  Object — Macedonian  Heresy— Synods  of 
Alexandria  and  Rome — Constantinopolitan  Creed— Photinus — His  Her- 
esy— Hi^  Condemnation— Apollinaris — His  Doctrine — His  Condemnation 
by  various  Councils. 

182.  In  order  to  re-establish  the  Nicene  Faith  also  in  the  East, 
and  to  provide  for  the  capital  an  orthodox  bishop,  the  Emperor  Theo- 
dosius convened  a  great  Council  at  Constantinople.  It  met  in  May, 
A.  D.  381,  and  was  presided  over  by  Meletius  of  Antioch.     On  his 


HERESY  OF  MAVEDONIUS.  195 

death,  Gregory  Nazianzen,  whom,  in  the  mean  while,  the  Council  Had 
established  in  the  See  of  Constantinople  to  the  exclusion  of  the  pre- 
tender Maximus,  was  called  to  preside;  and  after  his  resignation,  Nec- 
tarius  was  chosen  to  succeed  him  in  the  capital  See  and  as  president 
of  the  Council.  There  were  assembled  one  hundred  and  fifty  orthodox 
bishops  from  the  East.  The  most  eminent  among  them  were,  besides 
Meletius  and  Gregory  Nazianzen,  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  and  his  brother 
Peter  of  Sebaste;  Amphilochius  of  Iconium,  Diodorus  of  Tarsus, 
Cyril  of  Jerusalem,  and  his  nephew  Gelasius  of  Caesarea  in  Palestine. 

183.  The  Western  Church  enjoying  at  this  time  an  almost  perfect 
peace,  was  not  represented  at  the  Council.  Of  the  Macedonians,  who 
had  been  invited  in  the  vain  hope  of  winning  them  over  to  the  ortho- 
dox faith,  there  were  thirty-six  present;  but  they  soon  left  the  Council 
protesting  against  its  proceedings.  As  there  were  only  Eastern 
bishops  present,  this  Synod  attained  the  rank  and  force  of  an  Ecumen- 
ical Council  only  after  it  had  been  accorded  the  assent  of  Pope  Da- 
masus  and  the  bishops  of  the  West.  It  is  celebrated  for  its  condem- 
nation of  of  the  Macedonian,  Apollinarian,  and  Photinian  heresies. 

184.  Arianism,  in  rejecting  the  consubstantiality  of  the  Son, 
necessarily  led  to  the  denial  of  the  Divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost.  But 
the  violent  contest  with  the  Arians,  would  not  permit  the  discussion 
of  the  dogma  regarding  the  Third  Person  of  the  Trinity,  till  it  was 
forced  upon  the  Church  by  the  Semi- Arians.  On  account  of  their 
i  denying  the  Divinity  of  the  Holy  Spirit,  they  were  called  "  Pneuma- 
tomachists,"  or  adversaries  of  the  Holy  Ghost ;  they  were  also  known 
as  Macedonians  from  Macedonius,  the  intruding  bishop  of  Con- 
stantinople, who  was  the  founder  of  this  heresy.     Separating  the  Holy 

Jpirit  from  the  Unity  of  the  Father  and  the  Son,  they  inferred  that  he 
was  not  a  Divine  Person,  being  wholly  dissimilar  to  the  Father  and 
the  Son;  that  he  was  but  their  servant  and  a  mere  creature,  though 
more  perfect  than  other  creatures.  St.  Athanasius  was  the  first  who 
defended  the  Divinity  of  the  Holy  Ghost  against  the  Macedonians 
and,  under  his  presidency,  the  Council  of  Alexandria,  A.  D.  362, 
declared  the  "  Consubstantiality  of  the  Holy  Spirit  with  the  Father 
and  the  Son."  This  doctrine  was  confirmed  by  the  Roman  Synods 
held  under  Pope  Damasus,  which  declared  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be 
increate,  and  of  one  essence  and  power  with  the  Father  and  the  Son; 
and  anathematized  Arius,  Macedonius,  and  all  others  who  refused  to 
assert  the  Holy  Spirit's  eternity,  his  procession  from  the  Father  and 
his  perfect  unity  with  the  Father  and  the  Son. 

185.  The  Ecumenical  Council  of  Constantinople  affirmed  the 
condemnation  of  the  Macedonian  heresy,  and  enlarged  the  Kicene 


196  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

Syrnbol,  adding  the  words  :  "  We  believe  in  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  Lord 
and  Giver  of  life,  who  proceedeth  from  the  Father;  who  together  with 
the  Father  and  the  Son  is  adored  and  glorified,  who  spoke  by  the  Proph- 
ets." The  same  Council  also  renewed  the  condemnation  of  the 
Sabellians  who  baptized  by  immersion,  but  without  the  invocation  of 
the  three  Divine  Persons. 

186.  Photinus,  who  was  a  disciple  of  Marcellus  of  Ancyra  and 
bishop  of  Sirmium,  reviving  Sabellianism  denied  the  plurality  of  Per- 
sons in  the  Trinity.  Insisting  upon  a  subtle  distinction  between  the 
"  Word  and  the  Son,"  he  inferred  that  the  Word  of  the  Father,  or 
Logos,  was  a  divine  yet  impersonal  power,  that  is,  the  divine  reason 
of  the  Father  working  externally.  He  denied  the  Divinity  of  Christ, 
who  was  to  him  not  the  begotten  Son  of  the  Father,  but  only  his 
adopted  Son,  and  no  more  than  the  Logos  dwelling  in  the  man  Jesus, 
whose  existence  began  only  with  his  birth  from  Mary.  In  like  man- 
ner Photinus  held  that  the  Holy  Ghost  was  but  a  divine  power  with- 
out any  personality.  This  heresy  was  condemned  at  Antioch,  A.  D. 
344,  at  Milan,  A.  D.  347,  and  by  the  first  Synod  of  Sirmium,  which  also 
pronounced  sentence  of  deposition  against  its  author.  His  condemna- 
tion was  confirmed  by  the  second  Ecumenical  Council.  Photinus  died 
A.  D.  366. 

187.  The  opposite  heresy,  denying  the  true  and  full  Humanity  of 
Christ,  was  advocated  by  Apollinaris,  bishop  of  Laodicea  in  Syria. 
Adopting  the  psychological  trichotomy  of  Plato,  the  doctrine  affirm- 
ing three  component  parts  of  man — spirit,  soul  and  body — he  main- 
tained that  Christ  had,  indeed,  a  human  body  and  human  passions,  or 
a  sensitive  soul,  but  not  a  spirit,  or  rational  soul.  This  was  supplied 
in  him  by  the  Divine  Word ;  consequently  Christ  had  no  human  will, 
which  would  mean  that  he  was  not  impeccable.  The  Apollinarians 
denied  that  Christ  assumed  fiesh  from  the  Virgin  Mary ;  his  body, 
which  was  heavenly  and  divine,  as  they  maintained,  merely  passed 
through  her  virginal  womb.  This  heresy  was  ably  refuted  by  St. 
Athanasius  and  condemned  by  the  Synods  of  Alexandria  in  362,  of 
Rome  under  Pope  Damasus  ;  and  lastly,  by  the  second  Ecumenical 
Council  of  Constantinople,  which  proclaimed  "  Christ  is  true  God 
and  true  man."  After  the  death  of  Apollinaris,  which  occurred  about 
A.  D.  380,  his  followers  were  divided  into  two  parties:  the  Timotheans 
and  Valentinians.  During  the  fifth  century  they  were  absorbed  by 
the  Monophysites. 


PELAGIANISM.  197 

SECTION    LXIV. PELAGIANISM. 

Pelagius  and  Coelestius — Account  of  their  Early  Career — Pelagian  Doctrine 
— Propositiones  Coelestii — Their  Condemnation  by  African  Synods — Pope 
Zosimus — His  Epistola  Tractatoria— Julian  of  Eclanum — Pelagianism 
Condemned  by  the  Council  of  Ephesus. 

188.  Arianism  had  hardly  been  crushed,  when  a  new  heresy 
was  raised  in  the  African  Church  by  two  natives  of  Britain,  Pela- 
gius, a  monk  from  Bangor  in  Wales,  and  Coelestius,  an  attorney  at 
law.  About  the  year  400,  the  two  came  to  Rome  for  the  purpose  of 
continuing  their  studies.  Here  Pelagius  embraced  the  errors  of  the 
monk  Rufinus,  concerning  the  exemption  of  human  nature  from  inborn 
and  inherited  corruption.  During  the  ten  years  of  his  stay  at  Rome, 
he  occupied  himself  in  writing  commentaries  on  the  Epistles  of  St. 
Paul,  into  which  he  introduced  many  heterodox  opinions  on  original 
sin,  free  will,  and  grace.  The  fundamental  error  of  Pelagius  was  his 
denial  of  original  sin,  and  of  the  necessity  of  divine  grace  for  man. 

189.  In  411,  Pelagius  and  Coelestius  went  to  Carthage  for  the 
purpose  of  receiving  priestly  ordination.  Warned  by  Paulinus,  a  dea- 
con of  Milan,  Aurelius,  the  metropolitan  of  Carthage,  convoked  a  Coun- 
cil A.  D.  412,  which  condemned,  under  the  title  of  "Propositiones 
Coelestii,"  six  leading  articles  of  the  new  heresy.  They  were  :  1. 
Adam  was  created  mortal,  and  would  have  died  whether  he  had 
sinned  or  not.  2.  Adam's  sin  injured  only  himself  and  not  the  human 
race.  3.  Newborn  infants  are  in  the  same  condition  in  which  Adam 
was  before  his  fall.  4.  The  sin  of  Adam  is  not  the  cause  of  death, 
nor  is  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh  the  consequence  of  the  Resurrection 
of  Christ.  5.  The  Law  of  Moses  is  as  good  a  means  of  salvation  as 
the  Gospel  of  Christ.  6.  Even  before  the  coming  of  Christ,  there 
were  impeccable  men,  that  is,  men  without  sin. 

190.  Coelestius,  refusing  to  recant  his  errors,  was  excommuni- 
cated by  the  Council.  He  appealed  to  Rome,  but,  without  waiting  to 
urge  his  appeal,  he  left  for  Asia  Minor  and  was  ordained  priest  at 
Ephesus.  Pelagius  in  the  meanwhile  had  gone  to  Palestine,  where 
St.  Jerome  and  Orosius  of  Spain  were  his  chief  opponents.  They  ac- 
cused him  before  a  Synod  held  at  Jerusalem,  A.  D.  415,  which,  how- 
ever, gave  no  decision,  but  referred  the  matter  to  Pope  Innocent  I. 
The  same  year,  a  Council  of  fourteen  bishops  was  held  at  Diospolis,  or 
Lydda,  in  which  Pelagius  was  obliged  to  appear.  By  evasive  and 
equivocal  answers  he  succeeded  in  clearing  himself  from  the  charge 
of  heresy,  and  was  declared  orthodox.  The  African  bishops,  how- 
ever, who  were   not  to   be   imposed  upon  so  easily,  reiterated   the 


198  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

condemnation  of  the  Pelagian  heresy,  at  the  Councils  of  Carthage  and 
Milevis,  A.  D.  316,  and,  writing  to  Innocent  I.,  begged  him  to  give  a 
final  decision  on  the  subject.  This  the  Pope  did  without  delay. 
Early  in  417,  he  held  a  Synod  at  Rome  and  ratified  the  decisions  of 
the  African  Councils,  as  well  as  the  condemnation  of  Pelagius  and 
Coelestius.  It  was  upon  this  occasion  that  St.  Augustine,  speaking  on 
the  papal  decisions  to  his  people,  exclaimed  :  "  Rome  has  spoken, 
the  affair  is  ended." 

191.  Pelagius  wrote  to  the  Pope  to  justify  himself,  and  Coelestius 
went  to  Rome  in  person,  where,  meanwhile,  Zosimus  had  ascended 
the  papal  chair.  The  new  Pontiff,  not  detecting  the  wiles  of  their 
equivocal  creed,  and  trusting  their  solemn  protest  that  "they  con- 
demned all  that  Pope  Innocent  I.  had  condemned,"  believed  them  un- 
justly persecuted.  He  wrote  to  the  African  bishops  to  reconsider 
their  cause,  that  is,  the  personal  heterodoxy  of  the  two  sectaries  ;  yet, 
in  the  meantime,  the  Pope  would  not  remove  their  excommunication, 
nor  did  he  alter  in  the  least  the  doctrinal  decision  of  his  predecessor. 
The  African  bishops,  two  hundred  in  number,  assembling  again  at 
Carthage,  A.  D.  318,  maintained  their  former  decision.  Pope  Zozi- 
mus,  now  better  informed,  confirmed  their  decision  in  his  "  Epistola 
Tractatoria,"  and  Emperor  Honorius  banished  the  heretics.  After 
this  Pelagius  vanishes  from  history  ;  of  his  end  nothing  is  known. 

192.  The  more  courageous  and  active  Coelestius  still  kept  up  the 
vain  strife.  In  Italy  eighteen  bishops  refused  to  subscribe  to  the  sen- 
tence of  the  Pope ;  they  were  deposed  and  banished.  Chief  among 
them  was  Julian  of  Eclanum  in  Apulia,  who  appealed  to  a  General 
Council.  He  was  accordingly  deposed  and  afterwards  exiled  by  the 
Emperor  Honorius,  A.  D.  418.  After  the  death  of  Honorius,  Julian 
and  Coelestius  applied  to  Pope  Coelestine  I.  for  another' hearing,  but 
were  refused.  They  then  went  to  Constantinople,  seeking  the  pro- 
tection of  the  patriarch  Nestorius,  but  were  compelled  by  Marius 
Mercator,  a  learned  layman  who  exposed  their  heretical  views,  to 
leave  the  city.  Pelagianism,  which  never  became  popular,  but  was 
confined  to  men  of  learning,  was,  together  with  Nestorianism,  con- 
demned by  the  Ecumenical  Council  of  Ephesus,  A.  D.  431.  After 
this,  we  hear  no  more  of  Julian  until  his  death,  which  took  place  in 
Sicily,  A.  D.  454.     Of  the  death  of  Coelestius  history  is  silent. 


SEMI-  PEL  A  OIAN18M.  199 

SECTION  LXV. SEMI-PELAGIANISM PREDESTINARIANS. 

St.  Augustine,  the  Champion  of  Orthodoxy  against  Pelagianism  and  Semi- 
Pelagianism  —  His  Doctrines  —  Semi-Pelagian  Doctrines  —  Advocates  of 
semi-Pelagianism— Condemnation  by  various  Councils — Predestinarians. 

193.  The  great  champion  of  orthodoxy  against  Pelagianism  was 
St.  Augustine.  He  followed  up  the  heresy  for  twenty  years,  and 
died  with  the  assurance,  that  pierced  by  so  many  darts,  it  could  not 
long  survive  him.  The  leading  doctrines  which  the  great  Doctor  in 
the  name  of  the  Church  defended  against  Pelagius  were  :  1.  Man  in 
his  original  state  enjoyed,  besides  the  natural,  also  certain  supernatural 
gifts ;  he  was  in  the  state  of  innocence,  holiness,  and  happiness, 
enriched  by  divine  grace  and  endowed  with  a  superior  knowledge  and 
free  will  which  was  an  agent  for  good  ;  he  enjoyed  perfect  harmony 
and  happiness  in  soul  and  body,  immunity  from  sufferings  and  immor- 
tality even  of  the  body.  These  supernatural  gifts  were  to  devolve 
upon  the  whole  human  race.  2.  In  consequence  of  sin,  Adam  was 
deprived  of  all  his  supernatural  endowments,  and,  at  the  same  time, 
also  weakened  in  his  natural  faculties,  the  will  and  the  intellect 
(spoliatus  supernaturalibus,  vulneratus  in  naturalibus).  3.  The  sin 
of  Adam  infected  all  his  posterity  ;  in  him,  the  Father  and  Repre- 
sentative of  the  whole  human  race,  all  have  sinned,  wherefore,  both 
the  guilt  and  punishment  of  his  sin  passed  unto  all  men,  not  indeed 
by  imitation,  but  by  propagation.  Hence  the  necessity  of  Baptism, 
in  order  to  obtain  remission  of  original  sin.  4.  By  sin  also  the 
"  libertas,"  i.  e.,  freedom  of  the  children  of  God,  was  lost ;  but  the 
liberum  arbitrium,  i.  e.,  free  will,  though  weakened,  was  left  to  man 
even  after  his  fall. 

194.  5.  Without  God  and  his  aid,  man  can  do  absolutely  noth- 
ing towards  his  salvation.  Man,  therefore,  stands  in  need  of  both  the 
"  gratia  habitualis "  (sanctifying  grace),  by  which  he  is  enabled  to 
regain  his  former  high  estate,  and  the  gratia  curationis,  actualis, 
(medicinal  and  actual  grace),  which,  according  to  the  various  degrees 
of  assistance  it  communicates,  is  called  respectively  gratia  excitans 
sen  praseveniens  (exciting,  or  preventing  grace),  gratia  adjuvans  seu 
concomitans  (helping,  or  concomitant  grace)  and  gratia  executiva  seu 
consequens  (executive,  or  consequent  grace).  6.  Grace  does  not 
destroy  or  impair  free  will,  but  strengthens  it,  and  gives  it  exertion 
in  performing  supernatural  works  ;  the  will  stands  in  need  of  grace 
both  to  desire  good  and  to  do  good.  7.  With  the  grace  of  God  man 
can  avoid  every  sin ;  yet,  to  pass  one's  whole  life  without  committing 


200  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  least  sin,  is  an  extraordinary  grace  which  God  does  not  usually 
grant  to  man.  8.  Grace  is  a  gratuitous  gift  of  God,  not  at  all  due  to 
man  ;  it  is  given  to  man  gratuitously,  and  not  on  account  of  his 
merits  (non  meritis  redditur,  sed  gratis  datur). 

195.  More  important  was  the  conflict  which  St.  Augustine  had 
with  the  Semi-Pelagians.  This  heresy,  holding  a  middle  course 
between  the  orthodox  doctrine  and  that  of  Pelagius,  denied  1.  The 
necessity  of  preventing  grace  (gratia  praeveniens)  for  the  beginning 
of  faith,  which  they  maintained  to  be  from  man  himself ;  2.  The 
"  donum  perseverantiae,"  or  gift  of  perseverance,  and  3.  The  gratu- 
itous predestination,  maintaining  that  God  foreordains  some  unto 
election,  because  of  the  foreknowledge  He  has  of  their  merits  (prsevisis 
meritis).  As  early  as  A.  D.  427,  many  persons,  but  particularly  the 
monks  of  Adrumetum  in  Northern  Africa,  pretended  to  discover  in  the 
writings  of  St.  Augustine  doctrines  subversive  of  free  will.  To 
explain  himself  more  clearly  on  this  point,  Augustine  wrote  his  two 
works  "  On  Grace  and  Free  Will,"  and  "  On  Correction  and  Grace," 
in  which  he  declares  man  a  free  agent,  and  defends  the  necessity  of 
co-operating  with  divine  grace.  Being  informed  by  Hilary  and  Pros- 
per, two  pious  laymen  from  Gaul,  that  certain  priests  and  monks  of 
that  country  objected  to  his  doctrine  on  Grace  and  Predestination  as 
being  too  harsh  and  destroying  free  will,  St.  Augustine,  to  confute 
them,  wrote  his  two  works  "  On  the  Predestination  of  the  Saints," 
and  "  On  the  Gift  of  Perseverance." 

196.  The  prin^cipal  advocate  of  Semi-Pelagianism  was  the  pious 
Abbot  John  Cassianus  of  Marseilles  (died  A.  D.  433).  From  this 
city,  where  the  Semi-Pelagians  were  most  numerous,  they  were  also 
called  "  Massilians."  Among  those  who  seemed  to  have  favored  Semi- 
Pelagianism  are  mentioned  Faustus,  bishop  of  Riez,  Gennadius  of 
Marseilles,  and  even  the  celebrated  Vincent  Lerins.  These  men, 
however,  seemed  to  have  erred  without  obstinacy,  as  Semi-Pelagianism 
had  not  yet  been  condemned  by  the  Church.  Pope  Coelestine  I. 
censured  the  doctrine  of  Cassianus  without  condemning  him. 
Some  Pelagian  doctrines  were  formally  condemned  by  the  Councils 
of  Orange  in  529,  and  Valentia  in  530,  and  the  sentence  was  ratified 
by  Pope  Boniface  II.  The  principal  persons  who  undertook  the 
defence  of  the  Augustinian  doctrine  against  the  Semi-Pelagians, 
particularly  against  Faustus,  were  Claudianus  Mamertus  of  Vienne, 
the  African  bishop  Possessor,  and  St.  Fulgentius  of  Ruspe. 

197.  The  very  contrary  of  Pelagianism  was  the  doctrine  of  the 
Predestinarians,  who  asserted  a  "  Praedestinatio  ad  vitam  et  ad  mor- 
tem," and  held  that  God  from  eternity  predestined  the  righteous  to 


NESTORIANISM.  201 

everlasting  life,  and  the  wicked  to  everlasting  death.  The  author  of 
this  doctrine  was  Lucidus,  a  priest  from  Gaul,  who,  however,  retract- 
ed at  the  Synod  of  Aries,  A.  D.  475.  The  system  of  the  Predestina- 
rians  was  condemned  by  the  Synod  of  Aries,  and  that  of  Lyons  in 

480. 

SECTIOX  LXVI. NESTORIANISM THIRD  GENERAL  COUNCIL  OF 

EPHESUS,  A.  D.  431. 

Christology  of  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia — Leporius — Nestorius  of  Constan- 
tinople—His Heresy — Cyril  of  Alexandria  against  Nestorius — Pope 
Coelestine  I. — Council  of  Rome — Council  of  Ephesus — Decree  of  Council 
— John  of  Antioch — His  Schismatical  Conventicle — Exile  and  Death  of 
Nestorius — Reconciliation  of  John  of  Antioch — Nestorianism  Proscribed 
— St.  Rabulas  and  Ibas  of  Edessa — Nestorians  in  Persia — Barsumas — 
Babaeus — Chaldean  Christians — Christians  of  St.  Thomas. 

198.  The  question  as  to  how  the  two  natures  were  united  and  co- 
existed in  Christ,  gave  rise  to  prolonged  and,  at  times,  sharp  contro- 
versies between  the  Alexandrian  and  Antiochian  schools,  which 
finally  resulted  in  three  new  heresies,  Nestorianism,  Monophysitism 
and  Monotheletism.  Urging  too  much  the  distinction  of  the  two  na- 
tures in  Christ,  Theodore  of  Mopsuestia  asserted  only  an  external 
union  between  them,  which  led  him  to  teach  two  distinct  persons  in 
the  God-Man.  His  doctrine  was  further  developed  in  the  West  by  the 
Gallic  priest  Leporius,  and  in  the  East  by  Nestorius.  Leporius  was 
afterwards  convinced  of  his  errors  by  St.  Augustine  and  induced  to 
recant  them  publicly. 

199.  Nestorius,  a  native  of  Germanicia  in  Syria,  was  a  monk  and 
priest  from  Antioch.  On  the  death  of  Sisinnius,  in  428,  he  was  pro- 
moted to  the  see  of  Constantinople.  He  distinguished  himself  by  an 
intemperate  zeal  against  the  prevailing  heresies,  particularly  Apol- 
linarianism.  In  his  inaugural  oration  he  thus  presumptuously  ad- 
dressed the  Emperor  Theodosius  :  "  Give  me  a  world  free  from 
heresy,  and  I  will  give  thee  the  kingdom  of  heaven ;  assist  me  in  put- 
ting down  the  heretics,  I  will  aid  thee  in  conquering  the  Persians." 
He  procured  an  imperial  law  of  the  utmost  severity  against  all 
heretics,  and  excited  a  violent  persecution  against  the  Novatians, 
Quartodecimans  and  Macedonians.  Denying  the  hypostatical  union 
in  Christ,  Nestorius  affirmed  that  the  hujnan  nature  of  our  Lord  had  a 
distinct  subsistence,  or  personality,  and  was  only  morally  united  with 
the  Divine  Nature  and  Person.  Christ  was  to  him  but  a  mere  man 
"  containing  God  within  himself  "  (Theodochos),  and  the  Incarnation 
meant  no  more  than  "  an  in-dwelling  of  the  Logos  in  the  man  Jesus,"  in 


302  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

whom,  he  said,  he  dwelt  as  in  a  temple.  Consequently,  God  had 
not  truly  been  made  man,  and  Christ  was  not  God-Man,  but  only 
"bore  God  in  his  human  person"  [Theophoros) .  This  led  Nestorius 
to  assert:  1.  That  in  Christ  there  were  two  distinct  persons,  one 
divine  (Logos),  and  the  other  human  (Jesus),  and  two  son  ships,  one 
begotten  of  God  the  Father,  and  the  other  born  of  Mary ;  2.  That  the 
Blessed  Virgin  was  not  the  "Mother  of  God"  {Theotocos),  but  only 
the  "Mother  of  a  man  called  Christ"  (Christotocos),  since  she  be- 
got only  a  human  person  with  whom  the  divine  Logos  had  united 
himself. 

200.  The  heresy  made  its  first  appearance  in  a  sermon  preached  in 
the  presence  of  Nestorius  by  his  friend,  the  presbyter  Anastasius.  Anas- 
tasius  preached  publicly  that  it  was  improper  and  even  injurious  to  ad- 
drsss  the  Virgin  Mary  as  the  Mother  of  God.  She  was  but  a  human 
being,  and  God  cannot  be  born  of  a  human  being.  This  pernicious  error 
was  openly  approved  by  Nestorius.  When  the  news  of  the  scandal 
reached  Alexandria,  Cyril,  its  worthy  patriarch,  in  his  Easter-pastoral, 
at  once  combated  the  rising  heresy,  vindicating  the  honor  of  the  Mother 
of  God  against  Nestorius.  Cyril  then  brought  the  matter  before  Pope 
Celestine  L,  to  whom  Nestorius  had  already  appealed.  In  a  Synod 
held  at  Rome,  A.  D.  430,  the  Pope  condemned  the  errors  of  Nestorius 
and  threatened  him  with  deposition  if  he  would  not  retract  within  ten 
days.  Cyril,  as  Vicar  Apostolic,  being  charged  with  the  execution  of 
the  papal  sentence,  at  once  called  a  Synod  of  all  the  bishops  of  Egypt, 
and  submitted  to  them  twelve  propositions  with  anathemas,  hence 
called  "  anathematisms,"  which  he  had  drawn  up  against  the  doctrine 
of  two  separate  persons  in  Christ.  These,  with  the  Pope's  letter,  he 
sent  to  the  heresiarch,  who  answered  by  sending  him  twelve  counter- 
anathemas.  In  this  controversy  the  distinguished  Theodoret  of 
Cyrus  and  John,  patriarch  of  Antioch,  sided  with  Nestorius  ;  the  lat- 
ter even  became  the  leader  of  the  party. 

201 .  The  controversy  becoming  more  exciting,  Theodosius  II.,  with 
the  consent  of  the  Pope  called  the  Third  General  Council  of  Ephesus, 
A.  D.  431.  There  were  present  over  two  hundred  bishops  ;  Cyril, 
with  three  other  legates,  was  appointed  to  preside.  After  a  long  de- 
lay caused  by  John  of  Antioch  and  his  Syrian  suffragans,  Cyril  opened 
the  Council.  Nestorius  refusing  to  obey  the  repeated  summons  to 
appear  before  the  Council  was,  in  accordance  with  the  ecclestical 
canons  and  the  instructions  of  the  Pope,  deposed  and  cut  off  from  tlie 
Church,  and  his  doctrine  condemned  as  heretical. 

202.  Confirming  the  "anathematisms"  of  Cyril,  the  Council 
defined  "  that  Christ  consists  of  one  divine  person,  but  of  two  distinct 


NE8T0R1ANI8M.  203 

natures,  one  divine,  the  other  human,  not  mixed  and  confounded, 
although  intimately  (hypostatically)  united,  so  that  He,  true  God  and 
the  Son  of  God  by  nature,  was  born  according  to  the  flesh  of  the 
Blessed  Virgin,  who,  consequently,  is  truly  the  Mother  of  God  (Theo- 
tocos)y  The  joy  of  the  Ephesians,  who  had  anxiously  waited 
during  the  whole  day  for  the  decision,  was  unbounded  when  they 
learned  that  this,  heresy  had  been  condemned,  and  that  the  title 
"  Mother  of  God  "  was  solemnly  acknowledged  by  the  Council. 

203.  Six  days  after,  John  of  Antioch  arrived  at  Ephesus,  but 
instead  of  associating  with  the  Council,  he  held  a  pseudo-synod  of  the 
friends  of  Nestorius.  The  schismatical  conventicle  consisting  of  forty- 
three  bishops,  presumed  to  declare  void  the  proceedings  of  the  lawful 
Council,  and  to  excommunicate  Cyril  and  his  adherents.  The  Em- 
peror Theodosius  at  first  favored  the  Nestorian  party,  and  Cyril  and 
Bishop  Memnon  of  Ephesus  were  held  under  arrest ;  but,  when 
informed  of  the  true  state  of  affairs,  he  granted  liberty  to  Cyril  and 
Memnon,  and  ratified  the  deposition  of  Nestorius,  in  whose  place 
Maximian  was  chosen  bishop  of  Constantinople.  Nestorius  was  sent 
into  Syria  to  a  monastery  near  Antioch  ;  thence,  in  435,  he  was  exiled 
to  Arabia,  and  afterwards  to  Oasis  in  Lybia,  where  he  died,  A.  D.  440. 

204.  John  of  Antioch  and  his  party  continued  in  their  opposition 
for  two  years,  when,  through  the  combined  efforts  of  the  Pope  and  the 
Emperor,  they  became  reconciled  with  Cyril,  and  accepted  the  decrees 
of  Ephesus.  A  few  bishops,  such  as  Meletius  of  Mopsuestia,  and 
Alexander  of  Hierapolis,  who  persisted  in  adhering  to  Nestorius, 
were  banished.  In  435,  Theodosius  passed  a  law  commanding  the 
writings  of  Nestorius  to  be  burned,  and  his  followers  not  be  called 
Christians,  but  "  Simonians." 

205.  Notwithstanding  the  severe  measures  used  in  suppressing 
this  heresy,  it  found  many  advocates,  especially  in  Syria.  This  caused 
St.  Rabulas,  bishop  of  Edessa  in  432  to  close  the  Persian  school,  which 
favored  that  heresy,  and  condemn  the  writings  of  Theodore  of  Mop- 
suestia. and  Diodore  of  Tarsus,  as  the  real  source  of  Nestorianism. 
He  was  opposed  chiefly  by  Ibas,  a  presbyter  of  Edessa,  the  same  that 
wrote  against  Cyril  the  famous  epistle  to  Maris,  bishop  of  Hardaschir 
in  Persia,  which  epistle  was  afterwards  condemned  by  the  Fifth 
General  Council.     Ibas  became  the  successor  of  St.  Rabulas  in  435. 

206.  The  exiled  Nestorians  found  refuge  in  Persia,  where  Bar- 
sumas,  bishop  of  Nisibis,  with  the  aid  of  the. Persian  king,  succeeded 
in  accomplishing  the  separation  of  the  Persian  from  the  Catholic 
Church,  which  was  effected  not  without  violence  and  much  bloodshed. 
About  eight  thousand  are  said  to  have  suffered  martyrdom  for  their 


204  HISTORY  OF  THE  GHURGH. 

steadfastness  in  the  true  faith.  Barsumas  compelled  the  clergy  to 
marry,  and  himself  espoused  a  nun  named  Mammaea.  He  died 
A.  D.  482.  In  the  course  of  time,  the  Nestorians  obtained  posses- 
sion of  nearly  all  the  episcopal  sees  in  Persia.  A  new  patriarchate 
was  founded  at  Seleucia.  A  synod  held  in  499  under  Babaeus,  who 
assumed  the  title  of  "Catholicus"  and  "Patriarch  of  the  East," 
granted  to  the  clergy,  including  bishops  and  monks,  permission  to 
marry.  From  Persia  the  Nestorians  spread  over  Syria,  Mesopotamia, 
Egypt,  Arabia,  and  as  far  as  India  and  China.  In  Persia  and  the 
neighboring  countries  they  are  called  "  Chaldean  Christians "  ;  in 
India,  "  Christians  of  St.  Thomas."  In  the  thirteenth  century  they 
counted  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  bishops  ;  but  their  sect  was  sub- 
sequently greatly  reduced,  partly  by  apostasy  to  Mohamedanism,  and 
partly  by  re-union  with  the  Catholic  Church.  In  1551,  about  eighty 
thousand  Nestorians,  dwelling  in  Mesopotamia  and  the  neighboring 
districts,  returned  to  the  Catholic  Church.  In  1830,  the  united  Chal- 
deans, who  have  their  own  patriarch,  numbered  about  one  hundred 
and  fifty  thousand ;  of  the  Nestorians,  there  are  in  Persia  at  present 
not  more  than  thirty  thousand. 

SECTION  LXVII. THE  MONOPHYSITE  HERESY THE  FOURTH  ECUMENICAL 

COUNCIL  OF  CHALCEDON,   A.  D.  451. 

Eutyches — His  Heresy — Synod  of  Constantinople — Dogmatic  Epistle  of  Pope 
Leo  I. —  Robber-Synod  of  Ephesus — Dioscorus  of  Alexandria — General 
Council  of  Chalcedon— Definition  of  Doctrine— Twenty-eighth  Canon — 
Persecution  of  Orthodox  Bishops  —  Intrusion  of  Monophysites  into 
Patriarchal  Sees  —  Imperial  Interference  —  Enkyklion  of  Basiliscus  — 
Henoticon  of  Zeno  —  Acacian  Schism  —  Emperor  Anastasius  supports 
Eutychianism — Closing  of  Schism — Pope  Silverius — Vigilius— Divisions 
among  Monophysites— Jacobus  Barad£eus— Jacobites — Present  Condition 
of  Jacobite  Church— Copts  in  Egypt. 

207.  The  intemperate  zeal  against  the  Nestorian  heresy  carried 
some  of  the  friends  of  Cyril  into  the  opposite  error,  that  of  denying 
the  distinction  of  natures  in  Christ.  Eutyches,  archimandrite,  or 
abbot,  of  a  monastery  of  three  hundred  monks  near  Constantinople, 
was  the  first  who  openly  advocated  this  pernicious  novelty.  He  was 
a  pious,  but  narrow-minded  man,  and  was  led  into  the  error,  called 
after  him  Eutychianism,  by  his  want  of  learning,  rather  than  by 
subtlety  of  thought.  Confounding  the  Divinity  with  the  humanity,  he 
affirmed,  indeed,  two  natures  in  Christ  before  the  union,  i.  e.,  before  the 
Incarnation,  but  after  the  union  only  one.  "  As  a  drop  of  milk,"  he 
said,  "  let  fall  into  the  ocean  is  quickly  absorbed,  so  also  the  human 


M0N0PHT8ITE  HERESY.  205 

nature  in  Christ,  being  infinitely  less  than  the  divine,  was  entirely- 
absorbed  by  the  Divinity."  The  error  was  at  once  denounced  by 
Domnus,  patriarch  of  Antioch,  and  Eusebius,  bishop  of  Doryloeum  in 
Phrygia,  and  condemned  in  448  in  a  Synod  held  by  Flavian,  patriarch 
of  Constantinople.  Eutyches  refusing  to  retract,  was  excommuni- 
cated and  deposed. 

208.  Eutyches  appealed  to  Rome  and  endeavored  to  gain  favor 
at  the  imperial  court.  He  found  powerful  protectors  in  Dios- 
corus,  who  had  succeeded  St.  Cyril  in  444  as  patriarch  of  Alexandria, 
and  the  eunuch  Chrysophius,  his  own  god-child,  and  at  the  time 
minister.  These  two  men  were  the  avowed  enemies  of  Flavian  and 
exercised  an  unbounded  influence  on  the  mind  of  the  Empress 
Eudoxia.  Persuaded  by  these,  the  Emperor  Theodosius  II.,  A.  D.  449, 
summoned  a  Council  tomeet  at  Ephesus. 

209.  To  Pope  Leo  the  Great  belongs  the  glory  of  exploding  the 
error  of  Eutyches.  In  his  famous  *'  Dogmatic  Epistle  to  Flavian," 
he  confirmed  the  condemnation  already  pronounced  against  Eutyches, 
and  gave  a  clear  and  lucid  exposition  of  the  Catholic  faith  regarding 
the  two  natures  and  their  union  in  Christ.  At  the  same  time,  the 
Pope  despatched  three  legates,  Julius,  a  bishop;  Renatus,  a  priest;  and 
Hilary,  a  deacon,  to  preside  in  the  Council  convened  at  Ephesus. 
Contrary  to  all  precedents,  the  haughty  Dioscorus  of  Alexandria  was 
appointed  to  preside  instead  of  the  papal  legates,  who  were  even 
denied  permission  to  read  the  Pope's  letters.  Everything  was 
carried  on  with  open  violence.  Dioscorus,  supported  by  the  imperial 
ofiicers  and  a  band  of  fanatical  monks,  exercised  the  most  arbitrary 
despotism  against  the  assembled  prelates.  Eutyches  was  absolved 
and  restored ;  his  accusers  were  excommunicated  and  deposed,  and 
the  doctrine  of  the  two  natures  in  Christ  was  rejected.  Flavian  was 
exiled,  and,  in  consequence  of  the  brutal  treatment  he  had  received  at 
Ephesus,  died  three  days  after,  on  his  way  to  banishment.  In  vain 
did  the  papal  legates  protest  against  the  irregular  and  violent  proceed- 
ings ;  they  could  save  themselves  only  by  flight ;  while  the  remaining 
Fathers  were  obliged  to  subscribe  to  the  dictation  of  the  violent 
Alexandrian.  Pope  Leo  reprobated  the  acts  of  this  scandalous  con- 
venticle, which  he  branded  as  a  Latrocinium,  or  Robber-Synod,  and 
demanded  a  new  Council  in  the  West,  which,  however,  Theodosius 
refused. 

210.  Upon  the  death  of  Theodosius  II.,  A.  D.  450,  his  sister 
Puloheria,  who  was  sincerely  devoted  to  the  orthodox  faith,  raised 
her  husband  Marcian  to  the  throne,  A.  D.  450-457.  To  restore  peace 
to  the  Church,  the  new  emperor,  with  the  Pope's  assent,  called  the 


306  HISTORY  OF   THE   CHURCH 

Fourth  Ecumenical  Council,  that  of  Chalcedon,  A.  D.  451.  It  was 
attended  by  six  hundred  bishops,  mostly  from  the  Orient,  and  presided 
over  by  three  legates  sent  by  Leo  the  Great.  The  Dogmatic  Epistle 
of  the  Pontiff,  in  which  the  mystery  of  the  Incarnation  was  propound- 
ed, was  received  with  acclamation  by  the  assembled  bishops,  who 
cried  out  :  "  This  is  the  faith  of  the  Fathers  !  This  is  the  faith  of  the 
Apostles  !  All  of  us  have  this  belief  !  Peter  has  spoken  by  Leo  !" 
The  Council  excommunicated  Eutyches  and  his  partisans,  and  drew 
up  a  profession  of  faith  designed  to  meet  both  the  Eutychian  and 
Nestorian  heresies.  It  was  here  defined  that  there  are  in  Christ  "  two 
7iatures, — one  Divine,  the  other  human, — without  mixture  or  alteration, 
united  in  one  person  and  hypostasis,  so  that  he  is  not  parted  nor 
divided  into  two  persons,  but  is  one  and  the  same  Son  and  Only- 
begotten,  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ."  ^  The  deposition  of  Dioscorus  of 
Alexandria  by  the  Council  was  confirmed  by  the  emperor ;  and  he 
was  banished  to  Gangra  in  Paphlagonia,  where  he  died  in  454. 

211.  In  sixteen  sessions  the  Council  passed  twenty-eight  canons 
defining  the  limits  of  jurisdiction  and  regulating  disciplinary  matters. 
The  twenty-eighth  canon,  which  raised  the  see  of  Constantinople  to 
the  first  patriarchal  rank  after  the  Roman  see,  was,  strictly  speaking, 
not  the  act  of  the  Ecumenical  Council.  It  was  made  in  the  absence 
of  the  Pope's  legates,  and  was  subscribed  to  by  only  two  hundred, 
bishops,  a  slender  minority  of  the  six  hundred  or  more  who  were 
assembled  at  Chalcedon.  The  papal  legates  at  Chalcedon  and  Leo  I. 
himself  rejected  the  canon,  which,  at  the  Pope's  bidding,  was  finally 
abandoned  by  the  Emperor  Marcian  and  by  the  Patriarch  Anatoli  us, 
by  whom  it  had  been  introduced  into  the  Council.  The  entire  Western 
Church  repudiated  it,  and  the  Greeks  themselves,  until  the  schism  of 
Photius,  had  omitted  it  in  their  codices. 

212.  Their  condemnation  by  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  only  made 
the  Monophysites,  as  the  new  sectaries  were  called,  more  obstinate. 
Orthodox  bishops  were  persecuted  and  expelled  from  their  sees,  and 
many  acts  of  violence  were  committed  by  the  Eutychians.  The  three 
patriarchal  sees  in  the  East  fell  into  their  possession.     Juvenal  of 


1.  The  same  doctrine  Is  set  forth  in  a  more  condensed  form  in  the  second  part  of  the 
so-called  Athanasian  creed :  "  Furthermore,  it  is  necessary  to  everlasting  salvation,  that 
we  also  believe  faithfully  the  Incarnation  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ.  For  the  right  faith 
is,  that  we  believe  and  confess;  that  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,  the  Son  of  God,  is  God  and 
man;  God,  of  the  substance  of  the  Father,  begotten  before  the  world;  and  man,  of  the 
substance  of  his  mother,  born  in  the  world.  Perfect  God  and  perfect  man;  of  a  reason- 
able soul  and  human  flesh  subsisting;  equal  to  the  Father  according  to  His  Divinity;  and 
inferior  to  the  Father  according  to  His  humanity.  Who,  although  He  be  God  and  man, 
still  He  is  not  two  but  one  Christ.  One,  not  by  conversion  of  the  Divinity  into  flesh,  but 
by  the  assumption  of  the  humanity  into  God.  One  altogether,  not  by  confusion  of 
substance;  tut  by  unity  of  person.  For  as  the  reasonable  soul  and  flesh  is  one  man,  so 
God  and  Man  is  one  Christ." 


MONOPHrSITE  HERESY.  207 

Jerusalem  and  Martyrius  of  Antioch  were  forced  to  surrender  their 
sees  to  Monophysites — the  former  to  the  monk  Theodosius,  the  latter  , 
to  Peter  Fullo,  or  Fuller.  The  Patriarch  Proterius  of  Alexandria  was 
murdered  and  his  see  usurped  by  Timothy  ^lurus.  Marcian's  suc- 
cessor, Leo  I.,  A.  D.  457-474,  banished  the  intruders  and  restored  the 
usurped  sees  to  the  Catholics. 

213.  The  interference  of  the  Greek  emperors  became  the  cause  of 
much  confusion,  and  only  served  to  widen  the  breach.  To  gain  the 
support  of  the  Monophysites,  the  usurper  Basiliscus,  A.  D.  475-77, 
published  his  "Enkyklion,"  in  which  he  denounced  the  Dogmatic 
Epistle  of  Pope  Leo  I.  and  the  Council  of  Chalcedon.  Five  hundred 
bishops  had  the  weakness  to  sign  this  impudent  edict,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  Acacius  of  Constantinople  who  even  forced  the  tyrant  to  re- 
voke the  Enkyklion.  The  Emperor  Zeno,  A.  D.  477-91,  gave  his  sup- 
port to  the  Catholics  ;  but  the  publication  of  the  "  Henoticon,"  or 
Formula  of  Concord,  in  482,  only  increased  existing  complications. 
The  Henoticon,  the  work  of  Acacius,  and  Peter  Mongus,  the  Monophy- 
site  patriarch  of  Alexandria,  pronounced  indeed  no  express  judg- 
ment on  the  doctrine  of  the  two  natures,  but,  on  the  other  hand, 
carefully  avoided  the  expressions  of  "  one  "  or  "  two  natures."  It  was 
rejected  both  by  the  Catholics  and  the  Monophysites.  Instead  of 
healing  old  enmities,  the  Henoticon  created  new  ones  giving  birth 
to  another  Monophysite  party — the  Acephali — and  to  the  Oriental 
schism  which  lasted  until  A.  D.  519.  Acacius,  the  real  author  of  the 
schism,  was  excommunicated  by  Pope  Felix  III.  in  484. 

214.  Every  attempt  at  reunion  made  by  the  Roman  Pontiffs  dur- 
ing the  reign  of  Emperor  Anastasius  I.,  the  Silencer,  A.  D.  491-518, 
proved  unsuccessful.  Acting  under  the  advice  of  the  Monophysite 
leaders,  Xenaias,  bishop  of  Hierapolis,  and  the  monk  Severus,  Anas- 
tasius, seeking  everywhere  to  establish  Eutychianism,  expelled  from 
their  sees,  which  were  given  to  Monophysites,  the  three  patriarchs  of 
the  East  and  other  bishops  who  adhered  to  the  Council  of  Chalcedon. 
In  this  extremity,  many  Eastern  bishops  appealed  to  Pope  Symmachus 
to  rescue  their  church  from  heresy.  The  sudden  death  of  Anastasius 
brought  a  change.  The  united  efforts  of  Pope  Hormisdas  and  Em- 
peror Justinus  I.,  A.  D.  518-527,  effected  a  reconciliation  between  the 
East  and  the  West.  Emperor  Justinian,  A.  D.  527-565,  also  sup- 
ported the  orthodox  cause  ;  but  his  wife,  Theodora,  was  an  ardent 
propagandist  of  the  Monophysite  heresy.  By  her  intrigues.  Pope 
Silverius  was  expelled  and  Vigilius  intruded  in  his  stead.  On  the 
death  of  Silverius,  however,  Vigilius  resigned,  when  he  was  canon- 
ically  elected  and  thenceforth  defended  the  orthodox  faith. 


208  HI8T0RT  OF   THE    CHURCH. 

215.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  Monophysites  had  become  divided 
among  themselves.  The  Severians,  headed  by  the  above-mentioned 
Severius  of  Alexandria,  maintained  the  corruptibility  of  the  body  of 
Christ  ;  the  Julianists,  so  called  from  Julian,  bishop  of  Halicarnassus 
in  Asia-Minor,  the  incorruptibility.  The  Agnaites,  also  called 
Themistians  from  their  founder,  the  Deacon  Themistius  of  Alexan- 
dria, denied  the  omniscience  of  Christ,  and  the  Tritheites  who  assert- 
ed three  distinct  natures  in  the  Holy  Trinity.  But  for  the  persistent 
efforts  of  Jacob  Barnadseus,  the  Monophysites  would  speedily  have 
disappeared  from  history.  This  ambitions  monk,  in  541  ordained 
bishop  of  Edessa  and  metropolitan  of  all  the  Monophysites  in  the 
East,  succeeded  in  uniting  all  the  parties  and  establishing  a  perma- 
nent ecclesiastical  organization  among  his  sectaries  The  number  of 
clergy  ordained  by  him  is  stated  to  have  reached  the  incredible  num- 
ber of  eighty  thousand,  comprising  eighty-nine  bishops  and  two  patri- 
archs. From  him  the  Monophysites  in  Syria,  subsequently  also  in 
Egypt,  called  themselves  Jacobites. 

216.  Monophysites  are  still  to  be  found  :  1.  In  Syria,  MesojDO- 
tamia,  Asia-Minor,  Cyprus  and  Palestine.  They  number  about  forty 
thousand.  Their  spiritual  head,  who  calls  himself  "  Patriarch  of  An- 
tioch,"  resides  at  Madrin,  near  Bagdad.  The  united  Jacobites,  or 
Catholic  Syrians,  numbering  about  thirty-two  thousand,  have  their  own 
patriarch  of  Antioch  residing  at  Aleppo.  2.  In  Armenia,  where  a 
National  Council  held  in  527  is  said  to  have  formally  rejected  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon  !  The  Armenian  Monophysites  are  estimated 
at  three  millions.  Their  "  Catholicos  "  resides  at  Etschmiadsin,  which, 
since  1828,  has  been  under  the  rule  of  Russia.  They  have,  besides, 
patriarchs  at  Sis,  Constantinople  and  Jerusalem,  who  all  acknowledge 
the  superior  rank  of  the  "  Catholicos  "  of  Etschmiadsin,  The  united 
Armenians,  who  number  about  one  hundred  thousand  in  all,  have  their 
own  patriarch  at  Constantinople.  3.  In  Egypt  the  Monophysites  re- 
ceived the  name  of  Coptic,  i.  e.,  Egyptian  Christians,  while  the  adher- 
ents of  the  orthodox  faith  were  called  Melchites,  or  Royalists.  The 
Schismatical  Copts  number  about  one  hundred  thousand,  and  the 
United  Copts  about  five  thousand  ;  according  to  another  estimate, 
they  are  put  down  at  twelve  thousand.  4.  With  the  Coptic  Church 
in  Egypt  is  connected  the  Abyssinian  Church,  which  stands  under 
the  jurisdiction  of  an  Abubna,  or  metropolitan,  who  is  consecrated  by 
the  Coptic  patriarch  of  Alexandria.  The  Monophysites,  as  well  as  the 
Nestorians  of  our  day,  furnish  unmistakable  evidence  of  the  antiquity 
of  Catholic  tradition  respecting  the  Sacraments,  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Mass,  the  invocation  of  the  saints,  and  other  Catholic  rites  and  usages. 


THE   ORIOENIST  CONTROVERSY.  209 

SECTION    LXVIII. THE    ORIGENIST    CONTROVERSY. 

Errors  Imputed  to  Origen— St.  Methodius  against  Origen — St.  Pamphylus — 
SS.  Epiphanius  and  Jerome,  Opponents  of  Origen— John  of  Jerusalem 
and  Rufinus— Theophilus  of  Alenxadria — Theodore  Aseidas — Imperial 
Edict  against  Origen — Protoctistae  and  Isochristi. 

217.  The  writings  of  Origen,  as  they  now  stand,  have  time  and 
again  been  the  cause  of  heated  controversies  among  churchmen.  The 
errors,  on  which  the  question  of  Origen's  orthodoxy  chiefly  turns,  but 
which,  it  appears,  were  wrongfully  attributed  to  him,  are  :  1.  Subor- 
dination, or  inequality  in  the  Persons  of  the  Holy  Trinity  ;  2.  Orig- 
inal equality  of  all  spirits  and  pre-existence  of  all  human  souls,  in- 
cluding also  the  soul  of  Christ ;  3.  Creation  of  the  material  world 
from  eternity;  4.  Apocatastasis,  or  restitution  of  all  things  to  their  pris- 
tine state  of  good,  and  the  final  conversion  and  salvation  of  the  repro- 
bate, including  the  fallen  spirits  ;  5.  Besides  eternal  punishment, 
Origen  is  said  to  have  denied  also  the  resurrection  of  man  in  his 
present  body,  and  the  distinction  of  sex  in  the  other  life. 

218.  The  orthodoxy  of  Origen  was  first  openly  attacked  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  fourth  century  by  St.  Methodius,  bishop  of  Tyre,  in 
two  works,  "On  the  Resurrection"  and  "On  the  Creation."  He  was 
answered  by  St.  Pamphylus  the  martyr,  who  defended  the  illustrious 
Alexandrian  in  an  Apology  which  after  his  death  was  finished  and 
published  by  Eusebius  of  Caesarea.  During  the  long  struggle  with 
Arianism,  the  controversy  was  abated  ;  but  at  the  close  of  the  same 
century,  it  was  renewed  by  one  Aterbius,  who,  coming  from  Egypt  to 
Jerusalem,  accused  St.  Jerome  and  Rufinus  of  Origenism.  Jerome 
cleared  himself  by  condemning  the  errors  attributed  to  Origen,  while 
Rufinus  paid  no  attention  to  the  charge.  Soon  after,  St.  Epiphanius 
arrived  at  Jerusalem  from  Cyprus  and  openly  denounced  the  Origen- 
ists.  John,  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  retorted  the  charge  by  condemning 
the  Anthropomorphites,  as  the  opponents  of  Origen  were  called.  In 
this  dispute,  Rufinus  adhered  to  the  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  while  Jerome 
sided  with  Epiphanius.  The  quarrel  continued  about  three  years, 
when  in  397,  chiefly  by  the  endeavors  of  Theophilus,  bishop  of  Alex- 
andria, Jerome  was  reconciled  with  Rufinus  and  Bishop  John.  But 
the  translation  of  Origen's  "  Periarchon  "  by  Rufinus,  became  the 
cause  of  another  rupture  between  him  and  Jerome. 

219.  In  the  meantime,  a  fresh  quarrel  had  broken  out  in  Egypt. 
To  the  great  surprise  of  all,  Theophilus  of  Alexandria,  who  had  him- 
self been  formerly  an  admirer  of  Origen,  all  at  once  declared  against 
the  great  Alexandrian  scholar.     He  interdicted  the  reading  of  his 


210  HIS  TOBY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

works  and  caused  three  hundred  Origenist  monks  of  Nitria  to  be  ex- 
pelled from  their  monastery.  About  fifty  of  the  expelled,  among 
whom  were  the  so-called  four  Tall  Brothers,  Dioscorus,  Ammonius, 
Eusebius,  and  Euthymius,  fled  to  Constantinople,  where  St.  Chrysos- 
tom  gave  them  an  asylum.  Theophilus  now  joined  with  the  enemies 
of  Chrysostom,  in  whose  downfall  he  acted  a  prominent  part. 

220.  The  Origenist  quarrels  were  suspended  for  over  one 
hundred  years,  when  in  520  they  were  again  opened  among  the  monks 
of  the  Great  Laura,  near  Jerusalem,  some  favoring,  others  opposing, 
the  doctrines  imputed  to  Origen.  Chief  among  the  Origenists  were 
Domitian,  bishop  of  Ancyra  in  Galatia,  and  Theodore  Ascidas,  bishop 
of  Caesarea  in  Cappadocia.  With  their  aid,  the  Origenist  party,  on  the 
death  of  St.  Saba,  expelled  their  opponents,  whom  they  called  Sabaites, 
from  the  Laura.  Pelagius,  the  papal  Apocrisiarius,  or  Nuncio,  and 
the  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  Mennas,  urged  the  interference  of 
Justinian.  Justinian,  aspiring  to  the  dignity  of  legislator  of  Christian 
doctrine  as  well  as  of  Christian  civil  affairs,  in  543,  issued  an  edict 
condemning  ten  propositions  drawn,  as  alleged,  from  the  writings  of 
Origen.  The  imperial  anathema  was  subscribed  by  Mennas  and 
other  bishops  meeting  in  Council  at  Constantinople. 

221.  These  measures,  however,  failed  to  effect  a  settlement  be- 
tween the  conflicting  parties.  Under  the  influence  of  Theodore  As- 
cida,  who  was  all-powerful:  at  the  imperial  court,  the  Origenist  monks 
became  predominant  in  Palestine  ;  but  meanwhile  they  had  fallen  out 
amoi^g  themselves.  The  Protoctistae  deified  the  pre-existing  human 
soul  of  Christ,  while  the  Jsochristi  asserted  the  original  equality  of 
all  souls,  and  that  at  the  Final  Restitution  of  all  things  all  men  will  be- 
come equal  to  Christ.  At  last,  through  the  efforts  of  Eustochius, 
patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  the  schismatic  monks  accepted  the  imperial 
edict,  A.  D.  563,  and  peace  was  restored  in  the  monasteries  of  Pales- 
tine. 

SECTION  LXIX. — THE  THREE  CHAPTERS. THE  FIFTH  ECUMENICAL  COUN- 
CIL   OF    CONSTANTINOPLE,    A.    D.    553. 

Three  Chapters — Justinian's  Edict  of  Condemnation — Conduct  of  Eastern 
Bishops — Pope  Vigilius — His  Judieatum — His  Encyclical  to  the  Universal 
Church — Submission  of  Eastern  Patriarchs — Fifth  General  Council — 
Papal  Constitutum — Condemnation  of  the  Three  Chapters — Western 
Schism. 

222.  In  order  to  divert  the  attention  of  Justinian  from  the  Orig- 
enist controversey,  Theodore  Ascidas  artfully  represented  to  him  that 


THE  THREE  CHAPTERS.  311 

bring  back  the  Monophysites  to  the  Church.  The  Three  Chapters  so 
offensive  to  the  Monophysites,  are  :  1.  The  person  and  writings  of 
Theodore  Mopsuestia  ;  2.  The  writings  of  Theodoret  of  Cyrus  in  fa- 
vor of  Nestorius  and  against  St.  Cyril,  as  well  as  the  Syiiod  of  Ephesus; 
3.  The  letter  of  Ibas  of  Edessa  to  the  Persian  Bishop  Maris.  The 
condemnation  of  the  "Three  Chapters"  was  justifiable,  since  these 
writings  contained  heretical  doctrines  ;  but  the  emperor  was  not  the 
proper  authority  to  pronounce  the  condemnation.  Justinian,  with  his 
usual  eagerness  to  engage  in  theological  disquisitions,  published  in 
544  an  edict,  in  which,  under  the  name  of  the  "  Three  Chapters,"  he 
condemned  the  works  of  the  above-named  authors.  The  imperial  edict 
usurped  the  form  of  a  confession  of  faith,  and  trespassed  on  the  ex- 
clusive prerogative  of  the  Church  to  anathematize  the  holders  of  er- 
roneous doctrines.  After  some  hesitation,  the  imperial  anathema  was 
subscribed  by  the  four  patriarchs  and  most  of  the  Eastern  bishops  ; 
but  Stephen,  the  Papal  Legate  at  Constantinople,  and  all  the  Western 
bishops,  who  looked  upon  this  unauthorized  proceeding  of  the  emperor 
as  a  censure  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon,  sternly  resisted  the  imperial 
mandate. 

223.  To  overcome  the  opposition,  Justinian  saught  to  win  over 
Pope  Vigilius,  and  invited  him  to  Constantinople.  On  his  arrival  at 
Constantinople,  A.  D.  547,  Vigilius  refused  assent  to  the  condemna- 
tory edict  which  he  considered  unnecessary,  and  prejudicial  to  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon  ;  and  denied  communion  with  Mennas  and  the 
other  bishops  who  had  signed  it.  But  wearied  out  at  last  by  incessant 
importunities,  and  having  become  convinced  of  the  heretical  character 
of  the  Three  Chapters,  he  approved  their  condemnation  in  his  "  Judi- 
catum  "  under  the  saving  clause  "  without  prejudice  to  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon."  The  papal  Judicatum,  however,  had  not  the  desired 
effect ;  it  produced  a  schism  in  the  West,  and  failed  to  reconcile  the 
Monophysites.  To  restore  peace,  the  Pope  and  the  emperor  in  550 
agreed  to  convoke  a  Council,  and  meanwhile  to  stop  all  discussion  of 
the  questions  at  issue.  But,  before  the  Council  assembled,  Justinian 
in  551  issued  a  second  edict  against  the  Three  Chapters,  addressed  to 
the  whole  Christian  world.  Vigilius  promptly  resisted  the  arbitrary 
act  of  the  emperor  and  excommunicated  the  bishops  who  had  sub- 
scribed the  edict.  This  incensed  the  emperor  and  drew  upon  the 
Pope  a  cruel  persecution,  which  well  nigh  cost  him  his  life.  He  was 
compelled  to  flee  for  safety,  first  to  a  church  in  Constantinople,  and 
afterward  to  Chalcedon.  Here  he  renewed  the  excommunication 
against  Mennas,  Theodore  Ascidas  and  their  partisan  bishops,  and 
addressed  an  Encyclical  to  the  universal  Church,  in  which  he  gave  an 


212  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

account  of  his  conduct  and  the  persecution  to  which  he  had  been 
subjected.  The  condition  of  the  Pope  was  exceedingly  distressing, 
but  a  grand  triumph  was  in  store  for  him.  The  excommunicated 
prelates,  including  Mennas  and  Theodore  Ascidas,  addressed  a  sub- 
missive letter  to  the  Pope,  in  which  they  recognized  the  four  General 
Councils  with  the  papal  decrees  regarding  the  questions  in  dispute, 
expressly  disavowed  the  imperial  decrees  against  the  Three  Chapters; 
and,  asking  the  Pope's  pardon,  petitioned  him  to  withdraw  his  censure. 
Vigilius  thereupon  returned  to  Constantinople  and  consented  to  the 
convocation  of  an  Ecumenical  Council. 

224.  The  Fifth  General  Council  met  in  May,  A.  D.  553,  under 
the  presidency  of  Eutychius,  successor  of  Mennas  who  had  died  the 
year  before.  There  were  present  one  hundred  and  fifty-one  bishops, 
all  from  the  East,  excepting  six  from  Africa.  On  account  of  the 
small  number  of  Western  bishops,  Vigilius,  though  urgently  invited, 
declined  to  preside  over  the  Council ;  he  promised  to  deliver  his 
decision  upon  the  Three  Chapters  separately,  in  writing.  On  the 
14th  of  May,  he  issued  his  Constitutum,  which  greatly  modified  his 
Judicatum.  In  this  he  condemned  the  first  Chapter,  that  of  Theodore 
of  Mopsuestia,  but  partially  Excused  the  second  and  third  Chapters, 
those  of  Theodoret  and  Ibas,  whom  the  Council  of  Chalcedon  had 
admitted  to  be  orthodox.  This  Constitutum,  the  genuineness  of 
which  is  disputed  by  some,  does  not  appear  in  the  acts  of  the  Fifth 
Council,  and  Vigilius  also  made  no  attempt  to  impose  it  on  the 
Synod.  In  eight  sessions,  the  bishops  of  the  Synod,  after  expressing 
their  unreserved  adhesion  to  the  four  General  Councils,  condemned 
the  Three  Chapters  as  containing  and  defending  the  Nestorian  heresy. 
The  decisions  of  the  Council  were  confirmed  by  Vigilius  in  a  decretal 
epistle  to  the  patriarch  Eutychius,  as  well  as  in  his  second  Constitu- 
tum.    Shortly  after,  Vigilius  died  at  Syracuse  on  his  way  to  Rome. 

225.  The  condemnation  of  the  Three  Chapters  and  its  approba- 
tion by  Pope  Vigilius  was  ratified  by  his  successors,  and  subsequently 
also  assented  to  by  the  Western  Church,  which  gave  to  the  Synod  of 
553  the  rank  of  a  General  Council.  But  the  bishops  of  Northern  Italy, 
headed  by  Vitalis  and  Paulinus,  the  metropolitans  of  Milan  and 
Aquileja,  refused  to  accept  the  Fifth  Council,  which  they  condemned 
in  a  Synod  held  at  Aquileja,  A.  D.  555,  and  thus  caused  a  formal 
schism.  Through  the  efforts  of  the  Emperor  Justin  II.  and  Popes  Pela- 
gius  II.  and  Gregory  the  Great,  the  greater  number  of  the  schismatic 
bishops  became  reconciled  to  the  Roman  See.  The  schism  of  Aquileja 
held  out  longest.  It  was  not  till  A.  D.  VOO,  that  the  last  of  the 
schismatics  returned  to  the  unity  of  the  Church. 


I 


HERESY  OF  THE  MONOTHELITES.  213 

226.  It  is  commonly  asserted  that  Vigilius  was  banished  by  Jus- 
tinian for  his  resistance  to  the  Fifth  Council,  and  that  he  finally  yield- 
ed, only  because  he  was  broken  down  by  sufferings  and  desired  to  ob- 
tain his  freedom.  How  much  truth  there  is  in  the  story  of  Vigilius' 
exile,  which  is  mentioned  by  a  few  contemporary  writers,  cannot  be 
ascertained.  Some  regard  it  a  forgery.  However  this  may  be,  the 
inconsistency  of  Vigilius  can  furnish  no  argument  against  papal  infal- 
libility, as  it  did  not  affect  the  dogmatic  teachings  of  the  Church.  He 
wavered  not  in  a  question  of  faith,  but  only  in  his  views  on  the  policy 
of  dealing  with  the  Three  Chapters,  viz.:  Whether  or  not  it  was  wise 
and  prudent  to  condemn  writings  which  the  Council  of  Chalcedon 
had  spared,  or  pass  sentence  upon  those  who  had  died  in  the  com- 
munion of  the  Church. 

SECTION    LXX. HERESY    OF    THE    MONOTHELITES. 

Controversy  about  the  Two  Wills  in  Christ  —  Doctrine  of  the  Church  — 
Origin  of  Monotheletism— Its  Probable  Author— Theodore  of  Pharan— 
Cyrus  of  Alexandria— Compromise  between  Catholics  and  Monophysites 
—St.  Sophronius,  the  Champion  of  Orthodoxy— Letter  of  Sergius  to  Pope 
Honorius— Reply  of  Honorius— His  Orthodoxy— Heraclius  involved  in 
the  Controversy— His  Ecthesis— Type  of  Constans  II.— Pope  Martin  L— 
His  Banishment  and  Death, 

227.  The  heresy  of  the  Monothelites,  so  called  because  they  ad- 
mitted but  one  Will  and  one  Operation  in  Christ,  was  but  another 
form  of  Monophysitism.  The  Church  teaches  that  Christ,  having  two 
Natures — the  divine  with  all  its  perfect  attributes,  and  the  human 
with  all  its  properties — had  consequently  also  two  Wills,  a  human 
will  and  a  divine  will,  both  operating  in  perfect  harmony,  yet  each  in 
its  own  peculiar  manner.  The  Monothelites,  indeed,  admitted  two 
Natures  in  Christ,  but  denied  that  he  had  two  distinct  Operations,  or 
"  energies,"  as  they  called  them ;  they  asserted  that  He  had  but  one 
divine-human  (Theandric)  Operation  ;  that  His  Divine  Nature  was 
the  immediate  principle  of  all  His  actions.  His  Human  Nature  being 
in  Him  wholly  inert  and  purely  passive.  The  origin  of  this  heresy 
was  owing  to  the  effort  made  by  the  Emperor  Heraclius,  A.  D.  610- 
641,  to  conciliate  the  Monophysites,  who  then  were  very  numerous  in 
Egypt,  Syria  and  Armenia.  Its  probable  author  was  Sergius,  patri- 
arch of  Constantinople.  He  suggested  to  the  emperor  the  formula  of 
"  One  Operation "  as  a  basis  on  which  the  Monophysites  might  be 
reconciled  with  the  Catholic  Church.  Theodore,  bishop  of  Pharan  in 
Arabia,  and  Cyrus,  bishop  of  Phasis  in  Colchis,  readily  adopted  the 
design  of  Sergius,  and  the  credit  and  authority  of  these  men  made 
Monotheletism  current  in  the  East. 


214  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

228.  Heraclius,  who. for  political  reasons  desired  the  reunion  of 
the  Monophysites,  approved  the  heretical  formula,  and  sought  to  in- 
duce the  Catholic  and  Monophysite  bishops  to  adopt  it.  In  622^  in  a 
letter  to  Bishop  Arcadius  of  Cyprus,  the  emperor  forbade  any  further 
discussion  of  the  Two  Operations  in  Christ.  On  this  basis  Cyrus,  who 
in  the  meantime  had  been  promoted  to  the  patriarchal  see  oi  Alexan- 
dria, effected  the  reunion  of  a  large  number  of  Monophysites.  The 
latter,  thereupon,  boasted  that  they,  had  not  yielded  to  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon,  but  that  the  Council  had  yielded  to  them  ! 

229.  This  compromise,  accomplished  at  the  sacrifice  of  the  ortho- 
dox faith,  was  strenuously  opposed^  by  the  pious  and  learned  monk 
Sophronius.  He  earnestly,  but  vainly,  entreated  Cyrus  not  to  betray 
the  cause  of  the  Church.  His  appeal  to  the  crafty  Sergius  was  like- 
wise of  no  avail.  Sophronius,  who  during  the  controversy  became 
patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  called  a  Council,  and  in  a  synodical  letter 
boldly  asserted  and  defended  the  doctrine  of  two  Wills  and  -two 
Operations  in  Christ,  denouncing  the  opposite  teaching  of  "  One  Will," 
as  an  Eutychian  error. 

230.  Alarmed  by  this  opposition,  Sergius  sought  to  gain  Pope 
Honorius  to  his  side.  In  a  skillfully  worded  letter  to  the  Pope,  the 
artful  prelate  gave  an  exaggerated  and  partial  account  of  the  return  of 
the  Egyptian  Monophysites  to  the  Church,  and  the  opposition  with 
which  the  reunion  was  met  by  Sophronius.  He  cunningly  suggested, 
that  since  the  whole  matter  was  but  "a  war  of  words,"  which  might 
endanger  the  work  of  reconciliation,  no  further  mention  of  one  or  two 
Operations  in  Christ  should  be  made.  The  unsuspecting  Pontiff,  mis- 
apprehending the  real  question  at  issue,  imprudently  assented  to  the 
artful  proposition,  and,  in  his  reply,  insisted,  but  without  adopting  the 
Monothelite  error,  that  the  expressions  "  one  or  two  Operations,"  for 
the  sake  of  peace,  should  be  carefully  avoided,  as  they  niight  be  most 
seriously  misunderstood.  As  to  the  words  occurring  in  his  letter  : 
"  We  confess  one  will  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ,"  Honorius  evidently 
intended  to  exclude  only  the  corrupt  will  of  fallen  man,  and  to  express 
the  moral  unity  and  perfect  harmony  of  the  Divine  and  the  Human 
will.  "  Christ's  will  is  one,  because  our  nature,"  the  Pontiff  adds, 
*'  was  assumed  by  the  God-head,  but  not  also  our  guilt  ;  that  is,  our 
nature  as  it  was  created  before  sin  existed,  not  that  which  was  cor- 
rupted after  the  transgression." 

231.  In  his  second  fragmentary  letter  to  Sergius,  which  he  wrote 
in  635,  after  receiving  the  synodical  epistle  of  Sophronius,  Honorius 
expresses  himself  with  greater  clearness  on  the  subject.  Repeating 
the  prohibition  of  speaking  of  one  or  two  Operations,  he  writes :  "  We 


HERESY  OF  THE  MONOTHELITES.  215 

ought  to  confess  that  the  two  natures  united  in  Christ,  act  and  operate 
each  with  the  other's  participation  ;  the  Divine  Nature  operates  what 
is  of  God,  the  human  what  is  of  man,  without  division  and  confusion, 
and  without  change  of  the  Divine  Nature  into  man,  or  of  the  Human 
into  God.  .  .  .  Instead  of  the  one  operation,  we  must  confess  that 
the.  one  Christ,  the  Lord,  truly  operates  in  the  two  natures  ;  and  in 
place  of  the  two  operations,  let  us  rather  proclaim  the  two  natures, 
the  divine  and  the  human,  which  exist  in  the  one  Person  of  the  only 
begotten  Son  of  God,  the  Father,  without  confusion,  division,  or 
change,  and  which  operate  each  in  its  own  peculiar  manner."  Save 
the  mention  of  "Two  Operations,"  which,  being  new  and  not  yet 
sanctioned  by  the  Church,  Honorius  thought  better  to  suppress  for  the 
sake  of  peace,  he  believed,  and,  in  his  letters  expressed,  though  in- 
adequately, the  Catholic  doctrine  of  two  Wills  and  Operations  in 
Christ. 

232.  Confident  that  Honorius,  if  better  informed,  would  not  hes 
itate  to  condemn  the  rising  heresy,  St.  Sophronius  sent  Bishop  Ste- 
phen of  Dora  to  Rome,  to  warn  the  Pope  of  the  true  state  of  the  ques- 
tion, and  of  the  danger  which  threatened  the  Faith  in  the  East.  But 
Stephen  reached  Rome  only  after  the  death  of  Honorius.  To  silence 
the  orthodox  party,  the  crafty  Sergius  drew  up,  and  caused  Emperor 
Heraclius  to  publish,  in  638,  an  edict,  called  JEJcthesis,  which  forbade 
the  mention  of  one  or  two  Operations,  and  expressly  affirmed  that  in 
Christ  there  is  only  one  will.  The  Eastern  bishops,  in  two  Synods, 
confirmed  the  Ecthesis,  but  the  Western  bishops,  particularly  the 
Popes,  John  IV  and  Theodore,  rejected  it,  and  solemnly  protested 
against  the  imperial  interference.  Shortly  before  his  death,  Heraclius 
revoked  the  Ecthesis  and  excused  himself  to  Pope  John  IV,  writing 
that  Sergius,  the  author  of  the  edict,  caused  him  to  publish  it. 

233.  Under  Emperor  Constans  II,  A.  D.  642-668,  the  Monothe- 
lites  made  another  effort  to  obtrude  their  heresy  upon  the  Catholics. 
At  the  instigation  of  Paul,  the  Monothelite  patriarch  of  Constantinple, 
Constans,  in  648,  published  a  new  dogmatic  edict,  called  "  Typos^'' 
which  forbade  all  further  discussion  of  one  or  two  Operations  and 
Wills  in  Christ.  Whilst  the  Eastern  bishops  again  submitted  to  the 
imperial  dictation,  the  Lateran  Synod  of  649,  under  Pope  St.  Martin 
I,  condemned  both  the  Monothelite  heresy  and  the  two  imperial  edicts^ 
the  Ecthesis  and  the  Typos.  For  this  courageous  act,  the  Pope  suffer- 
ed imprisonment,  and,  after  prolonged  cruel  treatment  at  the  court  of 
Constanstinople,  was  banished  to  the  Chersonesus,  where  he  died  a 
martyr.  The  holy  Abbot  Maximus  and  his  disciples,  the  two  Anas- 
tasiuses,  shared  a  similar  cruel  fate. 


216  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

SECTION     LXXI. THE     SIXTH     ECUMENICAL     COUNCIL,     A.    D.     680. THE 

SUPPOSED    FALL    OF    HONORIUS. HIS    CONDEMNATION. 

Meeting  of  the  Council — Dogmatic  Epistle  of  Agatho — Definition  of  the 
Council — Condemnation  of  Honorius — Second  Trullan  Synod — Rejected 
by  the  Holy  See — Suppression  of  Monotheletism— Orthodoxy  of  Pope 
Honorius. 

234.  Unlike  his  cruel  father,  Constantine  IV  Pogonatus  A.  D. 
668-685,  a  valient  and  pious  prince,  exerted  himself  to  restore  peace 
to  the  Church.  At  his  request,  the  Sixth  Ecumenical  Council  assem- 
bled at  Constantinople,  A.  D.  680.  It  was  attended  by  one  hundred 
and  seventy-four  bishops  and  presided  over  by  the  three  legates  of 
Pope  Agatho.  From  the  place  of  its  meeting,  a  vaulted  hall  in  the 
imperial  palace,  it  is  also  called  the  First  Trullan  Synod.  The  Dog- 
matic Epistle  of  Pope  Agatho,  defining  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the 
two  Wills  in  Christ  was  received  by  the  assembled  "Fathers  with  ac- 
clamations as  "the  voice  of  Peter."  In  conformity  with  the  papal  letter, 
the  Council  condemned  the  Monothelite  heresy  and  defined  "  that, 
corresponding  to  the  two  natures  in  Christ,  there  were  in  Him  also 
two  natural  Wills  and  two  natural  Operations  undivided,  inconvertible, 
inseperable,  unmixed  according  to  the  doctrine  of  the  holy  Fathers  ; 
that  the  human  will  of  Christ  was  not  contrary  to,  but  perfectly  har- 
monizing with  His  Divine  Will  and  in  things  subject  to  it."  The  dis- 
senters, with  their  chief,  Macarius,  were  excommunicated,  and  the 
Monothelite  leaders — Theodore  of  Pharan,  Cyrus  of  Alexandria,  Ser- 
guis,  Pyrrhus,  with  Peter  and  Paul  of  Constantinople — were  anathe- 
matized as  heretics.  Pope  Honorius  was  also  condemned,  not,  how- 
ever,/br  heresy,  hut  for  conniving  with  heretics,  because,  by  his  un- 
timely silence,  he  emboldened  the  Monothelites. 

235.  The  decrees  of  the  Fifth  and  Sixth  General  Councils  being 
almost  exclusively  of  a  dogmatical  character,  Emperor  Justinian  II, 
in  692,  called  a  Council  to  be  held  at  Constantinople,  which  is  known 
as  the  Second  Trullan  Synod,  also  called  the  "  Concilium  Quinisex- 
tum."  In  the  Greek  Church,  it  ranks  as  an  Ecumenical  Council.  Its 
acts  manifest  a  hostile  spirit  against  the  Latin  Church  and  the  Roman 
See  in  particular,  wherefore  Pope  Sergius  I  forbade  their  promulga- 
tion in  the  Western  Church.  The  Monothelite  heresy  was  finally 
completely  suppressed,  under  Emperor  Anastasuis  II,  A.  D.  713-V16. 
It  continued,  however,  among  the  Maronites  on  the  Libanan  till  the 
twelfth  century,  when  they  united  with  the  Catholic  Church. 

236.  Concerning  the  much  debated  question  of  the  orthodoxy  of 
Pope  Honorius  and  his  condemnation  by  the  Sixth  Council,  we  must 


THE  SIXTH  ECUMENICAL  COUNCIL.  217 

admit:  1.  That  it  is  certain  his  letters  to  Sergius  contain  no  heresy 
or  false  doctrine ;  on  the  contrary,  they  express — though  under  the 
circumstances  in  language  inadequate  and  misleading,  and,  after  the 
Monothelite  condemnation,  no  longer  admissible — the  doctrine  of  the 
One  Divine  Operator  in  two  natures,  which  is  in  substance  the 
Catholic  doctrine  of  Two  Operations,  each  nature  having  its  own 
Operation;  2.  Neither  do  these  letters  contain  a  decision  '•^ex-Cathe- 
dra^''  which  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  Honorius  enjoined  silence 
on  both  parties  and  forbade  any  further  discussion  of  the  question. 
No  doctrine  is  defined  in  them  as  obligatory  on  all  Catholics,  but  only 
a  rule  of  discipline  is  enjoined,  that  is,  the  precept  of  silence.  3.  The 
fault  of  Honorius  lay  in  not  using  his  authority,  when  appealed 
to,  by  declaring  the  true  doctrine  and  thereby  repressing  the  incipient 
heresy.  4.  It  was  for  this  neglect,  and  not  for  heresy  that  Honorius 
was  condemned.  He  had  rendered  himself  morally  responsible  for 
the  spread  of  heresy,  by  having  neglected  to  publish  decisions  against 
it;  and  in  this  sense  alone,  was  his  condemnation  confirmed  by 
Leo  n. 

237.  No  error  or  false  decision  of  Honorius  ever  was  or  could  be 
condemned  by  the  Sixth  Council,  otherwise  that  body  would  have 
contradicted  itself ;  for,  in  accepting  the  Letter  of  Agatho  as  a  rule 
of  faith,  it  recognized  that  the  Holy  Roman  See  had  never  failed,  but 
had  in  all  time  the  privilege  of  teaching  only  the  truth.  Besides, 
the  decrees  of  a  Council  are  only  valid  inasmuch  as  they  are  confirmed 
by  the  Holy  See.  But  Leo  H.,  in  confirming  the  decree  concerning 
Honorius,  expressly  declares  that  he  was  condemned,  only  because  he 
had  grievously  injured  the  Chureh  by  his  failure  in  energetically  re- 
sisting the  Monothelite  heresy.  In  the  same  sense  the  Seventh 
and  Eight  Ecumenical  Councils,  as  well  as  Pope  Hadrian  II.,  repeated 
the  condemnation  of  Honorius.  6.  The  condemnation  of  Honorius 
was  the  result  of  pressure,  on  the  part  of  the  Greeks.  Alarmed  at 
seeing  six  Eastern  patriarchs,  including  Macarius  of  Antioch,  con- 
demned as  the  inventors  of  the  new  error,  they  importunely  insisted 
that  the  name  of  Honorius,  who  had  encouraged  the  Monothelite 
leaders  indirectly,  by  not  proceeding  against  them  with  timely  vigour, 
should  be  added  in  the  condemnatoiy  decree.  T.  The  orthodoxy  of 
Honorius  is  attested  by  Pope  John  II,  who  wrote  an  Apology  in  de- 
fence of  Honorius  against  the  calumnious  letter  of  the  patriarch 
Pyrrhus  ;  and  by  Abbot  John,  secretary  to  Honorius  and  John  II., 
who  drew  up  the  very  Letter  of  Honorius  to  Sergius  and  testified  as 
to  its  orthodox  purport. 


218 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


SECTION    LXXII. MINOR    SECTS. 


Arianisra  the  Parent  of  Numerous  Sects— Euchites—Audians — Jovinian — His 
Doctrine — Vigilantius — Helvidius— Bonosus —  Priscillianists  —  Their  Ori- 
gin— Execution  of  Priscillian  and  other  Leaders  of  the  Sect — Severity 
against  Heretics  Condemned  by  the  Church. 

238.  Arianism  was  the  fruitful  parent  of  a  multitude  of  sects  and 
heresies  that  not  only  assailed  Christian  dogma,  but  were  also  adverse 
to  Christian  morals  and  ecclesiastical  life.  The  Euchites,  or 
Euphemites,  so  called  from  their  habit  of  long  prayer,  originated  in 
Mesopotamia.  Their  chief  characteristic  was,  that  they  professed  to 
give  themselves  entirely  to  prayer,  refusing  to  do  any  work,  they 
obtained  their  living  by  begging.  Hence  they  were  also  known  as 
Messalians,  praying  people,  and  Adelphians,  from  Adelphius,  their 
leader.  Rejecting  all  external  worship,  they  laid  great  stress  on  con- 
tinual prayer  as  the  only  means  for  expelling  the  demon  which  every 
man  had,  as  they  said,  inherited  through  original  sin.  These  deluded 
spiritualists  spread  over  Syria,  Palestine  and  Mesopotamia. 

239.  Another  spiritualistic  sect  were  the  Audians,  so  called  from 
Audius,  their  founder.  Their  home  was  also  Mesopotamia.  They 
refused  to  hold  communion  with  Catholics,  rejected  canonical  pen- 
ances, observed  the  Jewish  manner  of  celebrating  Easter,  and  were 
Anthropomorphites,  believing  that  God  exists  in  a  human  form. 
Audius,  who  had  himself  irregularly  consecrated  bishop,  was  banished 
by  Emperor  Constantius  ;  but  in  spite  of  repeated  persecution,  they 
maintained  themselves  till  the  close  of  the  fifth  century.  The  Eusta- 
thians,  followers  of  Eustathius,  bishop  of  Sebaste,  a  hyper-ascetic 
sect,  rejected  matrimony  and  ecclesiastical  fasts,  but  fasted  on  Sun- 
days and  festivals.  The  Arian  priest  ^rius  of  Sebaste,  maintained 
the  equality  of  bishops  and  priests,  rejected  prayers  for  the  dead  and 
the  obsei-vance  of  Easter,  as  well  as  all  appointed  fasts,  as  Jewish 
superstitions. 

240.  In  the  West,  Jovinian,  a  Milanese  monk,  denied  the  merit  of 
fasting  and  good  works  in  general,  the  distinction  between  mortal 
and  venial  sins,  and  maintained  that  a  person  baptized  cannot  lose 
sanctifying  grace,  and  that  there  is  but  one  grade  of  reward  and 
one  of  punishment  in  the  future  world.  He  also  opposed  celibacy, 
maintaining  that  the  virginal  life  is  no  better  than  the  married 
state  in  the  sight  of  God,  and  denied  that  Mary  remained  a  virgin, 
after  she  had  given  birth  to  Christ.  Jovinian  was  excommunicated  as 
a  heretic  by  St.  Ambrose  and  Pope  Siricius,  A.  D.  390.  Vigilantius, 
a  priest  of  Barcelona,  also  opposed  celibacy,  fasting  and  the  venera- 


MINOR  8EGT8.  219 

tion  of  saints  and  relics  which  he  declared  a  pagan  superstition. 
Similar  errors  were  held  by  Helvidius,  and  Bonosus,  bishop  of  Sardica, 
who  maintained  that  Mary  did  not  always  remain  a  virgin.  All  these 
heretics  denying  the  virginity  of  Mary,  were  ably  and  successfully 
refuted  by  8t.  Jerome  and  St.  Augustine,  who  thus  fully  brought  out 
the  belief  of  the  Church  regarding  the  perpetual  virginity  of  the 
Mother  of  Christ. 

241.  About  the  middle  of  the  fourth  century,  Manichean  doctrines 
began  to  spread  in  Spain  under  the  name  of  Priscillianism.  The  real 
founder  of  the  new  sect  was  one  Marc,  an  Egyptian  Manichee,  who 
came  to  Spain  in  330.  His  first  disciples  were  Agape,  a  lady  of  dis- 
tinction, and  Elpidius,  a  rhetorician.  The  wealthy  and  leanied  Pris- 
cillian,  another  disciple  of  Marc,  became  the  real  leader  of  the  sect 
to  which  he  also  gave  his  name.  By  his  ascetic  life  and  plausible 
eloquence,  as  well  as  by  his  great  wealth  and  refined  manners, 
Priscillian  won  many  followers  also  among  the  clergy  ;  even  two 
bishops,  Instantius  and  Salvianus,  joined  his  party  and  also  ordained 
him  bishop  of  Avila.  The  first  to  resist  this  pernicious  sect  was 
Hyginus,  bishop  of  Corduba  ;  but  its  principal  opponents  were  the 
Bishops  Idacius  of  Merida,  and  Ithacius  of  Ossonoba.  The  Council 
of  Saragossa,  A.  D.  380,  condemned  the  heresy  and  excommuni- 
cated Priscillian,  while  Ithacius  caused  the  Emperor  Gratian  to  pub- 
lish an  edict  exiling  Priscillian  and  his  friends  ;  but  the  exiles,  who 
had  vainly  applied  to  Pope  Damasus  and  St.  Ambrose  for  help,  suc- 
ceeded in  obtaining ^a  revocation  of  the  edict  by  bribery.  Priscillian 
and  Instantius  were  restored  to  their  sees,  and  Ithacius  was  compelled 
to  flee  from  Spain. 

242.  Another  Synod,  held  at  the  instance  of  Ithacius  at  Bordeaux 
in  384,  renewed  the  condemnation  of  the  heresy;  but  Priscillian 
appealed  to  the  Emperor  Maximus,  who,  after  the  assassination  of 
Gratian,  A.  D.  383,  had  usurped  his  victim's  throne.  The  heresiarch 
and  six  of  his  companions  were  accordingly  tried  at  Treves,  before  a 
secular  court,  and,  notwithstanding  his  promise  made  to  St.  Martin, 
bishop  of  Tours,  that  the  life  of  the  heretics  should  be  spared,  Maxi- 
mus sentenced  them  to  be  beheaded,  A.  D.  385.  This  was  the  first 
instance  of  Christians  being  condemned  to  death  for  heresy.  The 
intemperate  zeal  of  Ithacius  and  Idacius,  who  appeared  as  accusers 
against  Priscillian,  was  seriously  disapproved  by  Pope  Siricius  and  St. 
Ambrose,  who  refused  to  hold  communion  with  them. 

243.  The  execution  of  Priscillian,  who  was  honored  by  his  follow- 
ers as  a  martyr,  served  only  to  spread  his  heresy  in  Spain.  The  doc- 
trines held  by  the  Priscillianists  were  a  mixture  of  Manicheism  and 


230  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHVRCH 

Gnosticism.  They  denied  the  Trinity  of  Persons  and  advocated 
Dualism  and  Docetism.  They  held  the  use  of  fleshmeat  and  marriage 
to  be  unlawful,  but  permitted  sexual  intercourse,  on  condition  that 
generation  should  be  prevented.  They  celebrated  their  orgies  with 
great  debauchery,  and  principally  at  night.  For  the  suppression  of 
this  abominable  sect,  stringent  laws  were  enacted  by  the  Synods  of 
Astorga  and  Toledo,  in  446  and  447.  Even  as  late  as  the  year  563, 
the  second  Council  of  Braga  found  it  necessary  to  adopt  measures 
against  the  Pricillianists.  After  that,  the  sect  disappears  from 
history. 


II.     SCHISMS. 


SECTION    LXXIII. SCHISM    OF    THE    DONATISTS LUCIFERIAN    AND  MELE- 

TIAN    SCHISMS. 

The  Donatists— Origin  of  their  Schism— Bishop  Mensurius— Election  of  Caa- 
cilian— Felix  of  Aptunga — Majorinus,  Sehismatical  Bishop  of  Carthage 
— Donatus  the  Great— Councils  at  Rome  and  Aries— Decision  of  Constan- 
tine— Circumcelliones — Ravages  committed  against  Catholics— Donatist 
Errors— Conference  at  Carthage— Its  Result— Luciferian  Schism— Mele- 
tian  Schism. 

244.  The  Donatists  were  the  first  Christians  who  separated  from 
the  Catholic  Church  as  such  on  the  ground  of  discipline.  The  Dona- 
tist schism,  of  which  St.  Optatus  of  Milevis  says,  that  "  it  was  born  of 
the  anger  of  an  offended  woman,  nurtured  by  ambition  and  strength- 
ened by  avarice,"  was  the  most  violent  and  obstinate  that  afflicted  the 
ancient  Church  for  more  than  a  century.  The  schism  dated  back  to 
the  year  305  and  originated  from  a  double  election  in  the  see  of  Car- 
thage. Some  malcontents  at  Carthage,  headed  by  the  Numidian 
bishops,  Secundus  of  Tigisis  and  Donatus  of  Casae  Nigrae,  formed  a 
faction  against  the  worthy  Primate  Mensurius  whom  they  falsely 
accused  of  having  delivered  the  Sacred  Scriptures  in  the  Diocletian 
persecution.  Upon  the  death  of  Mensurius,  in  311,  his  archdeacon 
Caecilian  was  chosen  successor  and  ordained  by  Felix  of  Aptunga. 
This  election  greatly  disappointed  the  factions,  at  the  head  of  which 
now  appeared  one  Lucilla,  a  wealthy  and  influential  lady  of  Carthage. 
To  her  Caecilian  was  particularly  offensive,  because  of  a  rebuke  he  had 
given  her  for  the  use  of  relics  of  some  fictitious  martyr. 

245.  No  sooner  had  Caecilian  been  consecrated,  than  Secundus  and 
Donatus  held  a  Council  at  Carthage_pf  seventy  Numidian  bishops, 


SCHISM  OF  THE  DONATISTS.  221 

nearly  all  of  whom  had  been  convicted  of  having  delivered  the  sacred 
books  to  the  heathen  authorities  in  the  time  of  persecution.  Two  priests, 
Botrus  and  Celestius,  competitors  of  Csecilian,  appeared  as  his  accus- 
ers. On  the  frivolous  pretext  that  Felix  of  Aptunga  was  a  traditor, 
Csecilian's  consecration  was  declared  void  and  in  his  stead  Majorinus, 
a  domestic  of  Lucilla,  consecrated  bishop  of  Carthage,  A.  D.  312. 
Thus,  two  bishops  claimed  the  see  of  Carthage,  each  of  them  being 
supported  by  a  strong  party.  All  Northern  Africa  was  gradually 
drawn  into  the  schism,  the  schismatrcs  setting  up  also  in  the  other 
cities  bishops  of  their  party  against  the  Caecilians.  The  disorders 
which  ensued  caused  Constantine  to  except  the  Donatists  expressly 
from  the  privileges  which  he  conferred  on  the  Catholic  Church. 
Majorinus  died,  A.  D.  315,  and  Donatus,  called  the  Great,  succeeded 
him  who  also  gave  the  schismatic  party  his  name. 

246.  The  controversy  was  tried  successively  in  three  tribunals. 
To  secure  the  recognition  of  their  party,  the  Donatists  appealed  to 
Constantine  and  requested  their  cause  to  be  judged  by  Gallic  bishops. 
The  emperor  referred  the  matter  to  Pope  Melchiades,  who  in  a  Synod 
held  at  Rome,  A.  D.  313,  pronounced  the  charges  against  Caecilian 
groundless.  The  schismatics  protested  against  the  Roman  sentence 
and  demanded  another  trial  before  a  Council  in  Gaul.  Constantine 
acquiesced  and  submitted  the  whole  matter  to  the  Council  of  Aries; 
at  the  same  time  ^lian,  proconsul  of  Carthage,  was  commanded  by 
the  emperor  to  investigate  judicially  the  charges  against  Felix  of 
Aptunga.  From  the  public  records,  Felix  was  proved  to  be  innocent 
of  the  charge  of  "  tradition.'^''  The  Council  of  Aries  met,  A.  D.  314,  and 
was  largely  attended  by  bishops  from  Italy,  Africa,  Gaul,  Spain,  and 
Britain.  The  Fathers  reaffirmed  the  sentence  of  the  Roman  Synod 
and  declared  ordinations  by  traditor-bishops,  and  baptism  conferred 
in  the  name  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  even  by  heretics,  to  be  valid. 

24*7.  From  this  decision,  the  Donatists  appealed  to  the  emperor 
himself.  This  was  the  first  instance  of  an  appeal  from  an  ecclesias- 
tical tribunal  to  that  of  a  secular  judge.  Constantine  yielding  again, 
heard  both  parties  at  Milan  in  316,  but  confirmed  the  ecclesiastical 
decision.  His  judgment  was  likewise  protested  against  on  the  pretext 
that  he  had  been  prejudiced  against  them  by  Hosius  of  Corduba. 
Seeing  them  invincibly  obstinate,  Constantine  enacted  severe  laws 
against  the  Donatists,  ordering  their  churches  to  be  taken  from  them 
and  their  leaders  to  be  banished.  But  these  measures  incited  them 
to  open  resistance  and  rebellion  which  caused  the  emperor,  in  321,  to 
revoke  his  penal  laws. 

248.  Emboldened  by  this  indulgence,  the  Donatists  vented 
all  their  rage  against  the  Catholics.      A   sect  of  fanatics  known  as 


222  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

"  Circumcelliones,"  or  hut-rovers,  sprang  up  among  them,  who  in  the 
name  of  religion  committed  all  kinds  of  excesses  and  depredations 
against  the  Catholics,  pillaging  and  burning  their  houses,  blinding 
and  murdering  their  priests.  These  savage  fanatics,  who  styled 
themselves  "  Agonistici,"  or  "  Soldiers  of  Christ,"  while  their  leaders 
were  called  "  Captains  of  the  Saints,"  were  possessed  with  a  strong 
desire  of  martyrdom.  Their  frenzy  increased  to  such  a  degree,  that 
they  laid  violent  hands  even  upon  themselves,  or  compelled  strangers 
to  murder  them.  Such  a  self-inflicted  death  they  called  martyrdom. 
The  schism  of  the  Donatists  was  confined  to  Africa,  where  they  were 
very  numerous.  In  A.  D.  330,  they  held  a  Synod  which  was  attended 
by  two  hundred  and  seventy  bishops.  Under  Julian  the  Apostate, 
the  Donatist  leaders,  being  recalled  from  exile,  took  fearful  retal- 
iation on  the  Catholics.  These  excesses  of  wild  fanaticism  caused 
the  Emperors  Valentian  and  Gratian  to  enact  severe  laws  against  the 
Donatists. 

249.  Although  split  among  themselves  into  factions,  the  Dona- 
tists obstinately  declined  every  offer  of  peace  made  to  them  by  the 
Catholics.  Nor  would  they  listen  to  the  reasoning  and  arguments  of 
St.  Optatus  of  Milevis  or  of  St.  Augustine,  who  refuted  their  calum- 
nies and  errors  in  various  writings.  Reviving  the  errors  of  Novatian, 
the  Donatists  denied  the  validity  of  sacraments  conferred  by  sinners, 
and  maintained  that  the  Catholic  Church,  by  admitting  sinners  into 
her  communion,  had  ceased  to  be  the  true  Church  of  Christ.  The 
Donatists  accordingly  rebaptized  all,  including  Catholics,  who  came 
over  to  them,  and  declared  the  rest  of  the  Christian  world,  living  in 
communion  with  Caecilian  and  his  consecrator  Felix,  cut  off  from  the 
true  Church,  asserting  that  the  Church  of  Christ  was  confined  to  their 
own  schismatical  party,  which  alone  had  preserved  inviolate  the  integ- 
rity of  the  Christian  faith  and  morals. 

250.  The  various  Councils  held  at  Carthage,  between  the  years 
403  and  409,  in  vain  made  every  effort  to  effect  a  reconciliation.  At 
last,  in  410  the  Catholic  bishops  obtained  an  imperial  order  which 
compelled  the  Donatists  to  meet  with  them  in  conference.  Under 
the  presidency  of  the  imperial  commissary  Marcellinus,  286  Catholic, 
and  279  Donatist  bishops  met  at  Carthage  in  411,  and  during  three 
days,  discussed  the  articles  which  divided  them.  The  most  dis- 
tinguished Catholic  prelates  taking  part  in  the  discussion  were  SS. 
Augustine  and  Aurelius  of  Carthage.  An  offer  was  made  by  the 
Catholic  prelates  to  receive  the  Donatist  bishops  on  a  perfect 
footing  of  equality  in  every  episcopal  see.  Several  Donatist  commun- 
ities with  their  priests  and  bishops  returned  to  the  Church.     Many, 


SCBISM  OF  THE  D0NATIST8.  223 

however,  remained  obstinate,  and  the  schism  maintained  itself  in 
some  parts  of  Northern  Africa,  till  the  invasion  of  that  country  by 
the  Saracens,  when  the  Donatists  disappeared  altogether. 

251.  The  lenient  policy  adopted  by  the  Council  of  Alexandria,  A. 
D.  362,  for  the  re-admission  of  such  bishops  as  had,  under  forcible 
compulsion,  joined  the  Arians,  was  the  cause  of  an  unhappy  schism 
among  the  orthodox.  By  this  Council  it  had  been  determined  that 
those  bishops  who  had  merely  consented  to  Arianism  under  pressure, 
should  remain  undisturbed  in  their  office.  Displeased  with  this  con- 
cession, Lucifer  of  Calaris  in  Sardinia,  separated  himself  from  St. 
Athanasius  and  the  other  orthodox  bishops,  and  became  the  head  of  a 
schismatical  party  known  as  "  Lucif  erians."  They  held  that  no  one 
who  had  yielded  to  any  compromise  whatever  with  Arianism  should 
be  allowed  to  hold  an  ecclesiastical  office.  Lucifer  died  about  the  year 
370,  but  the  schism  to  which  he  had  given  birth  survived  him  till  the 
fifth  century,  and  his  followers  reviving  the  Novatian  heresy,  denied 
the  validity  of  baptism  and  ordination  conferred  by  heretics. 

252.  The  same  Lucifer  of  Calaris  also  laid  the  foundation  of  the 
Meletian  schism  at  Antioch.  Upon  the  banishment  of  Eustathius  in 
330,  a  series  of  Arian  bishops  succeeded  him  in  the  see  of  Antioch. 
The  Catholics,  or  Eustathians,  as  they  were  called,  rejecting  the  Arian 
intruders,  formed  a  community  of  their  own.  In  361,  Meletius  of 
Sebaste,  a  man  of  great  virtue  and  merit,  was  chosen  bishop  of  Anti- 
och by  both  the  Arians  and  the  Catholics ;  but,  being  found  orthodox, 
he  was  banished  by  the  Emperor  Constantius,  and  the  Arian  Euzoius 
was  appointed  in  his  stead.  Lucifer  of  Calaris  went  to  Antioch  ;  but 
instead  of  healing  the  schism  between  the  two  parties,  he  only  in- 
creased the  existing  disorders,  by  ordaining  Paulinus  bishop  for 
the  Eustathians.  St.  John  Chrysostom  and  Theophilus  of  Alex- 
andria at  last  succeeded  in  having  Flavian,  the  successor  of  Meletius, 
recognized  also  by  Rome,  A.  D.  400.  A  small  party  of  extreme 
Eustathians  held  out  till  the  year  415,  when  the  schism,  after  it  had 
lasted  eighty-five  years,  was  practically  closed  under  Alexander,  the 
second  successor  of  Meletius. 


234  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

SECTION    LXXIV MOHAMMED    AND    MOHAMMEDANISM. 

Mohammed — His  Early  Life— His  Pretended  Mission— His  Visions — Islamism 
—Its  Articles  of  Faith— Its  Moral  Precepts— Moslem  Functionaries- 
Koran — Sonna— Shiites — Sonnites— Mohammed's  Hegira — He  Conquers 
Mecca — His  Death— Successors  of  Mohammed — Moslem  Conquests. 

253.  While  the  disputes  concerning  the  Monothelite  heresy  were 
disturbing  the  Eastern  Church,  the  impostor  Mohammed  had  arisen 
in  Arabia.  According  to  Oriental  writers,  Mohammed  was  a  direct 
descendant  of  Ishraael,  and  consequently  of  the  Patriarch  Abraham. 
He  was  born  at  Mecca  about  the  year  570.  After  the  death  of  his 
parents,  who  belonged  to  the  distinguished  tribe  of  Kuraish,  the 
hereditary  guardians  of  the  sanctuary  of  the  Kaaba,  Mohammed  was 
brought  up  by  his  uncle  Abu  Taleb,  and  instructed  in  commer- 
cial business.  During  his  mercantile  trips  to  Syria  and  other  coun- 
tries, he  formed  an  acquaintance  with  Jews  and  Nestorian  Christians, 
from  whom  he  acquired  his  distorted  knowledge  of  the  Jewish  and 
Christian  religions.  At  the  age  of  twenty-five,  he  married  a  rich 
Meccan  widow,  Khadijah  by  name,  whose  agent  he  had  been.  This 
advantageous  alliance  enabled  him  to  live  at  his  ease  and  gratify  his 
taste  for  religious  seclusion. 

254.  In  his  fortieth  year,  A.  D.  609,  Mohammed  formed  the 
scheme  of  establishing  a  new  religion,  or,  as  he  expressed  it,  of  abol- 
ishing the  gross  idolatry  in  which  his  countrymen  had  fallen,  and  of 
replanting  the  only  true  and  ancient  religion  professed  by  Abraham, 
Moses,  Jesus,  and  all  the  prophets,  which  consisted  chiefly  in  the 
worship  of  only  one  God.  He  gave  himself  out  as  the  "  Prophet  of 
God;"  the  spasmodical  convulsions  to  which  he  was  subject  he  rep- 
resented as  heavenly  visions  in  which,  he  alleged,  the  Angel  Gabriel 
appearing  commanded  him  to  restore  the  religion  of  Abraham. 
This  religion  he  named  that  of  Islam,  that  is,  "  submission  to  God," 
whence  his  followers  are  styled  "  Moslems,"  or  Mussulmans,  that  is, 
"  dedicated  to  God."  Mohammed  maintained  that  a  great  number  of 
prophets  had  been  divinely  commissioned  at  various  times,  chief 
among  whom  were  Adam,  Abraham,  Moses,  and  Jesus,  but  that  he  was 
superior  to  them  all ;  he  pretended  that  his  divine  mission  was  clearly 
foretold  in  the  writings  of  both  Jews  and  Christian^,  whom  he 
charged  with  having  corrupted  the  Scriptures  and  suppressed  the 
prophecies  bearing  witness  to  himself. 

255.  The  fundamental  doctrine  of  Islamism,  which  is  for  the 
most  part  an  incongruous  admixture  of  Paganism,  Judaism  and 
Christianity,  is  :     "  There  is  but  one  God,  and  Mohammed  is  His 


MOHAMMED   AND   MOHAMMEDANISM.  225 

prophet."  The  Mohammedans  divide  their  religion  into  two  distinct 
parts  :  Iman^  i.  e.,  faith,  or  doctrine,  and  Z>m,  i.  e.,  religion,  or  prac- 
tice.   The  first  or  doctrinal  part,  comprehends  :     1.  The  unity  of  God; 

2.  The  creation  of  the  world  out  of  nothing ;  3.  The  existence  of 
good  and  evil  spirits  ;  4.  The  resurrection  and  future  judgment ; 
5.  A  state  of  retribution  hereafter ;  and  6.  Fatalism,  or  God's 
absolute  predetermination  both  of  good  and  evil.  It  rejects  the 
Christian  doctrine  of  the  Trinity,  the  Incarnation,  and  the  Divinity 
of  Christ;  also  Redemption  and  Justification.  The  happiness  of 
heaven,  which  none  but  the  believers  in  Mohammed  can  attain,  is 

\    described  to  consist  in  the  enjoyment  of  sensual  pleasure. 

256.  Like  all  heathen  religions,  Islamism  insists  upon  external 
observances,  but  lays  no  stress  upon  interior  sanctity.  Its  moral  law 
enjoins:     1.    Prayer  five  times  a  day;    2.    Repeated   purifications; 

3.  Alms-giving ;  4.  Fasts  and  abstinence  from  wine  and  spirituous 
liquors  ;  5.  Pilgrimage  to  Mecca  ;  6.  War  against  unbelievers  ;  and 
7.     The  keeping   of   Friday   as   a   holyday.      Islamism   permits   its 

rV  followers  to  recompense  evil  for  evil,  and  allows  polygamy,  the 
prophet  himself,  after  the  death  of  his  first  wife,  having  taken  ten 
wives,  besides  a  number  of  concubines.  It  has  no  hierarchy  or 
teaching  body  of  religious  men.  The  functions  of  the  Sheiks  who 
preach,  of  the  Kathibes  who  explain  the  Koran,  of  the  Kayim,  the 
guardians  of  the  mosques,  of  the  Imans  who  preside  at  the  daily 
prayers,  and  the  Muezzins  who  call  to  them,  may  be  discharged  by 
any  Moslem.  The  Ulemas  are  doctors  of  law,  and  the  Dervishes  a 
filthy  and  fanatical  sort  of  monks. 

25*7.  The  sacred  writings  of  the  Mohammedans  are  the  Koran,  a 
collection  of  the  prophet's  pretended  revelations,  compiled  after  his 
death  by  Abu-Bekr,  and  arranged  by  Othman;  and  the  Sonna,  or  col- 
lection of  moral  traditions  of  the  sayings  and  doings  of  Mohammed. 
Many  of  the  Mohammedans,  for  instance  the  Persians  and  Hindoos, 
reject  the  Sonna,  whence  they  are  called  Shiites,  opponents  of  tradi- 
tion, while  those  acknowledging  the  authority  of  the  Sonna,  as  the 
Turks,  are  styled  Sonnites,  or  Traditionists.  The  Sonnites,  as  well  as 
Shiites,  are  subdivided  into  a  number  of  sects.  The  Koran  consists  of 
one  hundred  and  fourteen  chapters,  or  Suras,  each  bearing  a  title  and 
beginning  with  'the  formula  "  In  the  name  of  the  most  merciful  God." 
It  is  the  chief  authority  of  the  Mohammedans  in  civil  and  military 
affairs,  as  well  as  in  matters  of  faith.  The  Koran  regards  Christ  with 
great  reverence,  but  denies  that  he  is  God  or  the  Son  of  God,  though 
it  admits  His  miraculous  birth  of  the  Virgin  Mary. 


22G  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CHURCH. 

258.  At  first  Mohammed  found  acceptance  only  with  a  few  of 
his  nearest  relations.  He  was  vehemently  opposed  by  the  Korasheites 
of  Mecca,  who  at  last  drove  him  to  seek  an  asylum  at  Medina,  July 
22,  A.  T).  622.  From  this  flight,  or  Hegira,  of  the  prophet  begins  the 
Mohammedan  era.  From  Medina,  where  he  assumed  supreme  spirit- 
ual and  civil  authority  over  his  people,  Mohammed,  with  sword  in 
hand,  began  to  propagate  his  religion.  In  630,  he  took  Mecca  and 
converted  the  Kaaba,  after  purifying  it  from  all  idols,  into  the  national 
sanctuary  of  the  true  believers,  or  Moslems.  Mohammed  now 
assumed  the  task  of  converting  all  nations.  He  addressed  letters  to 
the  Emperor  Heraclius,  the  Persian  King  Chosroes  II.,  and  other 
princes,  calling  upon  them  to  embrace  Islamism.  Before  the  death 
of  Mohammed,  which  occurred  in  632,  just  as  he  was  preparing  to 
enter  and  conquer  Syria,  nearly  the  whole  of  Arabia  was  subdued  to 
the  new  religion. 

259.  Islamism  spread  with  amazing  rapidity.  It  had  been  found- 
ed by  the  sword,  and  by  the  sword  it  was  to  be  maintained  and  pro- 
pagated. The  Caliphs,  who  succeeded  to  the  authority  of  Mohanmed, 
trod  in  his  footsteps.  Abu-Bekr,  A.  D.  632-634,  the  first  Caliph,  began 
the  conquest  of  Syria  and  Palestine,  which  his  successor,  Omar  I,  A. 
D.  634-644,  completed.  In  635,  the  Moslems  took  Damascus  and,  in 
63*7,  Jerusalem,  where,  on  the  site  of  the  ancient  temple,  Omar  built 
the  grand  Mosque  bearing  his  name.  Egypt  came  under  the  Moslem 
domination  in  640;  Persia  in  642,  and  Northern  Africa  in  707.  Soon, 
all  the  islands  of  the  Mediterranean  and  nearly  the  whole  of  Spain 
were  in  their  hands,  whence  they  invaded  Gaul  but  were  defeated  in 
the  decisive  battle  at  Tours  by  Charles  Martel,  A.  D.  732,  which  put 
a  stop  to  their  progress  in  Western  Europe. 


J 


EDUCATION  OF  THE  CLERGY.  227 

CHAPTER   IV. 


CONSTITUTION,   WORSHIP,   AND  DISCIPLINE. 


SECTION  LXXV. EDUCATION  AND  CELIBACY  OF  THE  CLERGY. 

Education  of  Clergy  —  Ordination  —  Administration  of  the  Rite  ^  Clerical 
Celibacy— Its  Observance  in  the  Western  and  Eastern  Church — Trullan 
Synod  on  Celibacy. 

260.  The  clergy,  as  in  the  preceding  epoch,  still  acquired  their 
education  mostly  by  practice  and  exercise  in  ecclesiastical  functions, 
under  the  immediate  supervision  of  their  bishops.  In  the  East,  the 
Catechetical  schools  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch  continued  to  flourish. 
Similar  schools  for  the  education  of  the  clergy  were  founded  at  Edessa, 
Nisibis,  and  Rhinocorura.  Seminaries  modeled  after  the  one  at 
Hippo,  founded  by  St.  Augustine,  were  established  in  the  West 
for  the  instruction  of  the  clergy,  as,  for  instance,  the  institutions 
erected  by  St.  Eusebius  of  Vercelli,  and  by  St.  Exsuperantius  of 
Milan.  Not  a  few  of  the  clergy  were  trained  in  monasteries.  The 
monks,  both  in  the  East  and  the  West,  zealously  fostered  learning, 
sacred  and  secular,  and  established  schools  which  grew  to  be  semina- 
ries, whence  distinguished  bishops  and  ecclesiastics  went  forth, 
laboring  zealously  for  the  spread  of  the  faith  and  the  advancement  of 
Christian  life. 

261.  The  duty  of  administering  the  sacrament  of  Holy  Orders 
devolved,  ex-oflicio,  upon  the  bishop  alone.  This  is  abundantly  im- 
plied in  the  canons  of  Councils,  and  often  expressly  asserted  by  eccle- 
siastical writers.  From  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  the  first  and  essential 
rite  of  ordination  was  the  imposition  of  hands  by  the  bishop.  The 
anointing  of  the  hands  was  not  practiced  either  in  the  East  or  at 
Rome  before  the  ninth  century.  Ordination  was  solemnized  in  the 
Church  and  in  the  presence  of  the  congregation,  and  usually  in  connec- 
tion with  the  celebration  of  the  Holy  Sacrifice.  In  the  ordination  of  a 
bishop,  an  open  book  of  the  Gospels  was  placed  on  his  head,  and  the 
presence  of  at  least  three  prelates  was  required.  From  this  obliga- 
tion Gregory  the  Great  had  exempted  St.  Augustine,  the  Apostle  of 
the  Anglo-Saxons,  and  permitted  him  to  consecrate  bishops  without 
any  assistants  ;  but  he  added  that  this  indulgence  was  to  expire  with 
the  circumstances  which  rendered  it  necessary. 


228  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

262.  The  exalted  idea  entertained  of  the  priesthood,  increased 
the  obligation  of  clerical  celibacy,  which'  gradually  became  more 
stringent.  In  the  beginning  of  this  period,  married  men  who,  as 
a  rule,  however,  separated  from  their  wives,  were  even  promoted 
to  higher  orders,  for  want  of  competent  candidates  among  the 
unmarried.  The  ancient  rule  forbidding  priests  to  marry  after 
their  ordination,  was  rigorously  enforced  by  various  Councils.  The 
Council  of  Elvira,  A.  D.  305,  even  made  a  law  requiring  under  pain  of 
deposition  all  clerics  in  higher  orders,  including  subdeacons,  to  separ- 
ate from  their  wives  whom  they  had  married  before  ordination.  The 
Fathers  of  the  Council  of  Nice  were  for  extending  this  law  to  the 
whole  Church,  but,  on  representations  made  by  the  holy  Bishop  Paph- 
nutius,  they  were  content  with  renewing  the  ancient  ordinance  which 
forbade  deacons  and  priests  to  marry  after  their  ordination.  Subse- 
quently, only  unmarried  men  or  widowers  were  promoted  to  the 
higher  order. 

263.  Clerical  celibacy  was  most  strictly  observed  throughout 
the  Latin  Church,  and,  as  St.  Jerome  and  St.  Epiphanius  testify, 
also  in  Syria  and  Egypt.  The  refusal  of  Synesius  to  accept  the  bish- 
opric of  Ptolemais,  because  he  would  not  separate  from  his  wife, 
only  confirms  the  then  existing  discipline.  The  Popes  Siricius  and 
Innocent  I.  insisted  on  the  strict  observance  of  the  rule  of  celibacy, 
which  Leo  the  Great  and  various  Synods  extended  also  to  subdeacons. 
The  Emperor  Justinian  even  made  a  law  excluding  a  widower  from 
the  episcopate,  which,  however,  the  Church  refused  to  sanction.  In 
the  Greek  Church,  particularly  in  the  patriarchate  of  Constantinople, 
clerical  celibacy  was  less  rigorously  observed.  The  Trullan  Synod  of 
A.  D.  692  made  celibacy  obligatory  only  on  bishops,  and  permitted 
priests,  deacons  and  subdeacons  to  marry  once  before  their  ordination. 
To  this  lax  discipline  the  Greek  and  Russian  churches  adhere 
to  this  day. 

SECTION     LXXVI. METROPOLITANS,     PRIMATES,     EXARCHS     AND     PATRI- 
ARCHS— BISHOPS THEIR    ASSISTANTS. 

Metropolitans— Primates  and  Primatial  Sees — Exarchates — Patriarchs — Five 
Patriarchal  Sees — Their  Extent— Prerogatives  of  Patriarchs — Election  of 
Bishops — Assistants  of  Bishops. 

264.  The  distinction  of  rank  among  bishops,  though  not  of  divine 
institution,  dates  back  to  the  Apostles  themselves.  The  political  divi- 
sion of  the  Roman  Empire  was  made  a  basis  for  ecclesiastical  division. 
In  each  province,  the  bishop  of  the  metropolis,  or  chief  city,  presided 


METROPOLITANS  AND  PATRIARCHS.  229 

over  the  other  bishops,  whence  he  was  called  metropolitan  and  arch- 
bishop. In  some  countries,  one  was  designated  Primate,  whose  rank 
was  superior  to  that  of  other  Metropolitans.  Thus  Carthage,  Aries, 
Rlieims,  Armagh,  and  Canterbury  enjoyed  primatial  privileges  over 
the  other  metropolitan  sees  in  their  respective  countries.  An  equal, 
but  a  more  independent  dignity,  was  that  of  the  Exarchs  in  the  East, 
who  were  not  subject  to  the  jurisdiction  of  a  patriarch.  The  bishops 
of  Ephesus,  Caesarea,  and  Heraclea,  were  Exarchs  of  Asia  Minor, 
Pontus,  and  Thrace  respectively.  The  bishops  of  Thessalonica  in 
Macedonia,  and  of  Acrida  (Justinianopolis)  in  Moesia,  for  a  time 
also  enjoyed  the  title  and  honors  of  Exarchs.  The  Exarchs  took 
rank  after  the  Patriarchs,  and  had  quasi-patriarchal  jurisdiction  over 
the  metropolitans  of  their  exarchates. 

265.  The  name  of  Patriarch,  which  is  of  Jewish  origin,  was  given 
in  the  fifth  century  to  the  bishop  of  the  three  sees  which  were  founded 
by  St.  Peter — Rome,  Alexandria,  and  Antioch.  The  incumbents  of 
the  sees  possessed  from  the  beginning  a  pre-eminent  authority  and 
jurisdiction  over  large  provinces,  or  dioceses,  as  they  were  anciently 
called.  The  Bishop  of  Rome,  besides  holding  the  primacy  over  the 
whole  Church,  exercised  the  power  of  metropolitan  over  the  provinces 
styled  suburbicarian,  and  patriarchal  jurisdiction  over  the  dioceses  of 
the  West — as  those  in  Italy,  lUyricum,  Spain,  Gaul,  Britain,  and  Africa 
proper.  In  all  these  provinces,  he  exercised  his  patriarchal  rights  by 
Vicars  apostolic. 

266.  The  patriarchate  of  Alexandria,  on  account  of  its  first  in- 
cumbent, St.  Mark,  the  distinguished  disciple  of  St.  Peter,  was  second 
in  rank,  having  under  it  Egypt,  Thebais  and  Lybia.  The  Patriarch  of 
Alexandria  appointed  and  ordained  all  bishops  of  his  patriarchate, 
who  in  the  exercise  of  their  jurisdiction  were  wholly  dependent  on 
him.  The  patriarchate  of  Antioch  comprised  Cilicia,  Isauria,  Syria, 
Phoenicia,  Arabia,  Mesopotamia  and  Osrhoene.  Cyprus  originally 
seems  also  to  have  belonged  to  it,  but  the  Council  of  Ephesus  in  431 
made  it  an  independent  province,  with  Constantia  as  its  metropolitan 
see.  The  Council  of  Nice  confirmed  the  rights  and  privileges  of  the 
two  sees  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch. 

267.  The  Council  of  Chalcedon  also  raised  the  sees  of  Jerusalem 
and  Constantinople  to  the  patriarchal  rank  ;  the  former  with  jurisdic- 
tion over  the  three  Palestines  (including  Judea,  Samaria,  Galilee,  and 
Perea),  whilst  to  the  latter  were  assigned  the  provinces  of  Thrace, 
Asia-Minor  and  Pontus,  including  the  exarchates  of  Heraclea,  Ephesus 
and  Csesarea.  The  principal  prerogatives  of  the  patriarchs  were  to 
confirm  and  consecrate  the  metropolitans  ;  to  convoke  synods  and 


230  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

preside  over  them ;  to  receive  appeals,  etc.  The  ancient  rule  that 
each  diocese  should  have  only  one  bishop  was  renewed  by  the  Council 
of  Nice.  The  same  Council  also  enacted  that,  if  not  all  bishops  of  the 
province,  at  least  three  of  them  should  participate  in  the  election  of  a 
bishop,  in  which  the  people  had,  though  with  some  limitation,  an 
active  voice.  The  mode  of  appointing  a  bishop  was  :  1.  The  clergy 
and  people  elected  a  bishop,  who  was  then  confirmed  by  the  metro- 
politan ;  or,  2.  The  clergy  and  people  proposed  three  candidates,  from 
whom  the  metropolitan  and  provincial  bishops  selected  one  ;  or  3. 
Conversely,  the  provincial  bishops  proposed  three  candidates,  from 
whom  the  clergy  and  people  were  to  select  one. 

268.  The  chief  assistants  of  the  bishop  were  :  1.  The  Archdea- 
con, who  had  a  prominent  part  in  the  administration  of  the  diocese. 
He  represented  the  bishop  in  Councils,  and,  as  a  rule,  also  became  his 
successor ;  2.  The  Archpriest,  who  officiated  in  the  absence  of  the 
bishop;  3.  The  Administrator  and  Defender,  the  former  being  charged 
with  the  administration  of  Church  property ;  the  latter  with  defend- 
ing the  rights  and  privileges  of  the  Church  before  secular  tribunals ; 
4.  The  Notary  and  Archivist,  who  were  appointed  to  draw  up  eccle- 
siastical deeds  and  for  the  safe-keeping  of  such  documents  ;  and  5. 
The  Syncellus,  or  Cubicularius,  who  was  the  adviser  and  domestic 
chaplain  of  the  bishop.  The  office  of  deaconess  was  permitted  grad- 
ually to  fall  into  disuse  during  this  epoch,  as  in  the  East  the  office  of 
chorepiscopi. 

SECTION  LXXVII. THE  PRIMACY  OF  THE  ROMAN  SEE. 

Supremacy  of  the  Roman  Bishop  universally  recognized — Testimonies  of 
Councils  of  Ephesus  and  Chalcedon — Development  of  Papal  Authority — 
Exercise  and  Examples  of  Papal  Authority — Titles  and  Prerogatives. 

269.  As  in  the  preceding  centuries,  so  in  this  period,  the  superior- 
ity ^d  authority  of  the  Bishop  of  Rome  were  fully  recognized  both  in 
the  East  and  in  the  West.  The  terms  in  which  the  Councils  and  the 
Fathers  of  the  present  epoch  speak  of  St.  Peter  and  of  the  Bishop  of 
Rome,  are  such  as  to  leave  no  room  to  question  their  faith  in  the 
divine  institution  of  the  Roman  Primacy  and  its  perpetual  duration 
for  the  government  of  the  entire  Church.  The  General  Council  of 
Ephesus  considered  it  as  a  "  fact  questioned  by  no  one,  and  known  to 
all  ages,  that  St.  Peter  was  the  Prince  and  Head  of  the  Apostles,  the 
pillar  of  faith  and  the  foundation  of  the  Catholic  Church  ;  that  down 
to  the  present  time,  and  forever,  he  lives  and  judges  in  his  successors." 
In  like  manner,  the  General  Council  of  Chalcedon  solemnly  acknowl- 


THE  PRIMACY  OF  THE  ROMAN  SEE.  231 

edged  the  Primacy  of  the  Roman  See.  "We  consider,"  said  the 
Fathers,  "  that  the  Primacy  of  all,  and  the  chief  honor,  according  to 
the  canons,  should  be  preserved  to  the  most  beloved  of  God,  the  Arch- 
bishop of  ancient  Rome." 

270.  If  we  reflect  that  the  Church  itself  was  only  by  degrees  to  be 
come  great  and  powerful,  developing  itself  as  from  a  grain  of  mustard 
seed  to  a  lofty  and  wide-spreading  tree,  we  shall  readily  understand 
why  Papal  prerogatives  were  not  spoken  of  by  the  Apostolic  Fathers  in 
such  terms  as  came  into  use  in  the  following  centuries.  The  bond  of 
union  and  the  common  authority  which  Christ  had  clearly  provided  for 
His  Church  in  the  Primacy  of  Peter,  could  not  be  consolidated  while 
persecutions  lasted.  But  no  sooner  had  these  ceased,  than  the  Bishop 
of  Rome  was  seen  exercising  supreme  power  over  the  entire  Church  ; 
and,  as  if  by  instinctive  faith,  was  rightly  regarded  by  Christendom 
as  the  common  Father  of  the  faithful,  as  the  one  sure  defender  and 
refuge  of  the  orthodox  faith  ;  and  was  recognized  as  the  Visible  Head 
of  the  Church,  as  the  supreme  teacher  and  law-giver,  the  Superior  of 
all  bishops,  and  Shepherd  in  the  fold  of  Christ.  So  universally  was 
his  spiritual  supremacy  acknowledged,  that  even  the  pagan  historian, 
Ammianus  Marcellinus,  called  Pope  Liberius  "  the  Overseer  of  the 
Christian  religion." 

271.  That  the  Primacy,  which  St.  Chrysostom  calls  the  "Presi- 
dency of  the  Universal  Church,"  was  generally  recognized  in  this 
period,  the  following  facts  are  sufiicient  evidence  :  1.  Such  is  clear 
from  the  relations  of  the  Pope  to  the  Ecumenical  Councils,  which 
were  summoned,  if  not  always  by  him  personally,  at  least  with  his 
assent  and  at  his  solicitation.  He  also  presided  over  them  by  his 
legates  and  ratified  their  decrees  by  his  solemn  confirmation,  which 
the  Fathers  of  such  assemblies  considered  a  duty  to  seek  from  him. 
2.  The  doctrinal  decisions  of  the  Roman  Bishop  in  controversies  of 
faith  were  universally  accepted  as  final.  He  was  throughout  the 
Eastern  Church,  as  well  as  in  the  West,  regarded  as  the  chief  guardian 
and  expounder  of  the  faith.  The  decrees  of  Damasus  and  Innocent  I., 
condemning  the  heresies  of  Apollinaris  and  Pelagius,  and  the  doctrinal 
letters  of  Celestine  I.,  Leo  I.  and  Agatho  regarding  the  Nestorian, 
Monophysite,  and  Monothelite  heresies,  were  unreservedly  received  as 
the  correct  expositions  of  the  mysteries  of  the  Incarnation  and  the 
Trinity.  For  this  reason,  bishops  not  unfrequently  besought  the 
Roman  Pontiff  to  declare  the  Faith,  and  submitted  for  his  confirma- 
tion the  definitions  which  they  themselves  had  formed  against 
heresies.  St.  Augustine  and  other  African  bishops  wrote  to  Pope 
Innocent  I.,  to  ask  his  confirmation  of  the  two  Councils  of  Carthage 


232  HISTORY  OF  THE  GIIURCn. 

and  Milevis,  in  which  the  Pelagian  heresy  had  been  condemned  ;  and 
Flavian,  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  solicited  the  Papal  approbation 
of  his  sentence  against  Eutyches. 

2V2.  3.  The  answers  given  to  the  consultations  of  bishops  from 
every  part  of  Christendom,  prove  that  the  Roman  Bishop  was  a 
superior,  to  whom  all  looked  for  guidance.  St.  Jerome  testifies  that, 
when  at  Rome  under  Damasus,  he  was  constantly  engaged  by  order  of 
the  Pope  in  answering  the  synodical  consultations  that  poured  in  from 
the  East  and  the  West.  4.  The  Roman  See  was  recognized  as  a 
tribunal  of  appeal  to  which  injured  bishops  might  have  recourse  for 
redress.  During  the  violent  struggle  with  Ariandsm,  St.  Athanasius, 
Marcellus  and  other  prelates  betook  themselves  to  Rome  with  confi- 
dence, submitting  their  cause  to  the  decision  of  the  Pope.  In  accord- 
ance with  the  canons  of  the  Council  of  Sardica,  in  which  the  right  of 
the  Pope  to  receive  appeals  from  all  parts  was  distinctly  acknowledged, 
not  only  bishops,  but  also  patriarchs,  as  for  instance,  St.  Chrysostom 
and  Flavian  of  Constantinople,  Peter  II.  of  Alexandria,  appealed  from 
decisions  of  Councils  to  the  Roman  See.  Even  the  heretics  Pelagius, 
Nestorius  and  Eutyches,  by  invoking  the  Pope's  authority,  sought  to 
be  restored  to  communion  with  the  Church. 

273.  5.  The  authority  of  the  Roman  Pontiff  was  manifested  in 
the  deposition  of  bishops,  including  even  patriarchs.  Thus,  Pope 
Damasus  was  asked  by  Eastern  bishops  to  depose  Timothy,  a  prelate 
infected  with  the  heresy  of  Apollinaris.  The  same  Pontiff  deposed 
Ursacius  and  Valens,  two  Ari*an  bishops.  The  people  and  clergy  of 
Ephesus  solicited  and  obtained  from  Leo  I.  the  deposition  of  the 
intruder  Bassian.  The  papal  legates,  in  the  Council  of  Chalcedon, 
deposed  the  violent  Dioscorus  of  Alexandria.  In  like  manner.  Popes 
Sixtus  III.,  Simplicius,  and  Felix  III.  deposed  respectively  the  patri- 
archs Polychronius  of  Jerusalem,  Peter  Mongus  of  Alexandria,  Peter 
Cnapheus  of  Antioch,  and  Acacius  of  Constantinople.  On  the  other 
hand,  no  patriarch,  bishop  or  Council  ever  presumed  to  pass  judgment 
on  the  Roman  Pontiff.  When  King  Theodoric  summoned  a  Council 
at  Rome,  A.  D.  503,  to  examine  the  charges  of  the  schismatical  party 
against  Pope  Symmachus,  the  assembled  bishops  replied  that  "  the 
idea  of  subjecting  the  Roman  Pontiff  to  the  judgment  of  his  inferiors 

'was  entirely  new  and  unheard  of." 

274.  6.  The  Primacy  of  the  Roman  Bishop  is  further  evinced  from 
the  right  of  confirming  the  election  of  patriarchs.  It  was  customary 
for  the  bishops  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch  to  notify  the  Roman 
Pontiff  of  their  election,  in  order  to  obtain  his  recognition  ;  and  the 
bishop  of  Constantinople,  to  procure  the  required  confirmation,  as  a 


THE  PRIMACY  OF  THE  ROMAN  SEE.  233 

rule,  sent  a  special  embassy  to  Rome.  Thus,  the  Emperor  Theodosius 
despatched  ambassadors  to  the  Roman  Bishop  to  obtain  the  confirma- 
tion of  Nectarius  ;  the  same  was  done  in  the  election  of  St.  Chrysos- 
tom  and  his  successor  Atticus.  Pope  Leo  I.  confirmed  Maximus  as 
patriarch  of  Antioch.  Pope  Agapetus,  on  the  occasion  of  his  visit  to 
Constantinople,  could  not  be  prevailed  upon,  even  by  the  Emperor 
Justinian  I.,  to  confirm  Anthimus,  but  in  his  stead  consecrated,  with 
his  own  hands,  Mennas  as  bishop  of  Constantinople.  7..  The  appoint- 
ment of  legates  whom  the  Popes,  whenever  necessity  required  it,  were 
wont  to  send  to  every  part  of  Christendom,  delegating  them  as  "  Vicars 
of  the  Apostolic  See,"  to  regulate  important  affairs  of  the  Chrch,  is 
another  luminous  evidence  of  the  Primacy.  Thus  did  Pope  Celestine 
I.  appoint  Cyril  of  Alexandria  in  the  case  of  Nestorius  ;  and  Popes 
Leo  I.,  Felix  III.,  and  Hormisdas  constituted  respectively  Anatolius, 
Acacius,  and  Epiphanius  successively  patriarchs  of  Constantinople. 
So  afterwards  did  Pope  Gregory  the  Great  appoint  St.  Augustine  to 
be  his  vicar  in  England. 

2*75.  8.  Lastly,  the  titles  and  prerogatives  ascribed  to  the  Roman 
Bishop  manifestly  express  the  Primacy  of  his  See.  He  was  called 
Vicar  of  Peter,  Heir  of  Peter's  administration.  Head  of  all  the 
churches.  Universal  Archbishop,  Pope  or  Bishop  of  the  Universal 
Church,  Bishop  of  the  Catholic  Church,  Head  and  Chief  of  the 
Episcopate,  Chief  Pontiff  and  Bishop  of  Bishops,  Ruler  and  Vicar 
of  the  Church  of  Christ.  He  has  supervision  in  matters  of  faith; 
he  has  apostolic  power  over  all,  and  the  Primacy  in  all  things; 
contrary  to  his  judgment,  the  Church  cannot  make  laws.  9. 
From  all  this  it  is  clear  that  in  these  early  ages  of  the  Church,  the 
Primacy  of  the  Roman  See  was  exercised,  and  fully  recognized 
throughout  the  East  and  the  West.  To  ascribe  the  papal  authority  to 
usurpation  or  ecclesiastical  arrangement,  is  to  mistake  its  character 
altogether.  It  was  exercised  and  admitted  before  any  Council  could 
be  convened  and  was  always  referred  to,  not  only  by  the  Popes,  but 
by  the  early  Fathers  and  Christian  writers  in  general,  as  a  divine 
Institution,  namely  the  privileges  and  prerogatives  bestowed  by  Christ 
upon  Peter. 


234  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

SECTION  I.XXVIII. THE    POPES    OF    THE   FOURTH  AND  FIFTH  CENTURIES. 

Sylvester  I. — Pretended  Donation  of  Constantine — Origin  and  History  of  the 
Document — Julius  I. — Liberius —  Felix  Antipope  —  Damasus  —  Ursiclnus 
Antipope — Siricius — Anastasius  I. — Innocent  I. — His  Attitude  towards 
Pelagianism — Boniface  I. — Celestine  I. — Sixtus  HI.— Pontificate  of  Leo  I. 
—  Popes  Hilary  and  Simplicius  —  Vatican  Library —  Felix  HI. —  Pope 
Gelasius— Anastasius  11. 

276.  Pope  Sylvester  I.,  A.  D.  314-335,  governed  the  Church  in 
the  first  years  of  her  temporal  prosperity  and  triumph  over  her  perse- 
cuting enemies.  His  long  and  glorious  pontificate  is  marked  by  the 
by  the  First  Ecumenical  Council,  that  of  Nice;  and  by  the  suppression 
of  the  Arian  heresy.  In  his  reign  also  occured  the  happy  discovery 
of  the  true  Cross  and  holy  Tomb  of  Our  Lord,  by  the  Empress  St. 
Helena,  A.  D.  326.  To  the  pontificate  of  Sylvester  is  assigned  the 
pretended  donation  of  Constantine.  The  document,  which  purports 
to  be  the  instrument  of  the  donation,  grants  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome, 
besides  certain  marks  and  insignia  of  honor,  such  as  the  tiara,  the 
lorum,  and  imperial  robes,  also  the  temporal  sovereignty  over  Rome 
and  the  provinces,  towns  and  castles  of  all  Italy.  The  document  origin- 
ated probably  in  France,  in  the  ninth  century,  and  likely  was  intended 
for  the  Greeks,  by  whom  the  coronation  of  Charlemagne  as  Emperor 
was  ill  received.  The  assertion  that  it  was  fabricated  in  the  interests 
of  the  Papacy  is  without  foundation.  Up  to  the  twelfth  century,  the 
document  was  never  found  to  have  been  made  use  of  in  Rome  or 
referred  to  by  the  Popes,  although  its  authenticity  was  then  universally 
admitted.  While  the  document  is  proved  to  be  a  forgery,  yet  it  is 
certain  that  Constantine  bestowed  large  possessions  on  the  Bishops  of 
Rome.  The  Roman  See  has  never  looked  upon  the  apocryphal  docu- 
ment as  its  strongest  bulwark  ;  the  Popes  place  upon  entirely  difi:erent 
grounds  the  foundation  of  the  papal  prerogatives  and  the  powers 
exercised  by  the  Apostolic  See. 

277.  After  the  brief  pontificate  of  Marcus,  Jan.-Oct.  A.  D.  336, 
Julius  I.  was  elected  his  successor,  A.  D.  337-352.  During  the  violent 
struggle  with  Arianism,  he  was  the  strenuous  champion  of  the  Nicene 
faith,  and  the  constant  defender  of  St.  Athanasius  and  other  orthodox 
bishops  oppressed  by  the  heretics.  The  bishops  whom  the  Eusebians 
had  unjustly  deposed,  were  reinstated  by  Julius  by  virtue  of  the  pre- 
rogative of  the  Roman  See.  With  the  concurrence  of  the  two  emper- 
ors, Constans  and  Constantius,  he,  in  343,  summoned  the  great  Council 
of  Sardica.  Liberius,  A.  D.  352-366,  had  to  suffer  much  from  the 
Arians  and  the  Emperor  Constantius,  by  whom,  on  account  of  his  un- 


I 


POPES  OF  THE  FOURTH  AND  FIFTH  CENTURIES.        235 

wavering  constancy  in  the  defence  of  the  Nicene  faith,  he  was  exiled, 
and  Felix  II.  in  his  stead  intruded.  On  the  return  of  Liberius  to 
Rome  in  358,  the  antipope  was  expelled  by  the  Romans.  Felix,  who 
always  believed  the  Nicene  creed,  is  put  by  some  in  the  list  of  Popes, 
but  St.  Augustine  and  others  omit  him  ;  some  think  that  he  acted  as 
Vicar  of  Liberius.  The  story  that  Liberius  lapsed  into  the  Arian 
heresy,  has  been  disproved  elsewhere. 

2*78.  After  a  violent  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  Antipope 
Ursicinus,  which  led  to  bloodshed,  Damasus  succeeded  Liberius,  A. 
D.  366-384.  The  antipope  was  finally  banished  from  Rome  by  the 
Emperor  Yalentinian.  Damasus  appears  as  a  principal  defender  of 
Catholic  orthodoxy  against  Arius  and  other  heretics.  He  condemned 
the  Macedonian  and  Apollinarian  heresies,  and  confirmed  the  decrees 
of  the  General  Council  of  Constantinople.  He  was  very  solicitous 
for  the  preservation  of  the  catacombs,  and  adorned  the  sepulchres  of 
many  martyrs  with  epitaphs  in  verse,  which  he  himself  composed. 
For  his  secretary,  he  chose  St.  Jerome,  his  faithful  friend,  and  induced 
lim  to  publish  a  corrected  version  of  the  Bible,  known  as  the  Latin 
^Vulgate.  Pope  Siricius,  A.  D.  385-398,  was  a  no  less  stanch  defender 
of  orthodoxy  against  heresy,  than  his  illustrious  predecessor.  We 
have  from  him  the  first  complete  papal  decretals.  Great  praise  is 
given  by  St.  Jerome  to  Popes  Anastasius  L,  A.  D.  398-402,  and  Inno- 
cent I.,  A.  D.  402-41*7.  The  latter  warmly  espoused  the  cause  of  St. 
John  Chrysostom,  who  had  been  unjustly  deposed  and  exiled.  To 
save  Rome  from  being  sacked,  he  urged  Emperor  Honorius  to  treat  for 
peace  with  Alaric.  Innocent  condemned  the  heresy  of  Pelagius,  and 
the  condemnation  was  renewed  by  his  successor.  Pope  Zosimus,  A. 
D.  417-418.  That  Pope  Zosimus  taught  a  doctrine  different  from 
that  of  his  predecessor  in  the  Pelagian  controversy,  as  is  asserted  by 
the  opponents  of  papal  infallibility,  is  utterly  false  and  distinctly 
denied  by  St.  Augustine.  His  difference  with  the  African  bishops 
regarded  not  the  doctrine,  but  solely  the  personal  orthodoxy  of 
Celestius. 

279.  Boniface  I.,  A.D.  418-422,  to  whom  St.  Augustine  dedicated 
one  of  his  works,  was  for  a  time  opposed  by  the  Antipope  Eulalius,  till 
the  latter  was  banished  by  the  Emperor  Honorius.  He  was  an  unswerv- 
ing supporter  of  orthodoxy  and  a  strenuous  defender  of  the  perogatives 
of  the  Roman  See.  Celestine  I.,  A.  D.  422-432,  was  zealous  in  oppos- 
ing Pelagianism,  and  constrained  Coelestius,  the  companion  of  Pelagius, 
to  leave  Italy.  He  confirmed  the  decrees  of  the  General  Council  of 
Ephesus  and  the  sentence  of  deposition  pronounced  by  that  body 
against  Nestorius.     This  Pope  sent  St.  Germanus,  bishop  of  Auxerre, 


236  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

and  Lupus,  bishop  of  Troyes,  to  repress  the  Pelagian  heresy  in  Britain, 
and  SS.  Palladius  and  Patrick,  to  convert  the  Scots  and  the  Irish. 
After  his  death,  Sixtus  III.  was  chosen  Pope,  A.  D.  432-440.  This  holy 
Pontiff  vainly  endeavored  to  reclaim  the  heresiarch  Nestorius;  but  he 
had  the  consolation  of  seeing  a  happy  reconciliation  effected  between 
St.  Cyril  and  the  party  of  John  of  Antioch.  His  chief  counselor  was 
the  sub-deacon  Leo,  who  became  his  successor. 

280.  Leo  I.,  A.  D.  440-461,  on  account  of  his  eminent  learning, 
sanctity  and  great  achievements,  is  called  the  Great.  It  was  this 
great  Pontiff  who,  by  his  confidence  in  God  and  noble  and  courageous 
conduct,  in  452,  saved  Rome  from  being  pillaged  by  the  Huns  under 
"the  Scourge  of  God,"  Attila,  and  again,  in  45V,  he  saved  the 
city  from  destruction  by  the  awe  which  he  inspired  in  the  fierce 
Genseric,  king  of  the  Vandals.  Rejecting  the  false  Council  of  Ephesus 
(Robber-Synod),  Leo  in  451  summoned  the  General  Council  of  Chalce- 
don,  over  which  he  presided  by  his  legates  and  in  which  his  Dogmatic 
Epistle  was  accepted  as  the  expression  of  true  Catholic  faith.  He 
strongly  maintained  Papal  supremacy  against  arrogant  and  aspiring 
bishops,  and  was  zealous  everywhere  for  the  interests  of  the  faith  and 
Church  discipline. 

281.  After  the  eventful  and  glorious  Pontificate  of  Leo  the  Great, 
succeeded  Popes  Hilary,  A.  D.  461-468,  and  Simplicius,  A.  D.  468- 
483,  both  of  whom  were  worthy  of  their  illustrious  predecessor.  All 
the  acts  of  their  pontificates  tended  to  check  the  spread  of  the 
Monophysite  heresy  in  the  East,  to  keep  in  the  episcopal  sees  zealous 
and  able  prelates,  and  to  enforce  the  strict  observance  of  the  sacred 
canons  with  regard  to  the  appointment  of  bishops.  Pope  Hilary  was 
the  founder  of  the  Vatican  library.  He  strongly  asserted  the  rights  of 
the  Church  against  the  Emperor  Anthemius.  In  like  manner, 
Simplicius,  with  apostolic  energy,  resisted  the  usurper  Basiliscus  in 
his  endeavors  to  uphold  the  Eutychian  heresy.  Simplicius  witnessed, 
the  downfall'of  the  Western  Empire  in  476. 

282.  During  the  pontificate  of  Felix  III.,  A.  D.  483-492,  began 
the  Acacian  schism,  the  author  of  which,  Acacius,  patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, was  excommunicated  by  this  Pontiff  at  the  Roman  Synod 
of  484.  Gelasius  L,  A.  D.  492-496,  was  a  man  of  rare  piety  and 
great  experience.  He  held  a  Council  of  seventy  bishops  at  Rome  in 
494,  which  determined:  1.  The  canon  of  the  Sacred  Scriptures  of 
both  the  Old  and  the  New  Testament ;  2.  The  number  of  Ecumenical 
Councils,  which  was  set  at  four — Nice,  Ephesus,  Constantinople  and 
Chalcedon  ;  and  3.  A  list  of  the  Fathers  and  their  books  which  could 
be  lawfully  read,  as  also  a  catalogue  of  forbidden  and  apochryphal 


POPES  OF  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY.  237 

books.  To  abolish  the  lascivious  feast  of  the  Lupercalia,  Gelasius 
introduced  in  its  stead  the  festival  of  the  Purification.  He  also 
revised  the  canon  of  the  Mass  and  enjoined  communion  under  both 
kinds  in  opposition  to  the  Manicheans,  who  condemned  the  use  of 
wine  in  the  Holy  Sacrifice.  The  Sacramentary  which  bears  his  name 
is  by  some  ascribed  to  Leo  I.  the  Great. 

283.  To  put  an  end  to  the  Eastern  schism,  Pope  Anastasius  II., 
A.  D.  496-498,  sent  legates  to  Constantinople  with  letters  to  the 
emperor,  in  which  he  insisted  upon  the  removal  of  the  name  of  Acacius 
from  the  dyptichs,  and  the  recognition  of  the  Council  of  Chalcedon, 
yet,  declaring  valid  the  Sacraments  conferred  by  that  schismatic. 
This  concession — the  validity  of  the  Sacraments  administered  by 
schismatics — was  the  cause  of  Anastasius  being  unjustly  suspected  of 
complicity  with  the  Monophysites,  a  charge,  as  is  readily  perceived, 
without  foundation. 

SECTION   LXXIX. THE    POPES    OF    THE    SIXTH    CENTURY    TO    THE    ACCES- 
SION   OP    GREGORY    THE    GREAT,    A.    D.    560. 

Symmachus— Laurentius  Antipope — Synodus  Palmaris — Hormisdas— Formu- 
la of  Hormisdas— John  I. — His  Imprisonment — Felix  IV. — Canons  of 
Orange— Boniface  II. — Dioscorus  Antipope— Agapetus  —  Anthimus  of 
Constantinople  Deposed  by  the  Pope — Silverius — His  Banishment — In- 
trusion of  Vigilius — Vigilius  Lawfully  Elected — His  Attitude  toward  the 
Monophysite  Heresy — Pelagius  I. — John  III. — Benedict  I. — Papal  Elec- 
tion— Imperial  Interposition. 

284.  Pope  Symmachus,  A.  D.,  498-514,  successor  of  Anastasius 
II.,  was  opposed  by  Laurentius,  whom  the  Senator  Festus,  an  agent  of 
the  Eastern  Emperor,  had  appointed  in  the  hope  that  he  would  approve 
the  imperial  Henoticon.  This  schism  was  the  cause  of  violent  quarrels 
and  even  bloodshed.  King  Theodoric,  at  the  recommendation  of  his 
prime  minister  Cassiodorus,  decided  in  favor  of  the  lawful  Pope 
Symmachus  on  the  ground  that  he  was  first  elected  and  chosen  by  a 
large  majority.  To  prevent  the  recurrence  of  a  schism,  Symmachus 
convoked  a  Council  in  499,  which  passed  several  canons  regulating  the 
manner  of  Papal  elections.  Soon  after,  the  schism  was  renewed,  the 
partisans  of  the  antipope  falsely  accusing  Symmachus  of  the  gravest 
crimes.  But  he  was  acquitted  by  the  Council,  commonly  called  "  Syn- 
odus Palmaris,"  which,  with  his  consent,  was  convoked  by  Theodoric 
in  501,  and  to  which  he  voluntarily  submitted  his  cause,  though  the 
assembled  bishops  had  declared  that  the  Pope  could  not  be  judged  by 
his  inferiors.  Symmachus  declared  the  Monophysite  Emperor  Anasta- 
sius excommunicated  for  his  hostile  attitude  towards  the  Church  and 
the  orthodox  bishops. 


238  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

285.  Pope  Hormisdas  governed  the  Church  nine  years,  A.  D.  514- 
523.  The  memorable  event  of  his  pontificate  was  the  healing  of  what 
is  known  as  the  Acacian  schism,  after  it  had  lasted  thirty-five  years, 
from  A.  D.  484  to  A.  D.  519.  Peace  and  communion  were  restored 
between  the  two  churches  by  the  acceptance  of  a  profession  of  faith — 
commonly  called  the  "  Formula  of  Pope  Hormisdas " — which  was 
signed  by  the  emperor,  the  patriarch  of  Constantinople  and  the  East- 
ern bishops. 

286.  John  I.,  A.  D.  523-525,  at  the  request  of  King  Theodoric 
undertook  a  mission  to  Constantinople  to  obtain  from  the  Emperor 
Justin  religious  liberty  for  the  Arians  and  the  restoration  of  their 
churches.  The  great  veneration  shown  to  the  first  Pope  who  had 
visited  Constantinople,  was  an  evidence  of  the  high  estimation  in 
which  the  Bishop  of  Rome  was  then  held  even  by  the  Eastern  Church. 
Theodoric,  displeased  with  the  issue  of  the  embassy,  had  the  Pope 
cast  into  prison,  where  he  died  May  27,  A.  D.  526.  At  the  urgent 
demand  of  Theodoric,  the  Roman  clergy  consented  to  elect  Felix  IV., 
A.  D.  526-530,  on  condition,  however,  that  the  ancient  freedom  of 
Papal  election  should  be  thenceforward  inviolable.  To  this  Pope  are 
ascribed  the  twenty-five  canons  adopted  by  the  second  Council  of 
.Orange,  A.  D.  524,  against  the  Semi-Pelagians. 

287.  The  election  of  Boniface  II.,  A.  D.  530-532,  was  disputed  by 
one  Dioscorus  ;  but  the  Church  was  saved  from  schism  by  the  death  of 
the  antipope  a  few  weeks  afterwards.  At  a  Synod  held  at  Rome,  Boniface 
appointed  his  own  successor  in  the  person  of  the  Deacon  Yigilius,  but 
annulled  the  act  in  a  subsequent  Council.  Of  his  successor,  John  II., 
A.  D.  532-535,  but  little  is  known.  Pope  Agapetus,  A.  D.  535-536, 
was  obliged  by  the  Gothic  King  Theodotus  to  undertake  an  embassy 
to  Constantinople  in  order  to  divert  the  Emperor  Justinian  from  his 
expedition  into  Italy.  It  was  on  this  occasion  that  Agapetus,  in  spite 
of  the  Emperor  and  Empress,  refused  to  approve  the  translation  of 
Anthimus,  the  Monophysite  bishop  of  Trapezunt,  to  the  see  of  Con; 
stantinople  ;  in  his  stead  Mennas  was  appointed  and  consecrated  by 
the  Pope.  Agapetus  died  at  Constantinople  ;  his  body  was  taken  to 
Rome. 

288.  The  history  of  the  two  succeeding  Pontiffs  is,  as  yet,  not 
fully  cleared  up,  and  some  documents  incriminating  Vigilius  are  ad- 
mitted to  be  supposititious.  Through  the  influence  of  Theodatus, 
king  of  the  Goths,  Silverius  was  promoted  to  the  Papacy,  A.  D.  536- 
540.  At  the  instigation  of  the  violent  and  crafty  Empress  Theodora, 
this  holy  Pontiff,  because  he  peremptorily  refused  to  reinstate  Anthi- 
mus, was  falsely  accused  of   a  treacherous  understanding  with  the 


POPES  OF  THE  SIXTH  CENTURY. 


Goths,  and  by  her  orders,  Belisarius,  who  had  just  taken  Rome,  sent 
Silveriiis  into  exile,  A.  D.  538.  At  the  command  of  the  Empress,  the 
deacon  Vigilius,  the  apocrisiarius,  or  papal  envoy,  at  Constantinople, 
who  had  promised  to  restore  Anthimus  and  reject  the  Council  of 
Chalcedon,  was  proclaimed  Pope.  For  over  two  years,  Vigilius 
usurped  the  place  of  Silverius,  till  A.  D.  540,  when  the  latter  died  of 
hunger  or,  according  to  another  account,  was  murdered. 

289.  By  the  ratification  of  the  Roman  Church,  Vigilius  became 
lawful  Pope,  A.  D.  540-555,  and  atoned  for  his  unlawful  occupancy  of 
the  papal  chair,  by  the  fidelity  with  which  he  fulfilled  its  duties.  He 
renewed  the  excommunication  of  the  Eutychians,  expressed  his  firm 
adherence  to  the  four  General  Councils  and  the  Doctrinal  Letter  of 
Pope  Leo,  and  courageously  resisted  the  wicked  endeavors  of  Theo. 
dora.  At  the  invitation  of  Justinian,  Vigilius  in  546,  repaired  to  Con- 
stantinople, where  he  was  forcibly  retained,  from  A.  D.  54*7  to  A.  D. 
554.  He  died  in  Syracuse  on  his  way  to  Italy.  The  course  adopted  by 
this  Pope  in  the  Monophysite  heresy  and  with  regard  to  the  *'  Three 
Chapters,"  is  related  in  the  respective  sections.  Another  account  re- 
gards the  intrusion  and  conduct  of  Vigilius  before  his  elevation  a 
mere  fabrication  of  his  schismatical  enemies;  it  endeavors  to  show 
that  Silverius  was  exiled  solely  for  political  reasons,  and  that  Vigilius 
was  not  elected  Pope  until  after  the  death  of  Silverius.  It  is  to  be 
noted  that  Cassiodorus  and  other  trustworthy  contemporary  writers 
do  not  mention  the  usurpation  and  subsequent  repentance  of  Vigilius 
at  all;  and  that  the  letter,  which  that  Pope  is  said  to  have  written  in 
538,  at  the  request  of  the  Empress  Theodora  to  the  heads  gf  the 
Monophysites,  and  in  which  their  teaching  is  approved,  is  of  very 
doubtful  authenticity. 

290.  On  the  extinction  of  the  Gothic  power  in  Italy,  A.  D.  553, 
the  Emperor  Justinian  assumed  the  right  of  confirming  the  election 
of  a  new  Pope,  and  required  the  payment  of  a  certain  tax  to  the  im- 
perial court,  a  pretension  which  the  Gothic  kings  had  enforced  on 
various  papal  elections.  Thus,  Pelagius  L,  A.  D.  555-560,  John  III., 
A.  D.  560-573,  and  Benedict  I.,  A.  D.  5*74-578,  were  successively  con- 
firmed by  Justinian  and  his  successors.  The  confirmation  was  not 
waited  for  on  the  election  of  Pelagius  II.,  A.  D.  578-590,  it  being  im- 
possible to  obtain  it,  on  account  of  the  siege  of  Rome  by  the  Lom- 
bards. The  tax  was  afterward  remitted  by  Constantine  Pogonatus, 
in  680,  who  also,  in  684,  completely  restored  the  ancient  freedom  of 
papal  election. 

291.  Pelagius  I.  confirmed  the  approbation  of  the  Fifth  General 
Council  by  his  predecessor,  and  succeeded  in  appeasing  the  Western 


240  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

bishops,  those  of  Northern  Italy  excepted,  on  the  subject  of  the  "Three 
Chapters;"  whicli  had  been  condemned  by  that  Council.  In  the  reign 
of  John  III.,  occurred  the  invasion  of  Italy  by  the  Lombards  under 
Alboin,  in  568.  The  ravages  of  these  barbarians  brought  great  dis- 
tress upon  the  country  and  the  Church.  Pope  John  III.  and  his  suc- 
cessors vainly  endeavored  to  reconcile  with  the  Church  the  Venetian 
and  Istrian  bishops,  who  had  obstinately  refused  to  accept  the  Fifth 
Council  and  the  condemnation  of  the  "  Three  Chapters." 

292.  With  just  pride  may  we  regard  the  glorious  line  of  the 
Roman  Pontiffs  of  the  first  six  centuries.  Out  of  the  sixty-three 
Popes,  who  preceded  St.  Gregory  I.,  the  greater  number  sealed  their 
faith  with  their  blood,  and  all,  a  few  only  excepted,  are  honored  as 
Saints  by  the  Church.  But  even  these  few  that  have  not  been  enrolled 
among  the  Saints,  have  none  the  less  been  eminent  for  the  purity  of 
their  lives  and  for  their  zeal  and  constancy  in  defending  the  ortho- 
dox Faith. 

SECTION  LXXX. GREGORY  I.  THE  GREAT THE  POPES  TO  THE  CLOSE  OF 

THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY. 

Pontificate  of  Gregory  the  Great — John  the  Faster — Universal  Patriarch — 
Patrimony  of  St.  Peter— Beginning  of  Temporal  Power  of  the  Popes — 
Successors  of  Gregory — Pantheon — Pope  Honorius — His  Apostolic  Zeal 
— Successors  of  Honorius — Pope  St.  Martin  I. — His  Martyrdom— Pope 
Vitalian. 

293.  The  pontificate  of  Gregory  I.  the  Great,  A.  D.  590-604,  is 
one  of  the  most  illustrious  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  With  inde- 
fatigable zeal  Gregory  labored  in  converting  or  regaining  heretics  or 
schismatics,  in  reforming  monasteries,  and  in  restoring  and  enforcing 
everywhere  ecclesiastical  discipline.  To  the  labors  of  Augustine  and 
his  monks  sent  by  this  Pope,  England  owes  her  conversion  to  Chris- 
tianity. The  conversion  of  the  Arian  Lombards,  as  well  as  the 
preservation  of  many  in  the  Catholic  faith,  during  those  critical  times, 
is  to  a  great  extent  due  to  St.  Gregory.  In  Africa,  he  put  down  the 
Donatists  and,  in  Constantinople,  he  energetically  opposed  the 
pretensions  of  the  patriarch  John  the  Faster  to  the  title  of  "Ecu- 
menical, or  Universal  Patriarch,"  assuming  for  himself  the  title  of 
"  servus  servorum  Dei,"  or  "  Servant  of  the  Servants  of  God,"  which, 
ever  since,  has  been  used  by  the  Roman  Pontiffs.  Gregory,  in 
rejecting  for  himself  the  more  ambitious  title,  did  so,  not  because  he 
denied  his  having  the  Supremacy  of  spiritual  jurisdiction  over  the 
whole  Church,  including  his  brethren  in  the  episcopate,  but  because 


ORE  GORY  THE  GREAT.  241 

of  the  meaning  which  might  be  attributed  to  it,  namely,  that  of  being, 
strictly  speaking,  the  one^  or  sole  bishop. 

294.  The  Roman  Church  in  these  times  possessed  extensive 
estates,  called  the  "  Patrimony  of  St.  Peter,"  in  Africa,  Gaul,  Sicily, 
Corsica,  Dalmatia,  and  all  over  Italy,  by  means  of  which  the  clergy, 
the  monasteries,  and  the  indigent  classes  were  supported.  Each  of 
these  estates  was  entrusted  to  a  distinct  administrator  called 
"  Rector,"  or  "  Defender."  Property  in  these  ages  brought  with  it 
dominion  over  the  occupants  of  the  soil,  whence  the  defenders,  or 
agents,  of  the  Church  of  Rome  possessed  a  civil  and  even  criminal 
jurisdiction  over  their  tenants.  The  heedless  negligence  of  the 
Eastern  Emperors  and  the  public  danger  forced  the  Popes  to  assume 
the  greater  part  of  even  the  civil  administration.  Thus  we  find 
Gregory  adopting  measures  for  the  protection  of  the  Romans  against 
the  Lombards,  and,  in  several  instances,  directing  military  movements 
for  the  defence  of  various  parts  of  Italy.  He  afterwards  negotiated 
and  made  peace  with  the  Lombards,  which  shows  that  the  position  of 
the  Pope  was  almost  equivalent  to  that  of  an  independent  prince. 
Although  the  Bishop  of  Rome  was  not  as  yet  a  temporal  sovereign, 
still  his  spiritual  power  was  surrounded  with  a  secular  influence  so 
great  that  he  had  almost  the  rank  of  a  prince.  And  cheerfully  did 
the  people  obey  the  Pope,  whom  they  regarded  as  their  common 
father  and  protector. 

295.  The  glorious  pontificate  of  Gregory  the  Great  was  followed 
by  the  brief  reigns  of  Sabinianus,  A.  D.  604-605,  and  Boniface  III.,  A. 
D.  606.  Boniface  III.  obtained  from  the  Emperor  Phocas,  A.  D. 
602-610,  a  decree  acknowledging  the  Roman  Church  the  "  Head  of 
all  the  churches,"  and  forbidding  the  bishops  of  Constantinople  to 
usurp  the  title  of  "Universal  Patriarch."  The  assertion,  that  from 
this  epoch  dates  the  Papal  Supremacy,  is  too  absurd  to  need  refuta- 
tion. Boniface  IV.,  A.  D.  607-614,  obtained  the  grant  of  the  famous 
Pantheon,  which  he  dedicated  to  divine  worship  under  the  invocation 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  all  the  holy  martyrs.  St.  Deusdedit,  A.  D. 
615-618,  is  celebrated  particularly  for  his  love  for  the  poor.  His 
successor  Boniface  V,  A.  D.  619-625,  evinced  great  zeal,  especially 
for  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church. 

296.  The  pious  and  peaceable  Honorius,  A.  D.  625-638,  likewise 
manifested  great  zeal  in  spreading  and  confirming  the  faith  in  the 
British  Isles.  He  had  the  happiness  of  seeing  the  conversion  of 
Edwin,  king  of  the  Northumbrians ;  he  sent  into  Britain  St.  Birinus, 
who  baptized  Cynegils,  king  of  the  West-Saxons ;  he  founded  the  see 
of  Dorchester,  and  induced  the  Irish  and  Scotch  to  conform  to  the 


242  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

Roman  usage  of  celebrating  Easter.  The  same  Pontiff  also  succeeded 
in  extinguishing  the  schism  which  had  for  seventy  years  divided  the 
churches  of  Istria  on  the  question  of  the  "  Three  Chapters."  Ilono- 
rius  has  been  charged  with  having  outraged  the  Catholic  faith  in  his 
two  letters  to  the  patriarch  Sergius,  which,  though  entirely  orthodox, 
were  serviceable  to  the  cause  of  heresy.  They  drew  censure  on  his 
memory,  as  if  he  were  responsible  for  an  error  which  he  did  not  at 
first  suspect  and  instantly  condemn.  But  it  must  be  remembered  that 
these  letters  were  not  issued  ex  cathedra.,  as  they  were  not  addressed 
to  the  Church  at  large  ;  neither  do  they  teach  any  doctrine  whatever 
as  obligatory  on  all  Catholics.  The  succeeding  Popes,  Severinus,  A. 
D.  639,  John  IV.,  A.  D.  640-642,  Theodore,  A.  D.  642-649,  and  St. 
Martin  I.,  A.  D.  649-655,  formally  condemned  the  Monothelites  and 
the  two  imperial  edicts,  called  Ecthesis  and  Typos,  which  forbade  all 
controversy  on  the  subject  of  Two  Wills  in  Christ.  For  this  opposi- 
tion. Pope  Martin,  by  order  of  the  Emperor  Constans  II.,  was 
forcibly  carried  to  Constantinople,  and,  after  many  sufferings,  died  a 
martyr  in  exile.  To  prevent  the  intrusion  of  a  Monothelite  into  the 
Papal  office,  the  Romans,  after  the  banishment  of  St.  Martin  and  with 
his  consent,  chose  Eugenius  I.  to  govern  the  Church,  A.  D.  655-657. 
Pope  Vitalian,  A.  D.  65*7-672,  appointed  the  pious  and  learned  monks 
Theodore  of  Tarsus,  and  Adrian  an  African,  respectively  archbishop 
and  abbot  of  Canterbury.  The  school  of  Canterbury  which  they 
founded  for  the  education  of  the  clergy,  subsequently  became  famous 
for  learning.  Nothing  of  importance  is  to  be  related  either  of  Pope 
St.  Adeodatus,  A.  D.  672-676,  or  of  Pope  Donus,  A.  D.  676-678. 

297.  Under  Pope  St.  Agatho,  A.  D.  678-681,  St.  Wilfrid,  bishop 
of  York,  came  to  Rome  for  redress  against  his  persecutor,  king  Egfrid 
of  Northumbria.  Agatho,  by  his  legates,  presided  over  the  Sixth  Gen- 
eral Council,  convened  in  680  against  the  Monothelite  heresy,  which 
he  confuted  in  a  learned  Dogmatic  Epistle.  This  Council,  which 
accepted  Agatho's  epistle  as  a  rule  of  faith,  was  confirmed  by  his 
successor,  St.  Leo  II.,  A.  D.  682-684,  who,  as  mentioned  elsewhere, 
also  translated  its  acts  into  Latin. 


I 


BAPTISM,   CO:NFIRkATION,  AND  PE NANCE.  243 

SECTION       LXXXI. SACRAMENTS       OF      BAPTISM,      CONFIRMATION,     AND 

PENANCE. 

Baptism  —  Ceremonies  connected  with  this  Sacrament — Confirmation — Es- 
sential Kite— Sacrament  of  Penance — Teaching  and  Testimonies  of  the 
Fathers— Necessity  of  Confession — Office  of  Penitentiary  Priest  abolished 
— Canonical  Epistles  and  Penitentials. 

298.  In  conformity  with  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles,  the  Fath- 
ers of  this  epoch  invariably  call  Baptism  the  "  Sacrament  of  Faith," 
"  lUununation,"  "  Second  Birth,"  "  Regeneration,"  "  Holy  Bath," 
"  God's  Work,"  or  "  Seal  and  Burial,  and  Planting  in  Christ."  The 
principal  ceremonies  connected  with  the  administration  of  this  sacra- 
ment, which  are  all  taken  from  the  Holy  Scriptures,  or  from  some  of 
the  great  truths  of  Christ's  religion,  were  these:  1.  Imposition  of 
hands  upon  the  head  of  the  candidate;  2.  Touching  of  the  ears  and 
nostrils  accompanied  by  the  word  "  Ephpheta;"  3.  Use  of  blessed 
salt,  which  was  administered  as  an  emblem  of  true  wisdom  and  of 
spiritual  things;  4.  Renunciation  of  Satan  and  his  works;  5.  Exorcism, 
whereby,  as  St.  Augustine  remarks,  "the  inimical  power  of  Satan,  who, 
hitherto  has  had  the  unbeliever  in  his  power,  is  broken;"  6.  Signing 
with  the  sign  of  the  cross,  and  anointing  with  holy  oil  and  chrism;  7. 
Profession  of  faith  in  the  Blessed  Trinity;  8.  Clothing  of  the  baptized 
in  a  white  garment,  as  an  emblem  of  innocence  and  of  the  spotless 
purity  with  which  the  soul  of  the  baptized  is  adorned.  The  white 
garments  were  worn  by  the  newly  baptized  from  Easter  until  the  Sun- 
day after,  which  was  from  this  circumstance  called  "Dominica  in 
Albis,"  Sunday  in  white,  Whitsuntide;  8.  Lastly,  lighted  tapers, 
which  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  baptized,  or  of  his  sponsor,  as  an 
emblem  of  the  light  of  good  example  as  well  as  of  the  illuminating 
grace  conferred  by  this  sacrament. 

299.  Confirmation  was  always  distinguished  from  Baptism  and 
regarded  as  a  distinct  sacrament.  In  the  preceding  epoch.  Confirma- 
tion, as  a  rule,  immediately  succeeded  Baptism;  in  this  epoch,  how- 
ever, because  priests  were  permitted  to  baptize  more  frequently  than 
formerly,  the  two  sacraments  were  separated.  At  an  early  period, 
the  newly  baptized  was  presented  to  the  bishop,  and  by  the  imposi- 
tion of  hands  and  the  anointment  with  chrism,  received  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  direct  and  support  him  in  combat  with  his  spiritual  enemies. 

»300.  The  praxis  and  regulations  of  the  Church  regarding  the  ad- 
ministration of  the  sacrament  of  Penance,  in  general,  remained  the 
Bame  as  in  the  preceding  epoch.  The  Fathers  of  this  epoch  are  unan- 
imous in  distinctly  asserting:    1.  The  priestly  power  of  binding  and 


244  EISTOBT  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

loosing;  and  2.  The  necessity  of  a  detailed  confession  of  sins  on  the 
part  of  the  penitent.  St.  Ambrose  claims  the  exercise  of  this  power 
to  be  the  exclusive  prerogative  of  the  priesthood,  and  St.  Chrysostom 
calls  it  a  superhuman  power.  To  exercise  this  twofold  jurisdiction — 
of  forgiving  and  of  retaining  sins— it  was  necessary  to  learn  the  irregu- 
larities and  disposition  of  the  penitent;  and  from  the  earliest  ages, 
we  behold  the  faithful  Christian  at  the  feet  of  the  confessor,  acknowl- 
edging in  public,  or  in  private,  the  nature  and  number  of  his  trans- 
gressions. 

301.  "  Go  confidently  to  the  priest,"  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa  writes, 
"  and  lay  open  to  him  the  secrets  of  thy  heart  and  the  depths  of  thy 
soul,  as  thou  wouldst  expose  the  wounds  of  thy  body  to  a  physician. 
Have  no  false  shame;  thy  honor  will  be  sacred  in  his  keeping  the 
secret,  and  thy  soul's  health  secured."  "  How  can  you  expect  your 
sins  to  be  forgiven,"  asks  St.  Chrysostom,  "  never  having  confessed 
them?"  .  .  .  It  is  not  enough  to  call  ourselves  sinners  in  general: 
we  must  recall  our  sins  and  specify  them  one  by  one."  In  reply  to 
the  objection  of  heretics,  that  God  alone  can  forgive  sins.  Bishop 
Pacianus  of  Barcelona,  about  A.  D.  370,  says:  "  It  is  true  that  God 
alone  can  forgive  sins;  but  what  God  performs  through  his  priest,  he 
performs  by  His  power.  Hence,  whether  we  baptize,  or  admonish  to 
penance,  or  absolve  the  penitent,  we  do  it  by  the  power  of  Christ." 
And  St.  Ambrose:  "When  our  Lord  said:  ^Receive  ye  the  Holy 
Ghost,  whose  sins  ye  remit,  they  are  remitted  unto  him,'  He  showed 

it  was  by  the  Holy  Ghost  that  sins  are  forgiven Men 

(priests)  remit  sins  in  the  name  of  the  Father  and  of  the  Son  and  of 
the  Holy  Ghost,  not  in  their  o.wn  name." 

302.  Lesser,  or  venial  sins,  of  daily  commission  neither  excluded 
from  communion  nor  were  necessarily  to  be  confessed;  prayer,  espec- 
ially the  recital  of  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  works  of  penance  were  be- 
lieved to  be  sufficient  means  for  obtaining  remission  of  such  sins. 
"  This  prayer  (Lord's  Prayer),"  says  St.  Augustine,  "  wholly  blots 
out  the  lesser  and  daily  sins."  Graver  crimes  required  a  detailed  con- 
fession to  be  made  either  in  private  or  in  public  to  the  bishop,  or  the 
penitentiary  priest.  Public  confession  was  never  required,  except 
when  the  sins  were  public  and  demanded  a  public  reparation;  public 
confession  of  secret  sins  was  permitted  and  counselled  only  in  certain 
cases  as  a  penance,  and  when  no  inconvenience  or  scandal  was  to  be 
apprehended.  When,  in  the  year  396,  the  public  confession  of  a 
distinguished  matron  became  the  occasion  of  a  great  scandal, 
N.ectarius,  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  abolished  the  office  of  the 
penitentiary   priest.      From   that  time,   public   confession   fell   into 


nOL  T  B  UGEARIST.  345 

disuse  in  the  East,  and  later  on,  also,  in  the  West;  but  private,  or 
auricular,  confession,  which  had  been  practiced  from  the  time  of  the 
Apostles,  remained  the  same.  No  person,  however  great  in  the 
world,  was  exempt  from  the  obligation  and  the  common  rules  of 
doing  penance.  The  example  of  Emperor  Theodosius  the  Great  and 
of  Fabiola,  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  most  illustrious  ladies  in  Rome, 
and  a  contemporary  ot  St.  Jerome,  who  also  wrote  a  memoir  of  her  in 
a  touching  letter  to  Oceanus,  are  sufficient  evidences  of  the  rigor,  as 
well  as  the  impartiality,  of  the  ancient  Church. 

303.  To  cause  the  sacrament  of  Penance  to  be  administered  with 
becoming  dignity  and  uniformity,  distinguished  prelates  of  both  the 
Eastern  and  the  Western  Church  issued  Canonical  Epistles  giving 
instruction  on  the  subject.  Such  Canonical  Epistles  and  Instructions 
were  published  in  the  East  by  St.  Basil,  St.  Gregory  of  Nyssa,  Am- 
philochius  of  Iconium,  and  St.  Athanasius  and  his  successors, 
Timotheus,  Theophilus,  and  St.  Cyril  of  Alexandria;  in  the  West  by 
St.  Ambrose  and  Pacianus  of  Barcelona.  Still  later,  Penitentials — 
penance  books — were  compiled  for  the  instruction  and  guidance  of 
priests.  The  most  celebrated  of  the  Penitentials  published  in  the 
West,  is  the  "  Pcenitentiale  Romanum  "  ;  in  England,  St.  Theodore 
of  Canterbury,  Archbishop  Egbert  of  York,  and  Venerable  Bede, 
published  useful  Penitentials  for  the  same  purpose. 

SECTION  LXXXII. HOLY  EUCHARIST. 

Real  Presence — Teaching  of  the  Fathers — Frequent  Communion — Under  Both 
Kinds — Pope  Gelasins— Sacrifice  of  the  Mass — Testimonies  of  the  Fath- 
ers—Belief of  the  Ancient  Church — Liturgies  of  the  Eastern  Church — 
Roman  Liturgy— Ambrosian  and  Mozarabic  Liturgies. 

304.  No  doctrine  of  the  Christian  religion  is  affirmed  with  greater 
unanimity  by  the  ancient  Church,  than  the  truth  of  the  Real  Presence 
of  Our  Lord  in  the  Eucharist  and  of  the  Eucharistic  sacrifice.  When 
speaking  of  this  sacrament,  the  Fathers  of  this  epoch  use  language 
that  leaves  no  room  for  doubt.  St.  Cyril  of  Jerusalem  thus  addressed 
the  faithful:  "Contemplate,  therefore,  the  bread  and  wine  not  as 
bare  elements;  for  they  are,  according  to  the  Lord's  declaration,  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ;  though  your  senses  rebel  against  this,  let 
your  faith  be  your  guide.  Judge  not  the  matter  from  taste,  but  from 
faith  be  fully  assured,  without  misgivings,  that  thou  hast  been  vouch- 
safed the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ."  "  Be  fully  persuaded,  that  what 
seems  bread,  is  not  bread,  though  bread  by  taste,  but  the  Body  of 
Christ;  and  that  what  seems  wine,  is  not  wine,  though  the  taste  will 
have  it  so,  but  the  Blood  of  Christ." 


246  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

305.  St.  Augustine  is  no  less  positive  in  affirming  the  same  truth : 
"  You  ought  to  know  what  you  have  received,  and  what  you  are  going 
to  receive,  and  what  you  ought  to  receive  daily.  The  bread  which 
you  behold  on  the  altar,  sanctified  by  the  word  of  God,  is  the  Body  of 
Christ;  the  chalice,  or  rather  what  it  contains,  sanctified  by  the  word 
of  God,  is  the  Blood  of  Christ."  St.  Maruthas,  bishop  of  Tagrit, 
expresses  the  belief  of  the  Syrian  Church  regarding  this  doctrine  in 
these  terms:  "If  Christ  had  not  instituted  the  Blessed  Sacrament, 
the  faithful  of  after-times  would  have  been  deprived  of  the  commun- 
ion of  His  Body  and  Blood.  But  now  so  often  as  we  approach  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  Christ,  and  receive  them  upon  our  hands,  we  believe 
that  we  embrace  His  Body,  and  are  made  of  His  flesh  and  His  bones, 
as  it  is  written.  For,  Christ  did  not  call  it  a  type,  nor  a  symbol;  but 
said  truly:  This  is  my  Body  and  this  is  my  Blood."  Another  Syrian 
writer,  Barsalibaeus,  has  the  following:  "As  Jesus  himself  appeared 
to  be  a  man,  and  was  God,  so  do  these  things  appear  to  be  bread  and 
wine,  but  are  really  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.  So,  also,  when  the 
Holy  Ghost  descends  upon  the  altar,  He  changes  the  bread  and  wine, 
and  makes  them  the  Body  and  Blood  of  the  Word "  (Transubstan- 
tiation). 

306.  To  communicate  daily,  or  as  often,  at  least,  as  they  assisted 
at  the  Holy  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  was  a  practice  introduced  by  the 
fervor  of  the  first  converts,and  considered  a  duty  by  the  early  Christ- 
ians. "  Let  the  faithful,"  St.  Ambrose  writes,  "  hear  Mass  daily  and 
receive  Holy  Communion  every  Sunday;  during  the  season  of  Lent 
they  should  also  hear  Mass  daily,  and,  if  possible,  also  communi- 
cate." For  several  centuries,  those  who  neglected  Holy  Communion 
for  three  successive  Sundays,  were  declared  excommunicated.  But 
with  the  fervor  of  the  Christians,  the  devotion  to  the  Holy  Eucharist 
insensibly  declined;  frequency  of  communion  was  left  to  the  piety  of 
each  individual,  and  the  precept  was  finally,  by  the  Council  of  Agde 
in  Gaul,  A.  D.  506,  confined  to  the  three  great  festivals  of  Christmas, 
Easter,  and  Pentecost. 

30V.  Holy  Communion,  as  a  rule,  was  received  under  both  kinds, 
especially  when  administered  in  public.  However,  it  was  left  free, 
even  in  this  epoch,  to  receive  under  one  kind  or  both.  The  manner 
of  administering  the  Sacraments  is  a  matter  of  discipline,  and  is  con- 
sequently subject  to  the  discretionary  power  of  the  Church,  which 
regulates  it  according  to  circumstances,  in  various  places  or  at  various 
periods.  Hence,  in  order  to  discover  the  Manicheans,  who  regarded 
wine  as  a  production  of  the  evil  Spirit,  Pope  Gelasius  ordered  that 
all  tlie  faithful  should  receive  Communion  under  both  kinds.     The 


HOLT  EUCHARIST.  2^11 

Fathers  of  this  epoch  state  the  custom  of  Bishops  sending  the  Blessed 
Eucharist  one  to  another,  of  deacons  carrying  it  to  the  sick,  and  of 
hermits  taking  it  with  them  and  keeping  it  in  their  cells  ;  in  all  these 
circumstances,  it  was  generally  received  under  one  kind  only. 

308.  Whenever  the  early  Fathers  and  Christian  writers  mention 
the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice,  the  most  lofty  epithets  display  their  senti- 
ments. They  invariably  call  it  an  "  awful,  august,  and  tremendous  " 
sacrifice.  It  is  to  them  "  the  celebration  of  the  most  sacred  mystery, 
the  celestial  sacrifice,  the  oblation  of  a  saving  victim,  of  a  spotless 
victim,  born  of  the  Virgin  Mother;  the  sacrifice  of  propitiation  for  tlie 
sins  of  men,  and  the  renewal  of  the  Passion  and  Death  of  Christ." 
To  assist  at  this  sacrifice  daily,  they  considered  a  laudable  and  whole- 
some practice  ;  to  be  present  at  it  every  Sunday  and  holiday,  they 
declareed  a  duty  for  every  Christian. 

309.  The  belief  of  the  ancient  Church  and  the  teaching  of  the 
early  Fathers  regarding  the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice  may  be  expressed  in 
the  following :  1,  The  Victim  offered  in  the  Holy  Eucharist  they 
affirm,  in  express  terms,  to  be  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.  2,  The 
sacrifice  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  they  assert  not  to  be  distinct  from, 
but  identically  the  same  with  that  offered  on  the  Cross.  3,  The  offer- 
ing of  this  holy  sacrifice  they  declare  to  be  an  especial  oftice,  com- 
mitted by  Christ  to  the  Apostles  and  their  successors.  4,  Of  all  the 
resources  which  religion  offers  for  obtaining  God's  mercy  and  grace, 
they  declare  the  Eucharistic  Sacrifice  to  be  the  most  efficacious;  its 
influence  is  not  confined  to  the  living,  but  it  also  releases  from  their 
bonds  the  souls  of  the  dead. 

310.  In  the  celebration  of  the  Mass,  different  rites,  or  formulas, 
called  Liturgies,  were  followed  by  different  churches.  But  amid 
some  accidental  variations,  the  more  important  parts,  the  invocation 
or  collect,  the  consecration,  the  breaking  of  the  sacred  host,  and  the 
communion,  which  are  ascribed  to  the  Apostles,  occur  in  all  the  an- 
cient Liturgies  and  were  observed  with  scrupulous  fidelity.  The 
principal  differences  between  the  various  Liturgies  are  in  the  i:>repara- 
tory  part  of  the  sacrifice:  in  the  Canon,  besides  the  parts  mentioned, 
they  all  contain  the  Preface,  the  Commemoration  of  the  living  and 
the  dead,  and  the  Lord's  Prayer. 

311.  Of  the  Eastern  Liturgies,  of  which  several  are  named  after 
some  Apostle,  the  most  noted  are:  1.  The  Liturgy,  contained  in  the 
eighth  book  of  the  Apostolic  Constitutions.  It  affects  to  have  been  the 
joint  work  of  the  Apostles,  like  the  Creed,  it  is  called  after  them,  and 
was  probably  in  general  use  during  the  first  four  centuries.  Its  con- 
secration-prayer is  called  the  Constitution  of  St.  James  the  Great.    2. 


248  HISTORY  OF   THE   CHURCH. 

The  Liturgy  of  St.  James,  first  bishop  of  Jerusalem,  used  in  the 
Church  of  Jerusalem;  3.  The  Antiochian  Liturgy,  which  is  ascribed  to 
St.  Clement,  by  some  to  St.  James  the  Apostle;  4.  The  Alexandrian 
Liturgy  is  attributed  to  St.  Mark,  but  also  called  after  St.  Cyril,  from 
whom  it  received  its  complete  form;  5.  The  Liturgies  of  St.  Chrysos- 
tom  and  St.  Basil  have  to-day  almost  undisturbed  sway  in  the  Eastern 
Churches,  and  are  used  by.  Catholics  and  Schismatics  alike. 

312.  Of  the  Liturgies  of  .the  Western  or  Latin  Church,  the  Roman 
is  the  oldest  and  most  celebrated;  its  Canon  has  remained  unaltered 
since  the  sixth  century.  The  Roman  Sacramentary,  which  at  an  early 
date  received  the  name  of  Missal,  was  revised  by  Popes  Gelasius  and 
Gregory  the  Great.  Of  the  other  Liturgies  of  the  Western  Church, 
the  Ambrosian  and  Mozarabic  are  mentioned  as  the  most  remarkable  ; 
the  former  is  peculiar  to  the  Church  of  Milan,  and  is  attributed  to  the 
Apostle  St.  Barnabus,  but  called  after  St.  Ambrose,  by  whom  it  was 
revised.  The  Mozarabic,  so  called  from  its  being  adopted  by  the 
mixed  population  of  the  Goths  and  Arabs  in  Spain,  is  confined  to  the 
city  of  Toledo.  Some  ascribe  it  to  St.  Isidore  of  Seville.  As  for  the 
so-called  Galilean  and  Lyonese  Liturgies,  they  are  now  things  of  the 
past,  having  been  superseded  by  the  Roman  Liturgy. 

SECTION    LXXXIII. EREMITICAL    AND    MONASTIC    LIFE. 

Origin  of  Monastic  State — Three  Classes  of  Monastics — Origin  of  Anchorites 
—St.  Paul  the  Hermit — Origin  of  Ccnobites — St.  Anthony — St.  Ammonius 
^St.  Pachomius — SS.  Macarii  —  St.  Hilarion  —  St.  Basil  —  Basilians  — 
Stylites  —  St.  Simeon  —  Founders  of  Monasteries  in  the  West  —  Armagh, 
Bangor  and  Luxeuil— St.  Benedict — Benedictine  Rule — Propagation  of 
the  Benedictine  Order — Social  Results — Benedictine  Families. 

313.  In  the  East.  The  Monastic  state,  which  aims  at  a  higher 
Christian  perfection  in  the  observance  of  the  evangelical  counsels, 
was  developed  in  the  Church  only  by  slow  degrees.  History  distin- 
guishes three  grades  of  monastic  life,  or  rather,  three  classes  of 
monas^rics ;  viz..  Ascetics,  Anchorites  or  Hermits,  and  Cenobites  or 
Monks.  In  the  very  first  ages  of  the  Church,  there  were  and  could 
be  as  yet  no  regularly  constituted  cloisters,  in  the  strict  sense  of  the 
word,  yet  numerous  ascetics  (continentes,)  were  found,  who,  living  in 
the  heart  of  their  families,  and  without  quitting  the  world,  led  a  life 
of  virginity  or  celibacy,  and  devoted  themselves  to  works  of  piety 
and  penance. 

314.  The  origin  of  the  Christian  Anchorites  is  referred  to  the 
time  of  the  Decian  persecution.  Many  of  the  Christians  who  had 
then  fled  into  the  deserts  to  escape  persecution  and  the  dangers  of 


EREMITICAL  AND  MONASTIC  LIFE.  249 

the  world,  did  not  return  after  the  storm  had  subsided,  but  voluntarily 
remained,  leading  a  life  of  contemplation,  devoted  to  God  and  the 
salvation  of  their  immortal  souls.  These  solitaries,  or  hermits,  soon 
became  very  numerous,  especially  in  Egypt.  Amongst  the  earliest 
was  St.  Paul  of  Thebes,  who  fled  during  the  Decian  persecution  into 
the  desert  of  the  Thebais,  and  lived  there  in  a  cave  to  the  great  age 
of  one  hundred  and  thirteen,  practising  austere  penance  and  occupied 
in  prayer  and  contemplation.  This  holy  anchorite,  called  "the  Father 
of  ermits,"  died  A.  T>.  340.    His  life  was  written  by  St.  Jerome. 

315.  From  the  eremetical  life  developed  the  cenobitical  and  monas- 
tic institution.  The  name  "  cenobite,"  or  monk,  was  given  to  all  who 
lived  in  conventual  seclusion  under  the  direction  of  a  superior,  whilst 
that  of  "hermit"  was  reserved  for  solitaries.  The  true  founder  of  the 
cenobitical  life  was  St.  Anthony.  Born  in  Egypt  of  rich  and  virtuous 
parents,  A.  D.  251,  he,  after  dividing  all  his  possessions  among  the 
poor,  retired  into  the  desert,  where  he  lived  for  twenty  years  the  life  of 
a  hermit.  The  fame  of  his  miracles,  and  still  more  the  power  of  his 
w^ords  and  example,  drew  about  him  many  followers,  who,  under  his 
guidance,  desired  to  devote  themselves  to  this  new  life.  He  became 
the  director  of  a  number  of  anchorites  who  dwelt  in  detached  cells, 
forming  a  community  called  a  "  Laura."  This  venerable  patriarch  of 
the  Cenobites  died  A.  D.  356,  at  the  age  of  one  hundred  and  five. 
There  are  extant  seven  authentic  letters  and  an  "  Exhortation  to  the 
Monks"  by  St.  Anthony.     His  life  was  written  by  St.  Anthanasius. 

316.  This  new  manner  of  life,  called  by  the  ancients  an  "angel- 
ical life,"  and  a  "higher  philosophy,"  found  many  admirers  and 
followers.  St.  Ammonius,  the  friend  of  St.  Anthony,  established 
similar  communities  in  the  Nitrian  deserts  in  Upper  Egypt,  where 
5000  cenobites  soon  assembled  under  his  direction.  St.  Pachomius,  a 
disciple  of  the  holy  hermit  Palemon,  was  the  first  who  drew  up  a  Rule 
for  monks,  and  the  founder  of  the  first  monasteries.  The  pious 
recluses  living  under  his  direction  went  by  the  name  of  monks,  that 
is,  solitaries,  and  their  secluded  habitations  were  denominated  monas- 
teries, or  mansions  of  the  solitaries.  About  the  year  340,  he  founded 
a  monastery  on  the  island  of  Tabennae  in  the  Nile,  in  which  his 
monks  lived  under  the  same  roof  and  after  the  same  Rule.  His 
disciples  becoming  very  numerous,  he  founded  eight  other  monasteries 
— seven  for  men,  and  one,  under  the  direction  of  his  sister,  for  women 
— all  recognizing  a  common  superior,  called  Abbot  or  Archimandrite. 
At  his  death,  in  348,  the  order  founded  by  him  numbered  7,000  monks, 
and  in  the  fifth  century  it  counted  as  many  as  50,000.  The  Rule  of 
St.  Pachomius  was  translated  into  Latin  by  St.  Jerome.     In  Upper 


250  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Egypt  the  two  Macarii,  the  elder  and  the  younger,  founded  monaster- 
ies in  the  desert  of  Scete  ;  and  near  Arsinoe,  St.  Serapion  was  superior 
over  ten  thousand  monks. 

317.  From  Egypt,  monastic  life  rapidly  spread  over  Palestine, 
Arabia,  Syria,  Mesopotamia,  Persia,  and  Asia  Minor.  St.  Hilarion,  a 
disciple  of  St.  Anthony,  and  St.  Basil  the  Great,  were  founders  of 
numerous  monasteries,  the  former  in  Palestine,  and  the  latter  in 
Pontus  and  Cappadocia.  The  order  founded  by  St.  Basil  spread 
rapidly  throughout  the  East  where  his  Rule  became  the  basis  of  all 
other  monastic  institutions.  Before  the  death  of  its  founder,  it  count- 
ed over  eighty  thousand  monks  and  is  to  this  day  the  principal  order  in 
the  Greek  and  Eastern  Churches.  The  celebrated  Laura  of  St.  Sabas 
(died  A.  D.  532),  a  short  distance  from  Jerusalem,  contained  over  a 
thousand  monks,  and  was  enlarged  in  the  sixth  century  by  the  addi- 
tion of  the  so-called  New  Laura.  Eustathius,  bishop  of  Sebaste,  pro- 
pagated the  monastic  life  about  the  same  time  in  Armenia.  In  less 
than  half  a  century  all  the  deserts,  from  the  borders  of  Lybia  to  the 
Caspian  Sea,  were  peopled  by  monks  and  hermits.  The  ancient  mon- 
asteries consisted  not  of  single  buildings,  but  frequently  comprised 
whole  villages  and  cities,  numbering  the  monks  by  thousands.  About 
the  year  372,  there  were  over  one  hundred  thousand  monks  in- Egypt 
alone. 

318.  Another  class  of  Anchorites  were  the  Stylites,  or  solitaries, 
who  lived  on  the  tops  of  columns  or  pillars.  The  originator  of  this 
extraordinary  mode  of  Christian  asceticism,  was  St.  Simeon  Stylites. 
He  spent  thirty  years  on  the  top  of  a  pillar  near  Antioch,  where  he 
lead  a  most  austere  life,  preaching  with  truly  apostolic  power  and 
wonderful  success,  to  the  populous  nomadic  tribes  that  flocked  to  him 
from  the  vast  Syrian  desert,  Arabia,  and  even  Persia.  He  died,  A. 
D.  459.  His  example  was  followed  by  Daniel,  a  priest  of  Constanti- 
nople, and  St.  Simeon  the  Younger. 

319.  Communities  and  cloisters  of  women  were  likewise  founded 
at  a  very  early  period.  The  sister  of  St.  Anthony  presided  over  the 
lirst  female  community  ;  and  St.  Pachomius  and  St.  Basil  each  drew 
up  a  Rule  for  the  cloisters  which  their  own  sisters  governed.  These 
pious  female  recluses  were  called  "  nuns,"  the  Egyptian  name  for 
virgin.  They,  too,  became  very  numerous  ;  several  cloisters  contained 
as  many  as  250  holy  virgins  (Virgines  Deo  sacrae,  Sanctimoniales) 
under  the  direction  of  a  superioress,  called  "  Ammas,"  that  is,  mother. 

320.  In  the  West.  From  the  East,  monastic  life  was  transplanted 
to  the  "West,  where  it  was  flrst  made  known  by  St.  Athanasius,  when 


EREMITICAL  AND  MONASTIC  LIFE.  251 

he  came  to  Rome  to  invoke  the  protection  of  Pope  Julius,  A.  D.  340. 
Monastic  establishments  were  founded  by  St.  Eusebius  of  Vercelli 
and  St.  Ambrose  in  Italy;  by  St.  Martin  of  Tours,  St.  Honoratus,  and 
Cassianus  in  Gaul;  by  St.  Augustine  in  Africa;  and  by  St.  Patrick  in 
Ireland.  The  Irish  monasteries  of  Armagh,  Bangor,  and  Clonard 
subsequently  became  famous  centres  of  learning.  St.  Columbanus,  a 
monk  of  Bangor,  founded  the  monasteries  of  Luxeuil  in  Burgundy, 
and  Bobbio  in  Italy. 

321.  But  monasticism  owes  its  existence  and  propagation  in  the 
West  principally  to  St.  Benedict.  Born  in  480  at  Nursia  in  Umbria, 
of  noble  parentage,  Benedict,  at  the  age  of  fourteen,  withdrew  into  the 
wilds  of  Subiaco,  in  the  Apennines.  Here  he  lived  for  three  years  in 
a  deep  and  almost  inaccessible  cavern.  His  reputation  for  sanctity 
and  his  miracles  soon  gathered  a  number  of  disciples  around  him,  for 
whom  he  erected  twelve  monasteries.  In  529,  he  retired  with  a  few 
monks  to  Monte  Cassino,  where,  on  the  site  of  an  ancient  temple  of 
Apollo,  he  founded  a  monastery,  which  became  the  glorious  monastic 
centre  of  the  West.  Besides,  several  other  monasteries  were  founded 
by  St.  Benedict;  amongst  these,  one  for  women,  which  he  placed  un- 
der the  direction  of  his  sister  St.  Scholastica.  St.  Benedict,  who  is 
called  the  patriarch  of  the  Western  monks,  died,  A.  D.  543. 

322.  The  Rule  of  St.  Benedict,  which  very  appropriately  has  been 
called  a  "  Summary  of  the  Christian  Religion,"  is  a  masterpiece  of 
enlightened  wisdom  and  prudence.  Its  precepts  are  few  and  simple. 
In  seventy-three  chapters,  it  contains  a  collection  of  regulations  in- 
tended to  train  men  in  detachment  from  the  world,  and  in  the  acqui- 
sition of  Christian  perfection,  through  the  practice  of  the  evangelical 
counsels.  In  it  we  find  the  duties  and  observances  of  the  monastic 
life  clearly  defined.  The  evils,  arising  from  the  custom  of  monks  con- 
tinually passing  from  one  convent  to  another,  are  prevented  by  the 
"  vow  of  stability  "  binding  each  member  to  remain  always  in  the 
same  community.  The  Benedictine  Rule  gradually  superseded  all 
other  Rules  in  the  West,  as  for  example  the  Irish  Rule  of  St.  Colum- 
ban,  that  of  St.  Martin  in  France,  and  those  of  SS.  Fructuosus, 
Csesarius  and  Isidore  in  Spain.  In  the  ninth  century,  it  was  formally 
adopted  throughout  the  dominions  of  Charlemagne,  and  later  on,  it 
was  received  in  all  the  Cathedral  monasteries  of  England. 

323.  The  order  founded  by  St.  Benedict  spread  rapidly  and 
widely.  It  was  established  in  Sicily  by  St.  Placidus,  in  Gaul  by  St. 
Maurus,  both  disciples  of  St.  Benedict ;  in  Britain  by  St.  Augustine, 
and  in   Germany  by   St.   Boniface.     Xo   other  Religious   Order  can 


252  HISTORY  OF  THE  CIIURVH. 

claim  to  have  done  so  much  for  the  conversion  and  civilization  of  the 
world.  The  monks  planted  Christianity  in  England,  Friesland  and 
Germany;  and  the  Scandinavian  North  received  with  the  true  faith  its 
first  monasteries  as  well.  For  centuries  the  Benedictines^  were  the 
principal  teachers  of  youth  in  all  branches  of  science  and  art. 

324.  Out  of  this  order,  rose,  in  the  process  of  time,  various  new 
monastic  families,  such  as  the  orders  or  congregations  of  Cluny,  the 
Camaldolensians,  Yallombrosians,  Cistercians,  Carthusians,  Trappists, 
besides  a  multitude  of  institutes  for  women.  From  it  also  arose  the 
famous  congregation  of  St.  Maur,  so  well  known  for  its  biblical,  pat- 
ristical,  and  historical  works,  and  for  its  learned  members.  In  the 
height  of  its  prosperity  the  Order  counted  thirty-seven  thousand 
monasteries,  from  which,  it  is  stated,  there  have  come  forth  four 
thousand  bishops,  sixteen  hundred  archbishops,  two  hundred  cardi- 
nals, twenty-eight  popes,  and  five  thousand  canonized  saints. 


SECOND  PERIOD. 


Medieval  Church  History. 


FROM     THE     CLOSE     OF     THE     SEVENTH     TO     THE 

BEGINXING    OF    THE    SIXTEENTH    CENTURY, 

OR, 

FROM    A.  D.    680    TO    A.  D.    1500. 


FIRST  EPOCH. 


FROM  THE  CLOSE  OF  THE  SEVENTH  CENTURY 


TO  THE  GREEK  SCHISM 


OR, 
FROM  A.  D.  680  TO  A.  D.  1054. 


INTRODUCTORY  REMARKS. 

Middle  Ages— The  Church  the  Parent  of  Modern  Civilization — Increase  of 
Ecclesiastical  Power — The  Church,  however,  not  Supreme — Dr.  Brown- 
son's  Views— Glance  at  Mediaeval  History — Conflict  with  Civil  Authority 
— Dark  Ages — Exaggeration  of  Certain  Writers. 

1.  The  present  period,  including,  what  are  known  as  the  Middle 
Ages,  was  in  a  special  manner  the  era  of  the  triumph  of  the  Church 
over  barbarism,  in  the  conversion  of  the  Northern  nations  during  the 
first  epoch,  and  in  the  revival  of  religious  life  and  letters  during  the 
second.  Throughout  this  period  of  nearly  ten  centuries  Catholic 
Christianity  w^as  the  religion  of  all  the  Western  nations  of  Europe. 
The  Church  became  the  connecting  link  between  the  barbarian  world 

md  the  old  nationalities,  and  by  opening  the  way  for  the  fusion  of  the 
fraces,  she  became  the  parent  of  modern  civilization. 

2.  Everything  throughout  this  long  period  tended  to  advance  and 
[consolidate  the  influence  and  power  of  the  Church.    For  the  manifold 

blessings  which  they  had  received  from  the  Church,  the  grateful  na- 


254  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

tions  gradually  clothed  her,  even  in  temporal  matters,  with  an  almost 
unlimited  power.  In  the  midst  of  the  many  miseries  and  calamities 
which  afflicted  the  Christian  nations  of  Southern  Europe  during  the 
earlier  part  of  this  period,  the  Roman  Pontiffs  had  become  the  com- 
mon refuge  of  all  the  unfortunate.  For  this,  the  gratitude  of  the 
people  forced  upon  the  Papacy  the  temporal  sovereignty  and  gave 
the  Roman  Pontiffs  their  temporal  crown.  Thus,  the  Middle  Ages 
show  us  the  Papacy  controlling  kings  and  people,  not  by  any  usurpa- 
tion of  power,  but  by  a  necessary  consequence  of  her  mission,  and  as 
if  by  the  very  logic  of  events. 

3.  However,  we  are  not  to  conclude  that  the  Church  during  the 
Middle  Ages  was  in  fact,  as  well  as  by  right,  absolutely  supreme  even 
over  the  secular  order,  and  that  she  had  all  things  her  own  way. 
"  The  assumption,"  Dr.  Brownson  writes,  "  that  the  Church  reigned 
quietly  and  peacefully  during  the  Middle  Ages,  is  warranted  by  no 
authority  and  is  contradicted  by  the  whole  history  of  the  period. 
A  simjile  glance  at  its  history  will  suffice  to  dissipate  the  illusion, 
that  the  Middle  Ages  were  all  the  work  of  the  Church,  or  that  she 
worked  throughout  them  comparatively  at  her  ease.  Those  ages 
open  with  the  destruction  of  the  "Western  Roman  Empire  and  the 
permanent'  settlement  of  the  Northern  barbarians  on  its  ruins. 
.  .  .  Over  the  vast  extent  of  the  once  flourishing,  wealthy,  and 
highly  civilized  and  christianized  provinces  of  the  Empire,  you  see 
nothing  but  ruined  cities,  deserted  towns  and  villages  ;  large  tracts  of 
once  cultivated  land  becoming  wild,  a  thin  population  composed  of 
miserable,  trembling  slaves,  and  rude,  arrogant,  and  merciless  barba- 
rian masters.  The  churches  and  religious  houses  have  been  demol- 
ished or  plundered ;  the  schools  and  other  institutions  of  learning,  so 
numerous  and  so  richly  endowed  under  the  Empire,  have  disappeared  ; 
the  liberal  arts  are  despised  and  neglected  ;  the  domestic  arts,  except 
a  few,  are  lost  or  forgotten  ;  war,  pillage,  general  insecurity,  misery, 
and  want  have  loosened  all  moral  restraints,  unchained  the  passions, 
and  given  free  scope  to  .vice  and  crime ;  the  clergy  are  few,  poor, 
and  illiterate  ;  for  their  conquerors,  as  subsequently  in  Ireland,  have 
left  them  no  means  of  education.  .  .  .  The  barbarian  conquerors, 
moreover,  are  not  all  even  nominally  Catholic.  Many  of  them  are 
Arians  ;  more  of  them  are  Pagans,  still  adoring  their  old  Scandina- 
vian or  Teutonic  deities,  and  looking  with  proud  disdain  on  the 
Christian's  faith  and  the  Christian's  worship.  .  .  .  Ireland  alone, 
at  this  period,  is  a  Catholic  oasis  in  the  immense  desert  of  heresy  and 
barbaric  infidelity." 


INTBOD  UCTOR T  REMARKS.  255 

4.  "  Nor  was  it  only  at  the  beginning  of  the  Middle  Ages,"  Dr. 
Brownson  continues,  "  that  the  Church  found  herself  in  face  of  a  hos- 
tile world.  The  hostility  continued  till  the  close  of  the  period.  It 
was  in  the  Middle  Ages,  we  must  remember,  that  Mohametanism, 
breaking  forth  with  wild  fanaticism  for  eight  hundred  years,  devas- 
tated the  fairest  and  most  fertile  regions  of  the  earth  ;  that  the  Icono- 
clasts persecuted  the  Church  and  sought  to  prepare  it  for  Islamism  ; 
the  Greek  schism  originated  and  was  consummated  ;  the  Saracens  rav- 
aged the  South  of  Italy  and  France  and  established  themselves  in 
Spain  ;  the  dissolute  Albigenses  renewed  the  heresy  of  Manes  and 
perpetrated  their  horrors  ;  the  Beghards,  Wicliffites  and  other  secta- 
ries arose." 

5.  "  During  these  same  ages,"  to  quote  Brownson  again,  "there 
was  scarcely  a  moment  of  peace  between  civil  and  ecclesiastical  pow- 
er. The  civil  authorities  never  ceased  to  encroach  on  the  spiritual, 
and  the  Church  was  obliged  to  maintain  a  constant  and  severe  strug- 
gle to  prevent  herself  from  being  swamped,  so  to  speak,  by  the  State. 
In  order  to  protect  society  and  herself  against  armed  heathenism, 
Mohametanism,  and  other  barbarism,  the  Church  was  obliged  to  re- 
vive, or  suffer  to  be  revived,  in  Charlemagne,  the  Western  Roman 
Empire,  before  Europe  was  prepared  for  it ;  and  ever  after  she  was 
but  too  happy  when  in  his  successors  she  did  not  find,  instead  of  a  pro- 
tector, a  cruel,  oppressive,  and  sacrilegious  spoiler.  Rarely  was  there 
a  "  Kaiser "  of  "  the  Holy  Roman  Empire,"  from  Charlemagne  to 
Charles  the  Fifth,  that  respected  the  freedom  of  the  Church,  that  al- 
lowed her  to  exercise  her  spiritual  discipline  without  his  interference; 
that  permitted  her  without  restraint  to  manage  her  own  affairs,  or  that 
<iid  not  wage  open  or  secret  war  against  her.  The  rivalries  and 
machinations  of  the  temporal  powers  effected  and  sustained  the  great 
and  scandalous  schism  of  the  West,  which  the  Church  could  never 
have  survived  if  she  had  not  been  upheld  by  the  arm  of  the  Al- 
mighty." 

6.  A  certain  class  of  modern  writers  designate  the  Middle  Ages 
as  the  Dark  Ages.  True  it  is,  that  during  the  first  epoch  of  this  pe- 
riod ignorance  prevailed  to  a  great  extent,  especially  among  the  laity, 
throughout  Europe.  This  was  rendered  unavoidable  by  the  many 
evils  and  dreadful  miseries  which  then  afflicted,  almost  without  inter- 
ruption, the  Christian  people  of  Europe.  Amidst  the  general  con- 
fusion and  insecurity,  which  these  evils  brought  about,  men  had 
neither  time  nor  means  to  apply  to  the  cultivation  of  letters. 

7.  HoAvever,  it  is  not  true  that  the  ages  in  question  were  really 
so  dark  as  they  are  often  represented.     "  As  to  the  degree  of  dark- 


256  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

ness,"  Maitland  remarks,  "  in  which  these  ages  were  really  involved, 
and  as  to  the  mode  and  degree  in  which  it  affected  those  who  lived  in 
them,  I  must  express  my  belief  that  it  has  been  a  good  deal  exagger- 
ated. There  is  no  doubt  that  those  who  lived  in  'what  are  generally 
called  the  '  Middle '  or  *  Dark '  Ages,  knew  nothing  of  many  things 
which  are  familiar  to  us,  and  which  we  deem  essential  to  our  comfort, 
and  almost  to  our  existence ;  but  still  I  doubt  whether,  even  in  this 
point  of  view,  they  were  entirely  so  dark  as  some  would  have  us 
suppose."  But  the  state  of  learning  during  the  period  in  question 
will  be  the  subject  of  another  section. 

8.  The  tenth  century  is  generally  reputed  the  darkest  century  of 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  is  commonly  called  "  the  iron  age "  by  even 
Catholic  historians,  more  especially  in  regard  to  the  humiliating  state 
and  condition  of  the  Roman  Church  and  See.  During  this  century 
unhappy  Europe,  already  scourged  for  long  ages,  was  invaded  by  the 
Danes  in  the  North,  by  the  Normans  and  the  savage  Magyars  in  the 
center,  and  by  the  Saracens  in  the  South.  Italy  especially  was 
one  battle-field  of  petty  contending  princes  endeavoring  to  form  or  to 
aggrandize  an  hereditary  principality.  This  anarchy  of  Italy  led  to 
the  enslavement  of  the  Papacy,  which  again  increased  the  political 
confusion  of  the  country. 

9.  Nevertheless  the  commonly  received  notion  respecting  the 
tenth  century  is  not  altogether  correct,  and  does  not  apply  to  all 
Europe  and  Christendom.  The  learned  Cantu  remarks :  "  This 
epoch  is  called  the  *  iron  age,'  because  of  the  cruel  sufferings  endured 
by  individuals  and  nations  ;  but  humanity  made  a  noticeable  progress 
in  the  face  of  these  trials.  We  cannot,  therefore,  concur  in  the  judg- 
ment of  those  who  consider  it  the  most  unhappy  period  of  the  human 
race."  Hallam  does  not  subscribe  to  the  commonly  received  opinion 
that  the  tenth  century  was  the  least  enlightened  of  the  Middle  Ages, 
at  least  so  far  as  France  and  Germany  are  concerned.  He  says  : 
"  Compared  with  the  seventh  and  eighth  centuries,  the  tenth  was  an 
age  of  illumination  in  France.  And  Meiners,  who  judged  the  Mid- 
dle Ages  perhaps  somewhat  too  severely,  says  that  in  no  age  perhaps, 
did  Germany  possess  more  learned  and  virtuous  Churchmen  of  the 
Episcopal  order  than  in  the  latter  half  of  the  tenth  and  the  beginning 
of  the  eleventh  century." 


CHRISTIANITT  IN  GERMANY.  257 

CHAPTER   I. 


PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


SECTION  I. CHRISTIANITY  IN  GERMANY. 

Earliest  Bishoprics— Christianity  in  Alemannia  and  Helvetia — St.  Fridolin — 
SS.  Columbanus  and  Gall— Other  Apostles — In  Austria — SS.  Valentinus 
and  Severinus— In  Bavaria— SS.  Rupertus,  Emeramnus,  and  Corbinia- 
nus— St.  Kilian  and  his  Companions — In  the  Rhenish  Districts — In  Bel- 
gium—SS.  Goar  and  Wendelin— SS.  Amandus  and  Omer— Other  Apostles 
^— In  Frisia— SS.  Wilfrid  and  Willibrord. 
10.  Everywhere  throughout  the  Roman  possessions  in  Germany, 
Christianity  had  been  making  considerable  progress,  since  the  second 
century.  Flourishing  Christian  communities  existed  in  all  the  coun- 
tries south  of  the  Danube  and  west  of  the  Rhine,  especially  in  Rhge- 
tia,  Helvetia,  Noricum,  and  Pannonia.  We  find,  among  the  early 
sees  established  in  the  North  of  Germany,  Treves,  Metz,  and  Cologne, 
whose  "first  bishops  were  Eucharius,  Clemens,  and  Maternus  respec- 
tively, besides  Mentz  ;  Tongern,  and  Turnacum  (Tournay)  in  Bel- 
gium ;  and  in  the  South,  Verdun  and  Toul  in  Belgica  Prima  (Lor- 
raine); Augusta  Vindelicorum  (Augsburg),  Castra  Batava  (Passau), 
and  Reginum  (Ratisbon),  in  Bavaria;  Trent  and  Sabiona  (Saeben, 
now  Brixen)  in  Rhfetia  (modern  Tyrol  and  Trans-Danubian  Bavaria) ; 
Juvaria  (Salzburg),  Laureacum  (Lorch),  Petavia  (Pettau),  and  Tibur- 
nia  in  Noricum  (embracing  the  provinces  of  Upper  and  Low^er 
Austria,  Salzburg,  Styria  and  Carinthia);  and  Basel,  Aventicum 
(Avenches),  Vindonissa  (Windisch),  and  Curia  (Chur)  in  Helvetia 
(Switzerland) .  Maximus  of  Treves,  Euphrates  of  Cologne,  and  other 
"bishops  from  the  Danubian  provinces  attended  the  Council  of  Sardica, 
A.  D.  343.  Most  of  these  churches,  however,  were  swept  away  during 
the  migration  of  the  nations.  But  since  the  sixth  century,  mission- 
aries, principally  from  Ireland  and  Britain,  came  to  restore  the 
Church  in  these  countries  and  carry  the  light  of  faith  to  other  nations 
«till  in  darkness. 

11.  In  Alemannia  and  Helvetia.  Among  the  first  of  these 
Apostles  was  St.  Fridolin,  an  Irish  priest  of  noble  descent.  Forsaking 
his  kindred  and  country,  Fridolin  took  the  religious  habit  in  the  mon- 
astery of  St.  Hilary  at  Poictiers,  where  he  became  abbot.  He  sought 
for  a  wdder  field  in  Germany  and  preached  the  Gospel  to  the  Ale- 
mannia, who  occupied  modern  Baden,  Wiirtemburg,  Alsace  and  North- 
ern Switzerland.     He  went  as  far  as  the  Moselle,  where  on  its  banks 


258  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

he  founded  the  monastery  of  Helera.  He  next  built  a  church  amid  the 
Vosges  mountains  in  honor  of  St.  Hilary,  and  founded  the  monastery 
of  St.  Nabor.  He  finally  settled  at  Seckingen  on  an  island  in  the 
Rhine  above  Basle,  where  according  to  Celtic  custom  he  founded  a 
double  monastery.  Fridolin,  who  received  the  name  of  "  The  Trav- 
eler," died  in  the  year  514.  Another  account  places  his  death  at  the 
close  of  the  seventh  or  the  beginning  of  the  eighth  century. 

12.  Two  other  Irish  missionaries,  SS.  Columban  and  Gall,  after 
founding  the  monastery  of  Luxovium  (Luxeuil),  on  the  confines  of 
Burgundy  and  Austrasia,  continued  the  evangelization  of  the  Ale- 
manni.  But  meeting  with  little  success,  St.  Columbanus  departed 
for  Lombardy  and  founded  the  monastery  of  Bobbio.  There  he  died 
in  the  year  615.  St.  Gall  remained  in  Helvetia  and  built  a  monastery, 
from  which  sprung  the  famous  abbey  and  city  of  St.  Gall.  He  died, 
A.  D.  646.  His  disciples,  Magnus  and  Theodorus,  founded  the  mon- 
asteries of  Fxissen  and  Kempten.  St.  Trudpert,  who  died,  A.  D.  643, 
evangelized  Breisgau,  and  St.  Pirminus  was  the  founder  of  the  monas- 
tery of  Reichenau,  which  for  centuries  after  was  famous  as  a  nursery 
of  art  and  learning.  From  it  went  forth  St.  Meinrad,  the  founder  of 
Einsiedeln  (died  A.  D.  861),  and  the  learned  Walafried  Strabo,  the 
author  of  the  "  Glossa  Ordinaria,"  the  most  celebrated  biblical  work 
of  the  Middle  Ages. 

13.  In  Austria.  The  Roman  colony  of  Trent  had  a  bishop  as  early 
as  A.  D.  38 1 ,  named  Abundantius.  His  successor,  Vigilius,  among  other 
extant  works,  left  a  letter  addressed  to  St.  Chrysostom.  But  the  real 
Apostle  of  Southern  Rhaetia,  or  the  Tyrol,  was  St.  Valentinus,  a  Bel- 
gian bishop.  He  died  in  the  year  4*70.  His  famous  contemporary^ 
St.  Severinus,  preached  the  Gospel  in  Noricum,  principally  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Vienna,  where  he  built  a  monastery.  For  many 
years  this  extraordinary  man  was  the  guide  and  refuge  of  all  the 
tribes  in  those  parts.  He  extended  his  mission  as  far  as  Pannonia, 
embracing  then  parts  of  Hungary,  Styria,  Croatia  and  Lower  Austria 
with  the  whole  of  Sclavonia.     St.  Severinus  died  in  the  year  482. 

14.  In  Bavaria.  The  Baioarii,  or  Bavarians,  in  Northern  Rhaetia, 
were  chiefly  converted  by  the  Prankish  bishops,  St.  Rupertus  and  St, 
Emmeramnus.  St.  Rupertus,  who  was  bishop  of  Worms,  baptized  the 
Duke  Theodon  of  Ratisbon,  restored  the  bishopric  of  Salzburg,  and 
founded  the  monastery  of  St.  Peter  near  that  city,  and  another  for 
women  under  the  direction  of  his  niece,  Ehrentrudis.  He  died  in  the 
year  620.  About  the  same  time  St.  Emmeramnus,  a  bishop  of  Aqui- 
taine,  appeared  in  Bavaria,  and  for  three  years  zealously  preached  the 
Oospel.    Falsely  accused  of  a  great  crime,  he  was  ruthlessly  slain  by 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  GERMANY.  259 

Lambert,  Theodon's  son,  A.  D.  652.  The  work  of  these  holy  men 
was  continued  by  another  Frankish  missionary,  St.  Corbinianus.  He 
founded  the  bishopric  of  Freisingen  and  died  as  its  first  bishop,  A. 
D.  730. 

15.  In  the  north  of  Bavaria,  the  country  now  known  as  Fran- 
conia,  the  Gospel  was  first  preached  by  St.  Kilian.  With  two  com- 
panions, Coloman  a  priest,  and  Totnan  a  deacon,  Kilian  left  Ireland, 
his  native  country,  in  686,  and,  with  the  sanction  of  Pope  Conon,  es- 
tablished a  mission  at  Wiirzburg.  Duke  Gozbert  received  him  kindly 
and  was  converted,  and  his  example  was  followed  by  a  great  number 
of  his  subjects.  But  St.  Kilian  fell  a  victim  to  the  hatred  of  Geilana, 
whose  marriage  with  Gozbert,  brother  of  her  former  husband,  he  de- 
clared to  be  contrary  to  the  law  of  God.  He  and  his  companions,  in 
the  absence  of  the  duke,  were  cruelly  murdered,  A.  D.  689. 

16.  In  the  Rhenish  Districts.  Among  the  missionaries  who 
labored  for  the  restoration  of  Christianity  along  the  banks  of  the 
Rhine,  are  named  St.  Goar  and  St.  Dysibod.  St.  Goar,  a  priest  of  Aqui- 
taine,  settled,  in  the  sixth  century,  on  the  Rhine,  where  the  town  stands 
which  bears  his  name.  He  died  at  a  good  old  age,  about  A.  D. 
649.  St.  Dysibod,  who  is  said  to  have  been  a  bishop  in  Ireland,  and 
by  some  is  styled  bishop  of  Dublin,  settled  in  the  diocese  of  Mentz 
and  built  a  monastery  which  was  the  foundation  of  the  present  town 
of  Disemberg,  the  ancient  Mons  Disibodi,  where  he  was  an  "  episco- 
pas  regionarius."     He  died,  A.  D.  674. 

17.  In  Belgium.  St.  Amandus  of  Aquitaine,  after  a  pilgrimage 
to  Rome,  where  he  was  consecrated  missionary  bishop,  A.  D.  630, 
preached  the  Gospel  with  much  success  in  modern  Belgium.  The 
principal  scene  of  his  missionary  labors  was  the  neighborhood  of 
Antwerp  and  Ghent.  About  the  year  646,  he  was  appointed  to  the 
episcopate  of  Mastricht,  and  there  devoted  himself  with  unceasing  en- 
ergy to  the  work  of  evangelizing  the  surrounding  tribes.  He  died 
about  the  year  661.  St.  Omer,  or  Audomar,  simultaneously  labored 
with  him  in  the  same  country.  After  thirty  years  of  missionary  la- 
bors, which  recovered  the  heathen  tribes  of  Morinia  from  their  idola- 
tries, St.  Omer  died  about  A.  D.  667.  St.  Livinus,  an  Irish  bishop,  is 
called  the  Apostle  of  Brabant.  He  suffered  martyrdom  about  A. 
D.  656.  The  work  of  these  apostolic  men  was  continued  by  St.  Eli- 
gius,  bishop  of  Noyon,  and  the  bishops  St.  Lambertus  and  Hubertus 
of  Mastricht. 

18.  In  Frisia.  St.  Eligius  preached  the  Gospel  also  to  the 
Frisians  inhabiting  the  northwestern  coast  of  Germany  (parts  of 
Holland  and  Hanover).     To  their  conversion  and  to  the  permanent 


260  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

establishment  of  Christianity  by  the  foundation  of  churches  and  mon- 
asteries, he  devoted  himself  with  unremitting  energy  till  his  death 
which  occurred  A.  D.  658.  The  mission  among  the  Frisians  was  con- 
tinued by  St.  Wilfrid,  bishop  of  York.  When  the  injustice  of  his 
enemies  compelled  him  to  abandon  his  see  and  his  native  country,  he 
landed  on  the  coast  of  Friesland,  A.  D.  678.  Encouraged  by  the 
friendship  of  King  Adelgise,  Wilfrid  announced  the  Gospel  to  the  Fris- 
ians; and  several  chieftains,  with  some  thousands  of  their  retainers, 
received  from  his  hands  the  sacrament  of  baptism. 

19.  But  the  merit  of  establishing  Christianity  permanently  among 
the  Frisians  must  be  allotted  to  St.  Willibrord.  He  was  a  native  of 
Northumbria  and  was  educated  in  the  monastery  of  Rippon.  To 
prepare  himself  for  his  mission,  he  went  to  Ireland,  where  he  had  as 
masters  the  monks  Egbert  and  Wigbert,  who  had  spent  two  years 
preaching  the  Gospel  in  Friesland.  In  691,  with  eleven  associates, 
Willibrord  entered  upon  his  mission  and  labored  with  wonderful  suc- 
cess in  that  part  of  Friesland  which  had  been  conquered  by  the 
Franks.  In  696,  he  repaired  to  Rome  and  was  made  bishop  by  Pope 
Sergius  I.  over  all  the  converted  Frisians.  He  fixed  his  see  at 
Utrecht  and  extended  his  mission  as  far  as  Denmark.  After  forty- 
six  years  of  apostolic  labors,  Willibrord  died  in  A.  D.  '739.  One  of 
his  companions,  Suidbert,  preached  in  West  Friesland  and  founded 
the  monastery  of  Kaiserswerth. 

SECTION    II. LABORS    OF    ST.    BONIFACE. 

St.  Boniface,  Apostle  of  Germany— His  Early  Life— His  Mission  to  Germany 
— His  Apostolic  Labors— Associates  of  St.  Boniface— Founding  of  Bish- 
oprics—Abbey of  Fulda— St.  Boniface  in  Friesland— His  Martyrdom. 

20.  Great  as  had  been  the  signal  labors  of  the  earlier  Apostles  of 
Germany,  the  achievments  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  monk  Winfrid,  or 
Boniface,  as  he  was  afterwards  called,  were  still  greater  and  really 
amazing.  On  him  posterity  has  bestowed  the  title  of  "  Apostle  of 
Germany."  Boniface  not  only  has  the  merit  of  having  converted  the 
remaining  German  tribes,  the  Frisians  and  Saxons  excepted,  but  also  of 
having  established  the  Church  in  Germany  upon  a  permanent  footing 
by  uniting  the  different  churches  already  founded,  with  the  See  of 
Rome.  He  was  born  of  noble  parents  in  Wessex,  at  Crediton,  A.  D. 
680.  At  an  early  age  he  discovered  a  strong  predilection  for  the  mon- 
astic profession  and  was  educated  in  the  monastery  of  Exanceaster. 
His  name  then  was  Winfrid.  At  the  age  of  thirty  he  was  ordained 
priest,  and  being  eminent  among  his  brethren  for  learning  and  ability, 
had  the  prospect  of  future  greatness  before  him. 


LABORS  OF  ST.  BONIFACE.  261 

21.  Having  heard  of  the  spiritual  conquests  of  St.  Willibrord 
and  the  other  missionaries,  he  desired  to  contribute,  like  them,  to  the 
progress  and  diffusion  of  Christianity.  His  longings  turned  particu- 
larly to  the  old  country,  the  fatherland  of  the  Anglo-Saxons.  In  716, 
Winfrid,  accompanied  by  three  of  his  brethren,  sailed  from  the  port 
of  London  to  the  coast  of  Friesland.  But  his  attempt  was  singularly 
inopportune.  Ratbod,  king  of  the  Frisians,  was  then  at  war  with 
Charles  Martel.  The  missionaries  fled  ;  the  churches  and  monasteries 
in  Friesland,  which  had  been  founded  by  the  Franks,  were  demol- 
ished, and  Paganism  recovered  the  ascendency.  This  state  of  affairs 
compelled  Winfrid  to  return  to  England,  having  accomplished  nothing. 

22.  Two  years  later,  Winfrid  was  again  permitted  to  pursue  his 
apostolic  labors.  Fortified  with  a  commendatory  letter  from  his 
diocesan,  he  went  to  Rome  and  there  obtained  from  Pope  Gregory  II. 
an  apostolic  mission  to  all  Northern  Germany.  He  began  his  apos- 
tolic career  in  Thuringia,  A.  D.  719,  which  had  been  christianized  in 
part  by  the  disciples  of  St.  Columbanus  ;  but  the  clergy,  as  well  as  the 
people,  were  demoralized.  He  instructed  the  people  and  reformed  the 
clergy.  His  missionary  efforts,  however,  in  this  direction  were  inter- 
rupted by  tidings  of  the  death  of  Ratbod,  and  the  subsequent  suc- 
cess of  the  Franks.  He  repaired  at  once  to  Friesland,  and  offering 
his  services  to  St.  Willibrord,  then  archbishop  of  Utrecht,  labored 
three  years  under  the  direction  of  that  apostolic  prelate. 

23.  In  722,  declining  to  become  the  coadjutor  and  successor 
of  Willibrord,  Winfrid  returned  to  Thuringia,  and  thence  went  to 
Hesse,  where  he  made  many  converts.  Being  informed  of  the  con- 
quests of  our  Saint,  Pope  Gregory  II.  summoned  him  to  Rome,  con- 
secrated him  regionaiy  bishop,  and  sent  him  back  with  honor  to  his 
converts,  A.  D.  723.  On  that  occasion  also  our  Saint  assumed  the 
name  "  Boniface "  by  which  he  is  known  in  history.  Returning  to 
Germany,  he  resumed  his  mission  among  the  Hessians  and  Thuringi- 
ans.  With  his  own  hands  and  in  the  presence  of  an  assemblage  of 
heathens,  he  felled  to  the  ground  the  Sacred  Oak  of  Thor  at  Geismar, 
and  of  its  wood  built  a  chapel  which  he  dedicated  to  St.  Peter. 

24.  As  the  number  of  conversions  daily  increased,  zealous  assist- 
ants from  England  joined  Boniface.  Amongst  these  were  St.  Lullus, 
his  successor  in  the  archbishopric  of  Mentz,  St.  Burkard,  first  bishop 
of  Wiirzburg,  St.  Willibald,  first  bishop  of  Eichstadt,  his  brother,  St. 
Wunibald,  besides  many  others.  Among  the  holy  women  who  came 
to  take  the  direction  of  nunneries  founded  by  our  Apostle,  were  St. 
Walpurgis,  St.  Thecla,  and  St.  Lioba.  In  A.  T>.  732,  Pope  Gregory 
III.  sent  Boniface  the  pallium,  made  him  Yicar  Apostolic  with  full 


263  HISTOBY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

powers  to  consecrate  bishops  and  erect  dioceses,  and  appointed  him 
superior  not  only  of  the  German,  but  also  of  the  Gallic  prelates. 

25.  In  738,  Boniface  made  his  third  and  last  pilgrimage  to  Rome. 
Returning  with  increased  powers,  he  proceeded  to  settle  the  ecclesi- 
astical divisions  of  Germany.  Bavaria  he  divided  into  the  four  bish- 
oprics of  Salzburg,  Ratisbon,  Freisingen,  and  Passau.  In  A.  D.  741, 
he  founded  in  Franconia,  Hesse,  and  Thuringia  the  bishoprics  of 
Eichstadt,  Wiirzburg,  Buraburg,  and  Erfurt.  The  next  object  of  the 
apostolic  archbishop  was  to  insure  a  permanent  supply  of  missionaries. 
With  this  view  he  erected  several  monasteries.  The  most  famous 
among  these  was  that  of  Fulda,  over  which  he  placed  his  beloved 
disciple  Sturm  (or  Sturmio),  a  Bavarian,  who  had  long  worked  under 
him  in  the  conversion  of  the  heathen  Germans.  The  abbey  of  Fulda 
continued  to  flourish  after  the  death  of  its  founder,  and  within  the 
space  of  a  few  years  contained  four  hundred  monks.  Between  the 
years  742  and  746,  Boniface  held  several  Synods  at  which  he  reformed 
abuses  and  established  excellent  rules  for  the  government  of  the 
churches  in  Germany.  The  Council  of  Soissons,  A.  D.  744,  among 
other  things,  condemned  the  heresies  of  Adalbert  and  Clemens. 

26.  In  A.  D.  747,  Pope  Zacharias  appointed  Boniface  archbishop 
of  Mentz  and  primate  of  Germany.  By  order  of  the  same  Pope,  the 
Saint,  in  752,  crowned  Pepin  the  Short,  king  of  the  Franks.  For 
more  than  thirty  years,  Boniface  had  devoted  himself  to  the  sal- 
vation of  Germany.  Having  completed  this  great  task,  he  resigned 
his  archiepiscopal  see  to  his  disciple  Lullus,  in  order  to  undertake  the 
conversion  of  the  Frisians.  He  had  already  converted  several  thou- 
sands of  this  nation,  when  the  great  Apostle  of  Germany  terminated 
his  holy  and  useful  life  by  a  glorious  martyrdom.  He  was  attacked 
and  slain,  together  with  his  companions,  by  a  band  of  pagan  Frisians, 
A.  D.  755.  The  remains  of  the  illustrious  martyr  were  deposited  in 
the  monastery  of  Fulda. 

SECTION  III. CONVERSION  OP  THE    SAXONS CHRISTIANITY  IN   SCANDI- 
NAVIA. 

Mission  of  St.  Willehad — Subjugation  and  Conversion  of  the  Saxons— Foun- 
dation of  Bishoprics — New-Corvey— St.  Anscharius,  Apostle  of  the  North 
—St.  Anscharius  in  Denmark — In  Sweden — Christianity  in  Norway — In 
Iceland — In  Greenland — In  America. 

27.  The  fate  of  St.  Boniface  did  not  arrest  the  zeal  of  his  coun- 
trymen for  the  conversion  of  the  heathen.  The  first  that  added  a 
new  people  to  the  Church  was  St.  Willehad,  a  Northumbrian  priest. 


CONVERSION  OF  THE  SAXONS.  268 

who  with  the  permission  of  his  diocesan,  sailed,  in  772,  to  the  north- 
ern coast  of  Germany.  Wigmode,  the  country  lying  between  the 
rivers  Weser  and  Elbe,  became  the  principal  theatre  of  his  zeal. 
With  irresistible  eloquence  Willehad  preached  to  the  barbarians  the 
doctrine  of  the  Gospel,  and  his  labors  were  rewarded  with  great  suc- 
cess. When  the  Saxons  made  a  last  effort  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of 
the  Franks,  the  Christians  were  the  first  victims  of  their  fury.  The 
churches  erected  by  Willehad  were  demolished,  five  of  his  associates 
were  massacred,  and  the  missionary  himself  escaped  with  difficulty  to 
Friesland.  He  returned  after  two  years  and  was  ordained  first 
bishop  of  the  Saxons.  On  the  right  bank  of  the  Weser  he  built  a 
cathedral  and  laid  the  foundation  of  the  city  of  Bremen.  St.  Wille- 
had died,  A.  D.  789,  leaving  St.  Willerich  for  his  successor  in  the  see 
of  Bremen. 

28.  The  evangelization  of  the  brave  and  warlike  Saxons,  embra- 
cing the  Westphalians,  the  Eastphalians,  and  Angles,  had  been 
attempted  by  St.  Eligius  and  the  two  Anglo-Saxon  brothers,  Ewald, 
in  the  seventh  century,  and  St.  Lebwin  of  Daventer  in  the  eighth,  but 
with  hardly  any  success.  The  proud  Saxons  obstinately  resisted  the 
introduction  of  Christianity  into  their  country.  Notwithstanding 
repeated  defeats,  they  continued  to  make"  predatory  incursions  into 
the  Frankish  territory,  where  they  demolished  the  churches,  put  many 
of  the  Christians  and  their  priests  to  death,  and  led  others  away  into 
captivity. 

29.  Charlemagne,  at  last,  after  an  obstinate  and  dreadful  war, 
which  lasted  thirty-three  years,  destroyed  their  aggressive  power  and 
forced  them  to  accept  Christianity.  Their  chiefs,  Wittikind  and 
Alboin,  in  785,  consented  to  receive  baptism.  But  the  indomitable 
Saxons  soon  after  broke  out  again  into  open  rebellion,  and  the  war 
was  continued,  with  some  interruptions,  till  A.  D.  804,  when  Charle- 
magne succeeded  in  inducing  the  people  to  acknowledge  his  author- 
ity and  embrace  Christianity.  Through  no  motives  of  ambition  or 
avarice  did  Charlemagne  undertake  this  destructive  war  against  the 
Saxons,  but  for  the  defence  of  his  oppressed  subjects. 

30.  To  secure  the  continuance  of  peace  and  firmly  establish  Chris- 
tianity in  Saxony,  Charlemagne  erected,  with  the  approval  of  the 
Pope,  the  eight  bishoprics  of  Halberstadt,  Verden,  Bremen,  Hildes- 
heim,  Paderborn,  Minden,  Osnabriick,  and  Miinster.  Among  those 
who  labored  most  zealously  for  the  conversion  of  the  Westphalians, 
was  St.  Ludger,  first  bishop  of  Miinster,  who  also  founded  the  great 
monastery  of  Werden.  He  died,  A.  D.  809.  Of  still  greater  impor- 
tance, especially  for  the  diffusion  of  Christianity  in  the  North,  was 


264  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  Benedictine  monastery  of  New-Corvey  on  the  Weser,  the  cele- 
brated offshoot  of  Old-Corvey  in  Picardy,  founded  in  the  year  823  by 
Abbot  Adelhard.  Thence  apostolic  missionaries  issued  forth  into  all 
parts  of  Germany,  penetrating  even  the  Scandinavian  kingdoms  of 
the  North. 

31.  Among  the  most  famous  members  of  New-Corvey,  was  St. 
Anscharius,  "  the  Apostle  of  the  North."  He  had  been  preceded  in 
the  preaching  of  the  Gospel  in  Denmark  by  St.  Wilfrid  of  York,  St. 
Willibrord,  the  Apostle  of  the  Frisians,  Willehad,  first  bishop  of 
Bremen,  and  the  archbishop  Ebbo  of  Rheims.  The  efforts,  how- 
ever, of  these  men  met  with  but  little  success.  When  King  Harold 
of  Denmark,  who  had  sought  refuge  with  the  Emperor  Louis  the 
Mild,  and  received  baptism  at  Mentz,  returned  to  his  country,  An- 
scharius, and  Audibert,  also  a  monk  of  Corvey,  accompanied  him,  A. 
D.  827.  But  Harold  being  again  expelled,  the  missionaries  were  com- 
pelled for  a  time  to  leave  their  field  of  apostolic  labors. 

32.  Anscharius,  in  829,  accompanied  the  imperial  embassy  to 
Sweden,  where  he  made  many  converts  and  built  several  churches. 
In  832,  Pope  Gregory  made  him  archbishop  of  Hamburg  and  apos- 
tolic legate  for  the  North  ;  to  this  appointment  the  See  of  Bremen 
was  added  in  847.  Anscharius  went  repeatedly  to  Denmark  and  Swe- 
den, to  deeply  plant  and  propagate  the  faith  in  those  countries.  Like 
another  St.  Boniface,  Anscharius,  with  immense  toil  and  privations 
and  amidst  many  dangers,  succeeded  in  firmly  establishing  Christian- 
ity in  Denmark  and  Sweden.  After  an  apostolate  of  thirty-four 
years,  he  died,  A.  D.  865.  Rembert,  Unni,  and  especially  Adalbert, 
the  successors  of  Anscharius  in  the  see  of  Hamburg,  continued  the 
missionary  work  in  Denmark  and  Sweden.  The  infant  Church  in 
these  countries  for  some  time  was  violently  opposed,  and  its  profes- 
sors persecuted  by  the  heathens.  But  Christianity  at  last  gained  a 
decisive  victory  in  Denmark,  under  Canute  the  Great,  A.  D.  1014-1030, 
and  Canute  the  Saint,  A.  D.  1080-1086;  and  in  Sweden  under  St.  Eric 
IX.,  A.  D.  1155-1160.  Lund  became  the  metropolitan  See  of  Den- 
mark, and  Upsala  that  of  Sweden. 

33.  The  Norwegians  obtained  the  first  knowledge  of 
Christianity  on  their  piratical  expeditions  into  Christian  lands. 
The  kings,  Harold  Harfager,  or  Fair-Haired,  A.  D.  872-885,  Hacon 
the  Good,  his  son,  who  had  been  educated  and  baptized  in  Eng- 
land, made  an  attempt  to  introduce  Christianity  in  Norway,  but 
met  with  much  opposition  on  the  part  of  their  heathen  subjects. 
Olaf  I.  destroyed  many  pagan  temples,  but  was  killed  in  battle  with 
the  Danes  and  Swedes,  A.  D.  1000.     Olaf  II.,  the  Saint,  A.  D.  1019- 


I 

r 


CHRISTIANITY  AMONG  THE  SCLAVONIANS.  265 

1033  finally  completed  the  work  of  his  predecessor  and,  with  the  aid 
of  German  and  English  missionaries,  succeeded  in  solidly  establishing 
Christianity  and  organizing  the  Church  in  Norway.  He  fell  in  a  bat- 
tle against  his  heathen  subjects,  who  had  allied  themselves  with  the 
Danes.  After  his  death  Christianity  made  still  greater  progress.  In 
1148,  Drontheim  was  made  an  archbishopric  with  the  sees  of  Bergen, 
Hammer,  and  Stavanger  as  its  suffragans. 

34.  Iceland,  which  was  discovered  by  the  Norwegians  in  861,  is 
indebted  to  King  Olaf  I.  of  Norway,  for  the  introduction  of  Chris- 
tianity. In  the  year  1000,  the  Christian  religion  was  universally  re- 
ceived in  Iceland  by  a  popular  assembly.  In  1056,  Adalbert,  arch- 
bishop of  Bremen,  by  order  of  the  Pope,  consecrated  Isleif  first 
bishop  of  Skalholt ;  he  died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity,  A.  D.  1080. 
Benedictine  and  Augustinian  monks  founded  monasteries  in  Iceland, 
and  a  second  bishopric  was  founded  in  Horlum,  in  1107. 

35.  The  Icelanders,  under  Eric  the  Red,  discovered  Greenland  in 
892,  and  planted  a  colony  there  comprising  two  cities,  with  sixteen 
churches  and  two  monasteries.  In  1055,  Adalbert  of  Bremen  conse- 
crated Albert  first  bishop  of  Greenland,  who  established  his  see  at 
Gardar.  From  Greenland  Christianity  is  said  to  have  been  propagated 
to  America.  About  the  year  1001,  Leif,  son  of  Eric  the  Red,  discov- 
ered Helluland,  Markland,  and  Vinland,  which  are  supposed  to  be 
modern  Labrador,  Nova  Scotia  and  New  England.  Most  of  the 
Northmen  in  America  were  converted  by  the  missionaries  whom  Leif 
led  with  him  from  Norway,  where  he  himself  had  been  induced  by 
King  Olaf  I.  to  embrace  the  faith.  Of  these  missionaries  the  most 
celebrated  was  Eric,  who  was  consecrated  first  American  bishop  at 
Lund,  in  Denmark,  by  Archbishop  Adzer,  in  1121.  Icelandic  histori- 
ans ascribe  the  first  discovery  and  evangelization  of  their  island  as 
well  as  of  the  North  American  coast  lands  to  the  Irish,  the  latter 
country  being  named  by  them  "  Irland  it  Mikla,"  or  Greater  Ireland. 

SECTION     IV. CHRISTIANITY    AMONG    THE     SCLAVONIC    NATIONS SS. 

CYRIL  AND  METHODIUS,  APOSTLES  OF   THE  SCLAVONIANS. 

Sclavic  Nations — Conversion  of  the  Croats  and  Carinthians — SS.  Cyril  and 
Methodius — Conversion  of  the  Khazars— Conversion  of  the  Bulgarians — 
King  Bogaris — Separation  of  Bulgaria  from  Rome— Conversion  of  the 
Moravians — Cyrillic  or  Sclavic  Alphabet — Sclavonic  Liturgy. 

36.  The  Sclaves,  or  Sclavonians,  a  very  numerous  and  powerful 
group  of  nations  of  the  Aryan,  or  Indo-Gemnanic,  race,  who  anciently 
were  designated  as  Scythians  and  Sarmatians,  during  the  sixth  and 
seventh  centuries,  possessed  themselves   of  the   whole   of  Eastern 


^6  HISTORY  OF   THE   CHURCH. 

Europe,  a  territory  extending  from  the  rivers  Elbe  and  Saale  to  the 
river  Don  and  the  Ural  mountains,  and  from  the  Baltic  Sea  to  the  Adri- 
atic. They  were  rude,  warlike,  and  chiefly  pastoral  tribes,  inaccessible 
alike  to  civilization  and  the  Christian  religion.  The  conversion  of  the 
different  Sclavic  nations  was  undertaken,  with  various  success,  by  both 
the  Latins  and  the  Greeks.  The  Croats,  or  Croatians,  between  the  river 
Drave  and  the  Adriatic,  were  the  first  of  the  Sclavonians  to  embrace 
the  Christian  faith.  At  the  instance  of  their  prince,  Porga,  mission- 
aries were  sent  from  Rome,  who,  in  680,  baptized  him  and  many  of  his 
people.  Toward  the  close  of  the  eighth  century,  the  Carinthians  in 
Styria,  Carinthia  and  Carniola,  were  converted  by  priests  sent  from 
Salzburg  by  the  archbishops  Vigilius  and  Arno.  The  Serbs,  or  Ser- 
vians, whose  territory  included  also  Bosnia,  had  been  instructed  in  the 
faith  by  Roman  priests  during  the  reign  of  the  Emperor  Heraclius,  but 
they  having  rejected  the  Christian  religion,  were  recovered  from  their 
idolatries,  about  A.  D.  868. 

37.  The  beginning  of  Christianity  among  the  Moravians,  who,  in 
534,  settled  in  the  territory  of  the  ancient  Quadi  and  founded  the  em- 
pire of  Great  Moravia,  was  due  to  priests  sent  from  Salzburg. 
But  the  converciion  of  the  Moravians  and  other  ^clavic  tribes  was  the 
work  especially  of  SS.  Cyril  and  Methodius,  deservedly  called  the 
**  Apostles  of  the  Sclavonians."  They  were  brothers,  born  at  Thessa- 
lonica,  of  an  illustrious  senatorial  family.  Cyril,  or  Constantine,  as 
he  was  called  in  baptism,  became  a  monk  and  received  priestly  or- 
ders ;  his  learning  and  knowledge  of  languages  gained  him  the  name 
of  Philosopher.  Methodius,  after  attaining  high  civil  honors,  also 
embraced  the  monastic  state. 

38.  When,  in  848,  the  Khazars  on  the  north  shore  of  the  Euxine 
asked  the  regent  Empress  Theodora  for  missionaries  to  instruct  them 
in  the  faith,  Cyril  was  charged  with  this  important  mission.  In  a 
short  time  he  succeeded  in  bringing  the  king  and  many  of  his  nation 
to  the  teachings  of  the  Gospel.  Leaving  several  priests  in  charge  of 
the  mission,  he  returned  to  Constantinople,  and  took  with  him  the  re- 
mains of  Pope  St.  Clement  L,  which  he  had  discovered  at  Cherson  in 
the  Crimea. 

39.  Cyril's  next  mission  was  to  the  Bulgarians  and  Moravians, 
in  which  his  brother  Methodius  assisted  him.  Radislav,  the  prince 
of  the  Moravians,  having  heard  of  the  great  success  of  Cyril  in  the 
conversion  of  the  Khazars,  through  the  Emperor  Michael  III.,  secured 
the  services  of  the  two  missionaries  for  his  people.  Both  brothers 
«et  out  for  Moravia  in  the  year  864.  On  their  way  to  that  country 
they  passed  through  Bulgaria.     Bogoris,  king  of  Bulgaria,  already 


CHRISTIANITY  AMONG  THE  SCLAVONIANS.  267 

inclined  to  Christianity  by  the  influence  of  his  sister,  who  had  em- 
braced it  in  her  long  captivity  at  Constantinople,  was  so  moved  by 
the  eloquence  of  Cyril,  and  as  later  writers  add,  by  a  picture  of  the 
last  judgment,  the  work  of  Methodius,  as  to  ask  for  baptism.  He 
took  the  name  of  Michael.  Upon  the  news  of  his  conversion,  the 
nobles  of  Bulgaria  rose  in  open  rebellion  against  the  king.  But  the 
faith  of  Bogoris  was  firm ;  with  the  cross  on  his  breast,  he  marched 
out  to  meet  the  rebels  and  easily  defeated  them. 

40.  Bogoris,  either  from  the  evident  interest  which  the  Christian 
religion  had  awakened  in  his  mind,  or  with  political  objects,  aspired 
to  enter  into  relations  with  Latin  Christendom.  Ambassadors  of  the 
Bulgarian  king  appeared  in  Rome  to  ask  for  Latin  missionaries  and 
to  request  the  advice  of  the  Pope  on  certain  matters  of  faith  as  well 
as  morals.  Pope  Nicholas  I.  sent  as  missionaries  to  Bulgaria  the 
Bishops  Paul  and  Formosus.  The  answers  of  the  Pope  to  the  ques- 
tions submitted  by  the  king,  were  in  a  tone  mild  and  parental  ;  he 
respected  national  customs  and  sought  in  general  with  wise  discre- 
tion and  moderation  to  mitigate  the  ferocity  of  a  savage  nation.  But 
shortly  after,  the  Latin  missionaries  were  dismissed  and  replaced  by 
Greeks  ;  and  in  spite .  of  the  Pope's  protest,  the  patriarch  Ignatius 
consecrated  an  archbishop  for  Bulgaria  ;  this  was  followed  by  the 
erection  of  ten  bishoprics,  all  under  the  jurisdiction  of  Constantinople. 
The  Bulgarians  w^ere  drawn  into  the  Greek  schism,  in  which  they 
have  remained  till  the  present  day. 

41.  The  mission  of  Cyril  and  Methodius  in  Moravia  was  crowned 
with  wonderful  results.  They  baptized  Radislav,  the  king,  and 
securely  established  Christianity  in  his  country.  Cyril  invented  a 
Sclavic  alphabet,  called  after  him  the  "  Cyrillic,"  and,  with  the  aid  of 
his  brother,  translated  the  Holy  Scriptures  into  Sclavonian.  The 
"  Cyrillic  "  (Kyrilitza)  is  still  in  use  among  the  schismatical  Sclavonians 
(Russians,  Serbs,  Bulgarians,  etc.)  and  the  united  Sclavonians  of  the 
Greek  rite  ;  while  the  Catholic  Sclavonians  use  the  "  Glacolitic,"  or 
old  Sclavonic,  which  some  attribute  to  St.  Jerome.  The  Western 
Sclavonians  (Poles,  Bohemians,  etc.)  make  use  of  either  the  Latin  or 
German  letters. 

42.  Cyril  and  Methodius  labored  zealously  among  the  Moravians 
for  four  years  and  a  half.  They  preached,  and  also  held  divine  servi- 
ce, in  the  Old  Sclavic  tongue.  At  this  the  German  priests  from 
Salzburg  took  offence  and  complained   to   the  Pope.      Nicholas   I. 

.  summoned  the  brothers  before  him,  and  they  immediately  repaired  to 
Rome,  taking  with  them  the  precious  remains  of  St.  Clement.  On 
their  arrival,  Hadrian  II.,  who  had  meanwhile  succeeded  Nicholas  I., 


268  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

received  the  missionaries  with  great  favor,  raised  them  both  to  the 
episcopal  dignity,  and  also  approved  for  the  Sclayonians  the  use  of 
their  native  language  in  celebrating  Mass  and  in  reciting  the  divine 
office.  This  privilege  was  confirmed  by  Pope  John  VIII.,  Hadrian's 
immediate  successor;  again,  by  Innocent  IV.,  in  1248;  and  at  the 
present  day.  Mass  is  said  in  Sclavonic  by  quite  a  large  body  of  Cath- 
olics. Cyril  died  at  Rome,  A.  D.  869.  Methodius,  having  been 
appointed  Papal  Legate  and  Metropolitan  of  Moravia  and  Pannonia, 
returned  to  continue  his  missionary  labors  among  the  Sclavonians, 
which  extended  also  to  Bohemia.  He  died  after  a  laborious,  but 
glorious,  apost6late  of  twenty-three  years,  in  885. 

SECTION    V. — CHRISTIANITY     AMONG     THE    SCLAVONIANS,    CONTINUED 

THE  BOHEMIANS,  POLES,  AND  RUSSIANS — CONVERSION  OF 
HUNGARY. 

Conversion  of  the  Bohemians— SS.  Ludmilla  and  Wenceslaus — Foundation 
of  Bishoprics — Conversion  of  Poland — King  Boleslas— Martyrdom  of  St. 
Stanislaus— Christianity  among  the  Russians— Wladimir  the  Great— The 
Magyars — Their  Ravages — Conversion  of  Hungary— King  St.  Stephen — 
Foundation  of  Bishoprics. 

43.  The  Bohemians  derived  from  Germany  their  first  knowledge 
of  Christianity.  In  the  year  848,  fourteen  Bohemian  nobles  with 
their  families  were  baptized  at  Ratisbon.  But  the  evangelization  of 
Bohemia  is  commonly  ascribed  to  St.  Methodius.  In  the  year  874,  he 
baptized  Duke  Boriwoy  and  his  wife,  afterwards  the  sainted  Lud- 
milla, and  was  engaged  by  that  prince  to  assist  in  converting  his 
people.  Ludmilla  outlived  her  two  sons,  successively  dukes  of  Bohe- 
mia ;  but  she  had  watched  with  a  mother's  care  over  the  education  of 
her  grandson  Wenceslaus,  under  whose  reign  Christianity  won  the 
complete  conquest  of  Bohemia.  Ludmilla  was  treacherously  mur- 
dered by  her  heathen  daughter-in-law,  Dahomira,  A.  D.  927.  Prince 
Wenceslaus  also  fell  a  victim  to  pagan  fury,  being  murdered  by  his 
brother  Boleslas  I.,  surnamed  the  Cruel.  Paganism  enjoyed  only  a 
temporary  victory,  for  soon  Otho  I.  compelled  Boleslas  to  restore  the 
Christian  religion  in  Bohemia.  Under  Boleslas  II.,  called  the  Pious, 
Christianity  completely  triumphed.  He  founded,  with  the  approval 
of  Pope  John  XIII.,  the  archbishopric  of  Prague,  in  972. 

44.  The  Emperor  Otho  I.  did  much  for  the  conversion  of  the 
Sclavonians  in  Meissen  and  Lusatia,  obtaining  missionaries  for  them. 
With  the  sanction  of  the  Pope,  he  founded  the  archbishopric  of  Mag- 
deburg, with  Meissen,  Merseburg,  Havelberg,  and  Posen  as  suffragan 
sees.    Among  those  who  labored  most  zealously  for  the  conversion  of 


CHRISTIANITY  AMONG  SOLA  VO  NIANS.  269 

the  Sclavonians  in  Germany  was  St.  Benno,  bishop  of  Meissen,  in  the 
time  of  Henry  TV. 

45.  From  Bohemia,  Christianity  was  carried  to  Poland.  iDuke 
Minceslas  I.,  who  was  married  to  the  Bohemian  princess  Dom- 
brawka,  received  baptism  in  the  year  966,  and  his  example  was  soon 
imitated  by  the  greater  number  of  his  people.  His  successor,  the 
powerful  Duke  Boleslas  I.,  A.  D.  992-1025,  completed  the  christian- 
ization  of  Poland  by  the  erection  of  numerous  churches  and  monas- 
teries. He  founded  the  archbishopric  of  Gnesen,  with  the  suffragan 
sees  of  Kolberg,  Cracow  and  Breslau.  His  son,  Casimir  I.,  greatly 
promoted  Christianity  throughout  the  kingdom.  Boleslas  II.,  a  tyran- 
nical prince,  slew,  A.  T>.  1079,  St.  Stanislaus,  bishop  of  Cracow,  who 
had  reprimanded  him  for  his  vicious  conduct.  For  this  atrocious  act 
Pope  Gregory  VII.  excommunicated  him,  and  he  died  in  exile. 

46.  The  Russians  received  the  first  Christian  missionaries  from 
Constantinople,  and  embraced  Christianity  without  much  opposition, 
under  Wladimir  I.  the  Great,  A.  D.  980-1014,  grandson  of  the  prin- 
cess St.  Olga,  who,  A.D.  955,  had  become  a  Christian  at  Constantinople, 
taking  the  name  of  Helen.  The  first  bishoprics  were  those  of  Kiew, 
Novgorod,  and  Rostow.  From  the  Bulgarians,  the  Russians  adopted 
the  Sclavic  liturgy  and  the  Cyrillic  alphabet.  Owing  to  its  hierarchial 
subordination  to  the  patriarchate  of  Constantinople,  the  Russian 
Church,  which  remained  united  with  Rome  to  the  fifteenth  century, 
was  drawn  into  the  Greek  schism. 

47.  The  pagan  Magyars,  a  warlike  people  of  the  Finnish  race, 
migrated,  about  A.  D.  890,  from  Asia  into  ancient  Pannonia,  whence 
they  made  frequent  incursions  into  other  countries.  For  more  than 
half  a  century  the  savage  Magyars,  even  more  terrible  than  the  Islamite 
Saracens,  were  the  common  terror  of  Christendom.  Their  frequent 
irruptions  wasted  nearly  the  whole  of  Germany,  devastated  Southern 

[France  and  Northern  Italy.  Bremen  on  the  Baltic,  the  monastery  of 
St.  Gall  near  Lake  Constance,  and  Pavia  with  its  forty-three  churches, 
were  burned.  Various  defeats,  notably  those  near  Merseburg,  in  933, 
by  King  Henry  the  Fowler,  and  on  the  Lech  by  Emperor  Otho  I.,  fin- 
rally  broke  their  aggressive  power.  Gradually  they  settled  within  the 
limits  of  modern  Hungary,  and  at  the  beginning  of  the  next  century 
Christianity  had  entirely  subdued  them  and  arrayed  this  valiant  na- 
tion as  a  future  outguard  against  the  Mohammedan  Turks. 

48.  The  Greek  monk  Hierotheus  of  Constantinople,  who  was 
consecrated  bishop  of  Hungary,  made  the  first  attempt  to  christianize 
the  rude  Magyars,  with  what  success  is  not  known.  The  bishops 
Piligrim  of  Passau,  Wolfgang  of  Ratisbon,  and  Adalbert  of  Prague, 


270  HISTORY  OF   THE   CHURCH. 

labored  among  them  with  much  fruit,  during  the  reign  of  the  three 
Othos.  Duke  Geisa  was  induced  to  embrace  Christianity  by  his 
Christian  wife,  Sarolta,  and  very  much  promoted  the  conversion  of  his 
people  which  was  almost  completed  by  his  son,  St.  Stephen  I.  On 
the  death  of  Geisa,  an  insurrection  of  the  Magyars  against  the  for- 
eign religion  was  suppressed.  The  first  act  of  Stephen,  A.  D.  997- 
1038,  on  ascending  the  throne,  was  to  unite  himself  to  Latin  Chris- 
tendom. By  his  marriage  with  Gisela,  the  sister  of  Emperor  Henry 
II.,  he  became  closely  connected  with  Catholic  Germany  whose  civil- 
ization he  sought,  by  every  means,  to  introduce  among  his  subjects » 

49.  Assisted  by  German  and  Bohemian  priests,  Stephen  suc- 
ceeded in  extending  the  Christian  religion  over  the  whole  kingdom  ; 
throughout  the  land  rose  churches  and  monasteries.  He  sent  an  em- 
bassy to  Pope  Sylvester  II.,  and  received  from  him  the  present  of  a 
royal  crown  and  a  papal  edict  empowering  him  to  regulate  the  eccle- 
siastical affairs  of  his  realm.  He  founded  the  archbishopric  of  Gran 
with  ten  suffragan  sees,  and  erected  monastic  hospices  for  his  subjects 
at  Jerusalem,  Rome,  Ravenna,  and  Constantinople.  His  religious 
zeal  gained  him  the  title  of  Apostolic  King  from  Pope  Sylvester  II., 
with  the  right  of  having  the  cross  borne  before  him.  Unfortunately 
his  son,  St.  Emmeric,  died  while  still  young.  After  the  death  of  St. 
Stephen,  a  powerful  reaction  against  Christianity  followed ;  but  un- 
der Bela  I.  and  Ladislas  I.,  the  resistance  of  the  defenders  of  Pagan- 
ism was  broken,  and  Christianity  became  firmly  established  in  Hun- 
gary. 

SECTION   VI. STATE    OF    THE    CHURCH    IN    IRELAND. 

Ireland  the  Holy  Isle— Happy  Condition  of  the  Irish  Church— A  Nursery  of 
Learning— A  Monastic  Church— Numerous  Bishops  and  Episcopal  Sees 
in  Ireland— Chorepiscopi— Missions  of  the  Irish— Foreign  Irish  Monas- 
teries—Monasteries of  Clonard  and  Bangor— Their  Founders— Loyalty 
to  the  Holy  See— Disciplinary  Differences — Irish  Synods — Danish  Inva- 
sion—Depredations of  the  Danes— Battle  of  Clontarf— Effects  of  the 
Invasion— Ecclesiastical  Abuses — Royal  Bishops. 

50.  From  the  time  of  the  apostleship  of  St.  Patrick,  the  Christian 
religion  was  firmly  established  in  Ireland.  The  Gospel  had  spread 
from  one  end  of  the  island  to  the  other,  and  early  in  the  sixth  century 
there  was  not  a  trace  of  Paganism  left.  Monasteries  and  churches 
covered  the  land,  and  a  great  number  of  schools  were  founded,  which 
became  renowned  throughout  all  Europe.  The  Irish  Church  soon 
grew  into  an  important  nursery  of  learning  and  religion  for  other 
nations.  In  those  happy  days,  Ireland  was  called  "  New  Rome,"  or 
the  "Holy  Isle,"  and  people  flocked  from  all  parts  of  Europe  to  take 


THE  CHURCH  IN  IRELAND.  271 

refuge  from  the  miseries  on  the  continent,  or  to  devote  themselves  to 
study  and  the  practice  of  piety  in  the  undisturbed  retirement  of  the 
Irish  monasteries. 

51.  A  well-known  historian  of  our  day,  D5llinger  (quoted  by  Car- 
dinal Newman),  describing  the  happy  condition  of  the  Irish  Church 
during  this  period,  says  :  "During  the  sixth  and  seventh  centuries,  the 
Church  of  Ireland  stood  in  the  full  beauty  of  its  bloom.  The  spirit  of 
the  Gos-pel  operated  amongst  the  people  with  vigorous  and  vivifying 
power  ;  troops  of  holy  men,  from  the  highest  to  the  lowest  ranks  of  so- 
ciety, obeyed' the  counsels  of  Christ,  and  forsook  all  things,  that  they 
might  follow  Him.  There  was  n^t  a  country  in  the  world,  during  this 
period,  which  could  boast  of  pious  foundations  or  of  religious  com- 
munities equal  to  those  that  adorned  this  far-distant  island.  Among 
the  Irish,  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  Religion  were  preserved  pure 
and  entire ;  the  names  of  heresy  or  schism  were  not  known  to  them  ; 
and  in  the  Bishop  of  Rome  they  acknowledged  and  venerated  the 
Supreme  Head  of  the  Church  on  earth,  and  continued  with  him,  and 
through  him  with  the  whole  Church,  in  a  never  interrupted  commun- 
ion. The  schools  of  the  Irish  cloisters  were  at  this  time  the  most 
celebrated  in  the  West." 

52.  "Many  Anglo-Saxons,"  the  same  historian  continues,  "passed 
over  to  Ireland,  where  they  received  a  most  hospitable  reception  in 
the  monasteries  and  schools.  In  crowds,  numerous  as  bees,  as  Aid- 
helm  writes,  the  English  went  to  Ireland,  or  the  Irish  visited  England, 
where  the  Archbishop  Theodore  was  surrounded  by  Irish  scholars. 
Of  the  most  celebrated  Anglo-Saxon  scholars  and  saints,  many  had 
studied  in  Ireland.  Among  these  were  St.  Egbert,  the  author  of  the 
first  Anglo-Saxon  mission  to  the  pagan  continent,  and  the  blessed 
Willibrord,  the  Apostle  of  the  Frieslanders,  who  had  resided  twelve 
years  in  Ireland.  From  the  same  abode  of  virtue  and  of  learning 
came  forth  two  English  priests,  both  named  Ewald,  who,  in  690,  went 
as  messengers  of  the  Gospel  to  the  German  Saxons,  and  received 
from  them  the  crown  of  martyrdom.  An  Irishman,  Mailduf,  found- 
ed, in  the  year  670,  a  school,  which  afterwards  grew  into  the  famed 
Abbey  of  Malmesbury.  Among  his  scholars  was  St.  Aldhelm,  after- 
wards abbot  of  Malmesbury,  and  first  bishop  of  Sherburne,  or  Salis- 
bury, and  Avhom,  after  two  centuries,  Alfred  pronounced  to  be  the 
best  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  poets." 

53.  A  remarkable  phenomenon  of  the  early  Irish  Church  was  the 
extraordinary  development  and  preponderance  of  the  monastic  ele- 
ment. The  Irish  Church  seems  to  have  been  organized  more  on  a 
monastic  than  on  a  diocesan  basis.      There  was  a  great  number  of 


272  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

monasteries  founded  on  the  first  establishment  of  Christianity  in 
Ireland  by  St.  Patrick.  Several  of  these  monasteries  were  at  the 
same  time  bishoprics,  and  the  dignities  of  bishop  and  of  abbot  were 
frequently  united  in  the  same  person.  In  some  instances,  the  author- 
ity of  the  bishops,  though  in  their  episcopal  functions  they  preserved 
the  superiority  of  their  order,  was  subordinated  to  the  jurisdiction  of 
the  abbots,  even  when  the  latter  did  not  share  the  episcopal  rank. 

54.  From  ancient  Irish  canons  and  annals,  it  appears  that  bishops 
and  episcopal  sees  were  far  more  numerous  in  the  early  Irish  Church 
than  they  usually  were  in  other  parts  of  Christendom.  Besides  the 
ordinary  bishops,  the  earliest  Irish  •records  make  mention  also  of 
assistant  bishops  and  chorepiscopi.  The  custom  of  appointing  chor- 
episcopi  seems  to  have  continued  in  Ireland  much  longer  than  in  any 
other  part  of  the  Western  Church. 

55.  Ireland  in  this  happy  period  became  the  benefactress  of 
almost  every  nation  in  Europe.  Many  holy  and  learned  Irishmen 
left  their  homes  to  proclaim  the  faith  to  other  nations,  or  to  establish 
monasteries  in  distant  lands.  Such  were,  to  mention  a  few  of  the 
more  prominent,  St.  Columbkill,  the  Apostle  of  the  Picts  ;  St.  Aidan, 
the  successful  Apostle  of  Northumbria  ;  St.  Fridolin,  who  after  long 
labors  in  France,  established  himself  on  the  Rhine  ;  St.  Columbanus, 
who  preached  in  France,  Burgundy,  Switzerland,  and  Lombardy  ;  St. 
Kilian,  the  Apostle  of  Franconia,  and  St.  Virgilius,  a  celebrated  mis- 
sionary and  co-laborer  of  St.  Boniface  in  Germany,  and  afterwards 
bishop  of  Salzburg.  Irish  missionaries  went  to  preach  the  faith  in 
the  islands  north  of  their  country,  the  Hebrides,  the  Faroe  Isles,  and 
even  Iceland,  which,  it  is  said,  was  colonized  by  the  Irish  before  the 
Norwegian  pirates  landed  there.  They  evangelized  all  of  Scotland  and 
completed  the  work  of  the  conversion  of  England  begun  by  St.  Augus- 
tine and  his  companions. 

56.  The  foundation  of  many  of  the  English  sees  and  continental 
monasteries  is  due  to  Irish  missionaries.  The  Northumbrian  diocese 
was  for  many  years  governed  by  Irish  bishops  ;  from  the  famous 
abbey  of  Lindisfarne  the  monastic  institute  was  rapidly  diffused 
through  the  neighboring  kingdoms  of  Bernicia,  Mercia,  and  ^ast- 
Anglia.  "It  has  been  calculated,"  Thebaud  in  his  "Irish  Race" 
writes,  "that  the  ancient  Irish  monks  held,  from  the  sixth  to  the 
ninth  eentury,  thirteen  Irish  monasteries  in  Scotland,  seven  in  France, 
twelve  in  Armoric  Gaul,  seven  in  Lotharingia,  eleven  in  Burgundy, 
nine  in  Belgium,  ten  in  Alsatia,  sixteen  in  Bavaria,  fifteen  in  Rhaetia, 
Helvetia,  and  Suevia,  besides  several  in  Thuringia  and  on  the  left  of 
the  Rhine." 


THE  CHURCH  IN  IRELAND,  373 

57.  Among  the  most  prominent  monastic  institutions,  founded  in 
Ireland  in  the  sixth  century,  were  the  monasteries  of  Clonard  and  Ban- 
gor, each  of  which  had  three  thousand  monks.  Clonard  was  founded 
by  St.  Finian.  It  was  a  famous  seminary  of  sacred  learning,  and  its 
holy  founder,  who  is  generally  known  as  the  "  Preceptor  of  the  twelve 
Apostles  of  Ireland,"  became  the  master  of  many  Christian  teachers. 
Finian  died  in  the  year  550.  Bangor,  in  the  County  Down,  was 
founded  by  St.  Comgall,  a  disciple  of  St.  Finian  at  Clonard.  For  the 
direction  of  his  monks,  Comgall  drew  up  a  Rule,  which  was  consid- 
ered one  of  the  chief  Rules  in  Ireland.  St.  Comgall  died,  A.  D.  601. 
This  eminent  Saint  is  justly  reckoned  among  the  Fathers  of  the  Irish 
Church.  These  famous  monasteries,  with  that  of  Jona,  were  the 
three  great  lights  of  the  Irish  Church,  and  were  already  in  vigorous 
operation  when  St.  Augustine  and  his  companions  first  set  foot  in 
Kent,  A.  D.  596. 

58.  Loyalty  to  the  See  of  St.  Peter  was  one  of  the  distinguishing 
characteristics  of  the  early  Irish  Church.  The  assertion  that  the 
Church  of  St.  Patrick  held  itself  independent  of  Rome  and  differed 
from  her  even  in  points  of  doctrine,  is  wholly  unfounded.  For  one 
or  two  centuries,  it  differed  indeed,  from  the  Roman  rule  in  respect 
to  the  time  of  celebrating  Easter,  the  form  and  size  of  the  monastic 
tonsure,^  and  certain  ceremonies  of  baptism — questions  which  in  no 
way  involve  any  point  of  doctrine.  When  the  dispute  relative  to  the 
time  of  celebrating  Easter  agitated  the  Irish,  the  synod  of  Magh-lene, 
in  630,  resolved  to  refer  the  whole  question  to  the  Holy  See.  A  dep- 
utation was  accordingly  despatched  to  Rome  for  that  purpose,  and 
the  Roman  practice  on  this  point  adopted,  A.  D.  633.  A  few  years 
later,  A.  D.  640,  the  bishops  of  Northern  Ireland  also  met  in  Council 
and  endeavored  to  establish  a  like  harmony  in- their  dioceses. 

59.  For  several  centuries,  the  Irish  continued  in  the  happy  enjoy- 
ment of  undisturbed  peace.  The  invasion  of  the  Danes  was  the  com- 
mencement of  a  long  series  of  misfortunes  and  sufferings  for  that 
gallant  nation.  For  two  centuries,  the  Scandinavian  barbarians,  under 
their  sea-kings,  repeated  their  visits  and  devastations.  Their  first 
descent  is  mentioned  by  the  Four  Masters  as  taking  place  on  the  coast 
of  Antrim,  in  the  year  790.  Every  district  of  the  island  was  visited 
by  the  rapacious  Danes,  and  the  face  of  the  country  was  frightfully 

1.  Ecclesiastical  tonsure  seems  to  have  come  into  general  use  after  the  persecutions, 
in  the  fourth  or  the  fifth  century.  Three  different  forms  of  tonsure  were  at  this  time  in 
use  among  ecclesiastics  and  monks:  1,  The  tonsure  of  St.  Peter,  or  the  Roman,  consisted 
in  shaving  or  clipping  the  crown  of  the  head,  leaving  a  circle  of  hair  all  around  it.  3.  The 
tonsure  of  St.  Paul,  which  some  monks  used  also  in  the  West,  consisted  in  shaving  the 
whole  head.  3,  The  tonsure  of  St.  John,  which  was  in  use  among  the  Irish  and  Britons, 
was  a  semicircle,  the  hair  being  shaved  from  ear  to  ear  above  the  forehead.  By  its  adver- 
saries it  was  called  the  tonsure  of  Simon  Magus. 


274  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

changed  by  their  ravages ;  the  unfortunate  inhabitants  who  escaped 
the  sword  of  the  savage  enemy  were  compelled  to  take  refuge  in  the 
forests  and  amid  the  rocks  of  mountains.  Religion  was  the  first  to 
suffer ;  the  Danes,  as  was  usual  with  them,  first  attacked  the  churches 
and  monasteries  ;  and  the  rich  harvest  which  they  found,  induced 
them  to  return  again  and  again.  Armagh  with  its  cathedral  and 
monasteries  was  plundered  four  times  in  one  month,  and  in  Bangor, 
nine  hundred  monks  were  slaughtered  in  a  single  day. 

60.  The  contest  with  the  Danes  continued  for  more  than  two 
centuries,  during  which  period  Ireland  was  subjected  year  after  year 
to  the  incursions  of  the  Northern  pirates.  Throughout  the  whole  of 
this  long  course  of  oppression  and  persecution,-  the  Irish  had  never 
ceased  to  resist  the  barbarian  invaders,  and,  at  length,  under  the  brave 
monarch  Brian  Boroihme,  the  latter  were  completely  defeated  ai  the 
great  battle  of  Clontarf,  A.  D.  1014.  The  Danes  were  driven  out  of  the 
country,  or  those  who  remained  soon  amalgamated  with  the  inhab- 
itants. 

61.  This  long  struggle  with  the  Danes  was  attended  with  many 
evils.  The  baneful  effects,  or  results,  of  the  Danish  invasion  were  : 
1.  The  interruption  of  studies  on  the  universal  scale  on  which  they 
had  previously  been  conducted  ;  2.  The  utter  relaxation  of  ecclesias- 
tical discipline  among  the  clergy ;  and  3.  The  spread  of  ignorance 
and  a  general  decay  of  piety  among  the  people.     Among  the  ecclesi- 

•  astical  abuses  that  sprung  up  in  this  period  was  the  seizure  of  church 
property  by  the  laity,  and  the  practice  of  uniting  the  episcopal  and 
royal  authority  in  one  person.  Thus,  Olchobair  MacKennedy,  about 
the  middle  of  the  ninth  century,  was  both  bishop  of  Emly  and  king 
of  Cashel. 

62.  The  most  famous  of  these  royal  bishops  was  the  scholarly 
and  warlike  Cormac  MacCuUinan,  bishop  of  Cashel  and  king  of  Mun- 
ster.  He  was  the  author  of  the  famous  book  known  as  the  "  Psalter 
of  Cashel."  About  the  year  927  the  Metropolitan  See  of  Armagh 
was  usurped  by  the  powerful  Lords  of  Armagh  by  whom  it  was 
retained  for  two  hundred  years.  These  men,  though  they  had  never 
received  priestly  orders  or  episcopal  consecration,  assumed  the  title, 
as  well  as  the  jurisdiction  and  prerogatives  of  metropolitans,  except 
purely  spiritual  functions,  which  they  left  to  bishops  to  perform. 
After  the  final  expulsion  of  the  Danes,  the  Irish  began  to  rebuild 
their  churches  and  public  schools,  and  to  restore  religion  to  its  prim- 
itive splendor. 


r 


THE  CHURCH  IN  ENGLAND.  275 

SECTION    VII. STATE    OF    THE    CHURCH    IN    ENGLAND. 

Successors  of  St.  Augustine — Theodore,  Archbishop  of  Canterbury — His 
Associates — His  Labors  —  St.  Wilfrid  of  York — Death  of  Archbishop 
Theodore — Benedict  Biscop — The  Church  under  the  Heptarchy — Descents 
of  the  Danes — Their  Ravages— Decline  of  Piety  and  Learning — Alfred 
the  Great— His  Efforts  to  restore  Learning  and  Ecclesiastical  Discipline 
— His  Writings — The  Church  under  the  Successors  of  Alfred — St.  Dun- 
stan — His  Reforms — Renewal  of  the  Danish  War— Accession  of  Canute 
the  Great. 

63.  Of  the  five  archbishops  who  succeeded  St.  Augustine  in  the 
see  of  Canterbury,  the  last  only,  Deusdedit,  was  of  Saxon  origin. 
At  his  death  in  665,  the  pious  priest  Wighard  was  chosen  his  suc- 
cessor and  sent  to  Rome  to  receive  episcopal  consecration.  Here  he 
died,  whereupon  Pope  Vitalian  placed  Theodore,  a  Greek  monk  of 
Tarsus,  in  Cilicia,  in  the  see  of  Canterbury.  To  great  austerity  of 
life,  Theodore  added  extensive  learning  and  a  perfect  knowledge  of 
ecclesiastical  discipline.  In  company  with  his  friend  the  learned  Abbot 
Hadrian,  an  African,  and  the  saintly  Benedict  Biscop,  an  Anglo- 
Saxon  monk,  Theodore  arrived  in  Britain  in  A.  D.  669. 

64.  The  mission  of  Theodore  and  Hadrian  had  a  great  influence 
over  the  organization  of  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church,  and  their  arrival 
forms  a  new  era  in  the  ecclesiastical  history  of  Britain.  They  were 
learned  and  energetic  ;  equally  skilled  in  theological  and  secular 
sciences,  and  labored  strenuously  for  the  reformation  of  morals,  the 
diffusion  of  knowledge  and  the  revival  of  Christian  life  among  the 
Anglo-Saxons.  Having  been  invested  with  jurisdiction  over  the 
whole  of  Britain,  Theodore  made  a  general  visitation  of  the  churches, 
everywhere  correcting  abuses  and  restoring  eclesiastical  discipline. 

65.  In  673,  Theodore  summoned  a  Council  at  Hertford,  which 
enacted  many  laws  for  the  regulation  of  the  power  of  the  bishops,  the 
rights  of  the  monasteries,  the  keeping  of  Easter,  on  divorces  and 
unlawful  marriages,  and  provided  for  the  erection  of  new  bishoprics. 
At  the  request  of  King  Egfrid  of  Northumbria,  the  personal  enemy 
of  St.  Wilfrid  of  York,  Theodore  consented  to  divide  the  extensive 
diocese  of  York  into  three  sees  ;  so,  by  the  appointment  of  three 
bishops,  Wilfrid  was  entirely  superseded  in  his  diocese.  Wilfrid 
appealed  to  Rome,  and  set  out  to  lay  his  case  before  the  Pope.  Pope 
Agatho  in  a  Roman  synod  decided  in  his  favor,  and  issued  a  mandate 
for  the  re-instatement  of  Wilfrid  in  his  see.  Theodore,  accepting  the 
papal  decision,  became  reconciled  with  St.  Wilfrid,  and,  at  the  ap- 
proach of  death,  demanded  him  as  his  own  successor. 

66.  The    education  of  the  clergy,  the  primate  entrusted  to  his 


276  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

friend  Hadrian,  and  the  school  opened  by  the  latter  at  Canterbury, 
became  a  famous  seat  of  learning,  and  was  frequented  by  students 
from  every  part  of  the  island.  For  the  instruction  of  youth,  schools 
were  founded  in  different  parts,  in  which  Greek,  Latin,  mathematics, 
and  astronomy  were  taught.  Theodore,  who  is  reckoned  among 
England's  great  saints,  died  in  the  year  690.  After  a  vacancy  of  two 
years,  St.  Brithwald,  abbot  of  Reculver,  succeeded  him  in  the  see  of 
Canterbury,  over  which  he  presided  for  nearly  forty  years,  till  A.  D. 
731.  He  was  the  eighth  archbishop  who  had  filled  that  see.  Hadrian, 
the  illustrious  fellow-laborer  of  Theodore,  survived  him  twenty  years. 
He  died  A.  D.  710. 

67.  Benedict  Biscop,  the  other  co-laborer  of  Theodore,  was  the 
founder  of  two  celebrated  monasteries  at  Weremouth  and  Jarrow. 
He  made  several  journeys  to  Rome,  and  each  time  brought  back  a 
valuable  collection  of  books,  as  well  as  a  large  supply  of  relics  and 
images  for  his  monasteries.  He  diei  A.  D.  690.  His  memory  has 
been  transmitted  to  posterity  by  his  disciple.  Venerable  Bede,  in  his 
"  Lives  of  the  Abbots  of  Weremouth."  England,  and  even  Europe, 
owes  much  to  the  zeal  of  Benedict  Biscop  ;  for  the  civilization  of  the 
eighth  century  may  be  said  to  have  rested  on  the  monasteries 
he  founded,  which  produced  Bede,  and  through  him  the  school  of 
York,  Alcuin  and  the  Carolingian  school,  on  which  the  culture  and 
learning  of  the  Middle  Ages  were  based. 

68.  Under  the  Heptarchy,  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church  was  conspicu- 
ous, for  a  period  of  over  two  hundred  years,  for  the  virtues  and 
learning  of  many  of  its  members.  Venerable  Bede,  speaking  of  the 
flourishing  condition  of  the  country  and  the  piety  of  its  inhabitants 
during  this  period,  says  :  "  Never  were  there  such  happy  times  in 
Britain  since  she  was  conquered  by  the  Angles.  Her  kings  were 
Christian  heroes,  the  terror  of  their  enemies,  and  the  whole  nation 
was  striving  after  one  high  end."  The  glory  which  reflected  on  the 
ancient  Anglo-Saxon  Church  is  evident  from  the  fact  that  no  less  than 
twenty-three  Saxon  kings,  and  sixty  queens  and  members  of  royal 
families  are  honored  as  saints.  But  the  piety  and  virtues  which  had 
so  brilliantly  illuminated  the  Anglo-Saxon  Church,  began  to  disap- 
pear ;  the  zeal  and  devotion,  which  had  formerly  characterized  the 
monks  and  clergy,  gradually  relaxed  ;  and  even  the  love  of  science 
was  extinguished.  This  decline  of  piety  and  knowledge,  which  orig- 
inated in  the  indolence  of  the  natives,  was  rapidly  accelerated  by  the 
exterminating  sword  of  the  Danes. 

69.  As  early  as  the  year  787,  the  Danes  had  begun  to  harass  the 
separate  Anglo-Saxon  kingdoms.     Toward  the  end  of  King  Egbert's 


THE  GHURCR  IN  ENGLAND.  277 

reign — the  first  who  united  the  several  monarchies  under  one  crown — 
they  recommenced  their  incursions  along  the  British  coast.  Though 
frequently  repulsed,  the  northern  barbarians  were  in  no  wise  discour- 
aged, but,  returning  each  year  in  larger  numbers,  they  renewed  their 
invasions,  and  involved,  for  more  than  half  a  century,  the  whole 
island  in  devastation  and  ruin.  Everywhere  they  destroyed  the 
churches  and  monasteries,  and  massacred  every  priest  and  religious 
person  whom  they  met  on  their  route. 

70.  The  English  Church  at  this  period  presented  a  melancholy 
spectacle.  In  consequence  of  the  incessant  wars,  the  laity  had  degen- 
erated ;  the  clergy  were  dissolute  and  illiterate,  and  the  monastic 
order  was  well  nigh  extinguished.  Learning  had  wholly  disappeared 
among  the  Anglo-Saxons.  "  There  was  a  time,"  King  Alfred  writes, 
"  when  foreigners  sought  wisdom  and  learning  in  this  island.  Now 
"we  are  compelled  to  seek  them  in  foreign  lands.  Such  was  the 
**  general  ignorance  among  the  Saxons  that  there  were  very  few  who 
"  could  understand  the  service  in  English,  or  translate  a  Latin  epistle 
"  into  their  own  language." 

71.  It  devolved  upon  Alfred  the  Great,  A.  D.  871-901,  to  devise 
and  apply  the  remedies  for  these  evils.  Having  vanquished  the  bar- 
barian invaders,  who  were  compelled  either  to  leave  the  country  or 
to  embrace  Christianity,  he  turned  his  whole  attention  to  the  civiliza- 
tion and  moral  improvement  of  his  people.  He  founded  and  pub- 
lished a  new  code  of  laws  ;  built  or  restored  many  magnificent 
churches,  and  founded  several  monasteries,  besideg  a  rich  nunnery  at 
Shaftesbury,  in  which  his  daughter  Ethelgiva  was  the  first  abbess. 
To  revive  the  study  of  literature  in  his  realm,  Alfred  restored  the 
public  schools  and  multiplied  them ;  he  collected  and  formed  new 
libraries  ;  he  solicited  the  assistance  of  the  most  distinguished  foreign 
scholars,  and  invited  the  nobility  and  clergy  to  profit  by  their  instruc- 
tions. The  fruit  of  his  own  industry  and  application  is  manifest  in 
the  numerous  translations  from  the  Latin  which  he  published.  He 
translated  Orosius'  Universal  History,  Venerable  Bede's  Church 
History,  the  "  Pastoral  Rule  "  of  St.  Gregory,  the  treatise  of  Boethius 
on  the  "  Consolation  of  Philosophy,"  besides  extracts  from  the  works 
of  St.  Augustine.  In  these  undertakings  Alfred  was  nobly  aided  by 
Bishops  Plegmund  of  Canterbury,  and  Werfrith  of  .Worcester. 

72.  Alfred  lived  to  see  the  result  of  his  efforts.  After  his  death, 
however,  piety  and  learning  again  declined.  The  reigns  of  his  imme- 
diate successors  were  much  disturbed  by  civil  wars  and  fresh  inva- 
sions by  the  Danes.  Owing  to  the  wars,  which  for  half  a  century 
engaged  the  whole  nation,  the  appointment  of  bishops  for  vacant  sees 


278  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

was  generally  neglected  ;  in  consequence  of  which,  corruption  again 
crept  into  monasteries  and  convents,  and  incontinency  became  preva- 
lent among  the  clergy.  These  disorders  continued,  to  the  great 
scandal  of  the  people,  till  the  accession  of  King  Edgar  in  957.  This 
noble  monarch  strenuously  assisted  St.  Dunstan  in  his  efforts  to  bring 
about  a  general  reformation. 

73.  Dunstan,  born  in  the  year  925,  was  of  noble  family,  and  was 
a  nephew  of  the  Bishops  Athelm  of  Canterbury,  and  Elphege  of  Win- 
chester. About  A.  D.  942,  he  became  abbot  of  the  then  ruined  mon- 
astery of  Glastonbury,  which  he  restored  at  the  royal  expense.  He 
enjoyed  the  favor  of  Kings  Edmund  and  Edred,  who  were  guided 
by  his  advice  in  the  government  of  the  kingdom.  But  on  the 
accession  of  Edwy,  a  profligate  youth,  Dunstan  was  banished  from 
the  kingdom  and  his  monastery  dissolved.  He  spent  a  year  in  exile, 
when  he  was  recalled  by  King  Edgar,  who  made  him  his  principal 
counsellor,  promoted  him  to  the  bishopric  of  Worcester,  and,  on  the 
death  of  St.  Odo,  A.  D.  960,  advanced  him  to  the  primatial  see  of 
Canterbury. 

74.  Seeing  himself  at  the  head  of  the  Saxon  Church,  Dunstan  at 
once  determined  to  undertake  a  general  reformation  of  all  classes,  and 
to  restore  among  his  countrymen  the  severity  of  ancient  discipline. 
In  this  praiseworthy  undertaking  .he  was  nobly  supported  by  King 
Edgar  and  assisted  by  his  two  disciples.  Bishop  Ethelwold  of  Win- 
chester, and  Bishop  Oswald  of  Worcester.  Their  first  endeavor  was 
to  elevate  the  monastic  order  from  the  lamentable  state  into  which  it 
had  fallen.  Old  monasteries  were  restored  and  new  ones  founded 
and  peopled  with  monks  who  were  stricter  observers  of  religious  du- 
ties. The  most  eminent  of  these  religious  were  gradually  raised 
to  the  higher  dignities  of  the  Church.  A  national  Council  held  at 
London,  A.  D.  969,  enacted  that  every  priest  and  deacon  should  be 
compelled  either  to  live  chastely  or  resign  his  benefice.  Dissolute 
and  incontinent  priests  were  ejected,  and  in  their  places  monks  of 
stricter  morals  and  better  religious  deportment  introduced,  to  whom 
also  in  many  instances  was  transferred  the  right  of  choosing  the 
bishop  in  case  of  a  vacancy.  These  reforms  were  received  with  joy 
by  the  friends  of  religion,  but  they  also  created  great  animosity 
between  the  clergy  and  the  monks. 

75.  After  the  death  of  St.  Dunstan,  A.  D.  988,  the  conflicts  be- 
tween the  Anglo-Saxons  and  the  Danes  again  broke  out.  The  horrors 
which  had  marked  the  greater  part  of  the  ninth  century,  were  re- 
newed and  culminated  in  a  general  massacre  of  the  Danes  on  St. 
Brice's  day,  A.  D.  1002.     To  avenge  the  blood  of  his  countrymen, 


THE  CHURCH 'IN  FRANCE  AND  SPAIN  279 

Sweyn,  king  of  Denmark,  began  a  most  destructive  war,  which  cov- 
ered England  with  devastation  and  ruin.  Canterbury  suffered  all  the 
calamities  of  a  disastrous  siege  ;  Elphege,  its  archbishop,  was  cruelly 
put  to  death,  A.  D.  1011.  This  disastrous  war  terminated  in  the  sub- 
jugation of  England;  Canute,  the  son  of  Sweyn,  in  the  year  1017, 
united  the  crown  of  England  with  that  of  Denmark. 

SECTION    VIII. STATE    OF    THE    CHURCH    IN    FRANCE    AND    SPAIN. 

Merovingian  Kings — Their  Depravity — State  of  the  Church — Dagobert  I. — 
Accession  of  Pepin — Spain  under  Mohammedan  Rule— Oppression  of 
the  Church— Persecution  of  the  Christians— Council  of  Cordova— Grad- 
ual Revival  of  the  Spanish  Nation— Spanish  Kingdoms. 

76.  France.  It  is  difficult  to  conceive  a  darker  and  more  odious 
state  of  society  than  that  of  France  under  the  Merovingian  kings,  as 
described  by  St.  Gregory  of  Tours.  Some  of  the  descendants  of  the 
great  Clovis,  indeed,  were  zealous  for  orthodoxy,  and  defended  the 
Church  against  the  Burgundians  and  Arian  Visigoths  ;  but  they  soon 
became  very  depraved ;  wild  incontinence  and  a  savage  pride  and 
cruelty  characterized  the  reigns  of  most  of  the  Merovingians.  Assas- 
sinations and  fratricides,  with  licentiousness  and  debauchery,  reigned 
supreme.  Some  of  the  Merovingian  kings  took  as  many  wives, 
either  at  once  or  successively,  as  suited  their  passions  or  their  pol- 
itics. 

77.  The  scandalous  conduct  of  the  Merovingian  rulers  was  a 
source  of  much  grief  to  the  Church,  and  exercised  a  demoralizing 
influence  upon  the  people.  Bishops  who  had  the  courage  to  rebuke 
the  royal  libertines  were  sent  into  exile.  In  fact,  the  despotic  Mero- 
vingians frequently  interfered  in  the  episcopal  election,  arbitrarily 
appointing  or  deposing  bishops,  to  the  great  detriment  of  the  Church. 
A  period  of  brighter  promise  seemed  to  commence  with  the  accession 
of  Dagobert  L,  who,  in  the  year  628,  became  sole  king  of  the  Franks. 
His  chief  counsellors  and  instructors  were  St.  Arnulf,  bishop  of  Metz, 
and  Pepin  the  Elder  as  mayor  of  the  palace,  the  founder  of  the  Carlo- 
vingian  house.  But  after  the  retirement  of  these  two  excellent  men 
from  court,  Dagobert  gave  himself  up  to  rapacity  and  licentiousness. 
He  repudiated  his  wife  Gomatrude,  married  a  Saxon  slave  named 
Mathildis,  then  another,  Regnatrude. 

78.  Notwithstanding  the  depravity  of  her  rulers,  France,  in  those 
days  of  lawlessness  and  violence,  could  boast  of  good  and  holy  men, 
who  exercised  a  beneficial  influence  on  their  age  and  country;  of  dis- 
tinguished prelates,  famed  far  and  near  as  prudent  and  faithful  shep- 
herds of  their  flocks;  and  of  zealous  missionaries,  who  carried  the 


280  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

light  of  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen.  Such  were  St.  Leodegarius, 
bishop  of  Autun;  St.  Prix,  or  Priest,  bishop  of  Clermont;  St.  Aman- 
dus,  and  St.  Lambertus,  bishops  successively  of  Mastricht ;  St.  Deo- 
datus,  bishop  of  Nevers  ;  St.  Agilulphus,  archbishop  of  Sens;  St. 
Owen,  archbishop  of  Rouen  and  chancellor  of  the  realm  under  Dago- 
bert  I.;  St.  Eligius,  bishop  of  Noyon  ;  and  the  abbots  SS.  Eustasius 
and  Agilus  of  Luxeuil. 

79.  As  dissensions  and  civil  wars  first  weakened  the  power  of  the 
Merovingians,  so  indolence  and  incapacity  completed  their  downfall. 
The  monarchy  was  soon  torn  by  internal  dissensions,  and  the  country 
ravaged  by  the  inroads  of  the  Saracens.  The  government  was  wholly 
administered  by  the  mayors  of  the  palace.  With  the  assent  of  Pope 
Zacharias,  Pepin  the  Short  in  a  general  assembly  of  the  nation,  had 
Ohilderic  III.,  the  last  Merovingian,  deposed  and  himself  proclaimed 
king  of  the  Franks,  A.  D.  752. 

80.  Spain.  After  the  overthrow  of  the  Yisigothic  kingdom,  A. 
D.  711,  nearly  the  whole  of  Spain  fell  under  the  yoke  of  the  Saracens. 
Abderrahman  I.,  surnained  the  Wise,  in  the  year  756,  established  an 
independent  Caliphate  at  Cordova,  which  attained  a  high  degree  of 
prosperity.  While  the  Saracens,  or  Moors,  as  they  were  called,  held 
sway  in  Spain,  the  Church,  at  times,  enjoyed,  indeed,  a  partial  tolera- 
tion, but  was  constantly  subjected  to  tyrannic  oppression. 

81.  Those  of  the  Christians  who  still  continued  to  live  among  the 
Arabs,  hence  called  Mozarabians,  or  mixed  Arabs,  were  deprived 
of  their  civil  rights  ;  for  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion  they  were 
compelled  to  pay  a  heavy  monthly  capitation  tax.  Besides,  the  fa- 
naticism of  the  Mohammedans,  while  constantly  interfering  with 
their  sacred  rights,  subjected  the  Christians  to  all  kinds  of  indignities 
and  cruel  exactions,  and  finally  gave  vent  to  bloody  persecutions  in 
the  ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  under  Abderrahman  II.,  Mohammed  I., 
and  Abderahman  III.  The  Spanish  Christians  encountered  martyr- 
dom with  such  joy  and  in  such  great  numbers  that  the  Council  of 
Cordova,  A.  D.  852,  expressly  forbade  them  to  voluntarily  surrender 
themselves  to  the  Mohammedan  authorities.  Prominent  martyrs  in 
this  persecution  were  the  priest  Perfectus  of  Cordova,  and  Eulogius, 
archbishop  of  Toledo. 

82.  A  remnant  of  the  ancient  Gothic  monarchy  had  preserved 
its  national  liberty  and  independence  in  the  mountainous  districts, 
and  for  several  centuries  waged  a  successful  warfare,  which  was 
generally  an  offensive  one,  against  the  Mohammedan  conquerors. 
Amid  this  continual  warfare,  the  Christian  kingdoms  of  Leon,  Na- 
varre, Castile,  Arragon,  and  Portugal  gradually  arose.     Throughout 


POPES  UNDER  BYZANTINE  RULE.  381 

this  long  period  of  trial  and  conflict,  the  Christians  preserved  their 
ancient  ecclesiastical  organization,  consisting  of  twenty-nine  episcopal 
and  three  archepiscopal  sees.  The  Councils  of  Tolosa,  A.  D.  1055, 
and  of  Jacca,  A.  D.  1060,  sought  to  unite  the  Spanish  Church  more 
closely  with  the  Apostolic  See,  and  to  reform  ecclesiastical  discipline, 
which  had,  amid  continual  oppression  and  conflict,  greatly  relaxed. 


CHAPTER  II. 


RELATION  OF  THE  PAPACY  TO  THE  EMPIRE. 


SECTION    IX. THE    POPES    UNDER    TllE    BYZANTINE    RULE. 

Subordination  of  Popes — Their  embarrassing  Condition — Last  Popes  of  the 
Seventh  Century— Popes  John  V.  Conon,  and  Sergius  L— John  VI— John 
VII — Sisinnius — Constantine — Gregory  II  —  His  Conflict  with  Leo  the 
Iconoclast — Gregory  III — Appeal  for  Aid  to  Charles  Martel— Zacharias. 

83.  The  political  position  of  the  Popes  since  the  pontificate  of 
Agatho,  became  extremely  difficult  and  embarrassing.  They  were 
obliged  to  struggle  constantly  with  civil  princes  for  the  recognition  of 
their  spiritual  supremacy,  as  well  as  for  their  temporal  rights  and 
and  independence.  On  the  one  side,  the  warlike  Lombards  aiming  at 
the  conquest  of  all  Italy,  constantly  harassed  Rome  and  menaced  the 
independence  of  the  Holy  See.  On  the  other  hand  the  meddlesome 
and  despotic  Byzantine  emperors,  though  unable  to  protect  their  own 
dominions  in  Italy,  pretended  to  an  all-commanding  voice,  even  in 
spiritual  matters.  The  desire  to  ignore  the  authority  of  the  Popes, 
which  many  of  the  Greek  emperors  posessed,  and  to  impose  their  own 
instead,  even  in  matters  of  faith,  was  productive  of  the  most  lament- 
able confusion  in  the  Church,  and  was  the  cause  of  much  bitter 
trouble  to  the  Holy  See.  The  situation  of  the  Popes  was  the  more 
perilous  inasmuch  as  the  iconoclastic  controversy  was  raging  at  the 
time  with  the  most  bitter  animosity. 

84.  The  Popes  Leo  IL,  Benedict  IL,  John  V.,  Conon  and  Sergius 
I.,  were  the  last  of  the  seventh  century.  Emperor  Constantine  lY. 
Pogonatus  continued  upon  friendly  footing  with  Popes  Leo  II. ,  A.  D. 
682-684,  and  Benedict  II. ,  A.  D.  684-686,  to  whom  he  gave  many  proofs 
of  his  respect  and  deference  to  the  Roman  See.  An  edict  of  the  em- 
peror enacted  that  the  Pope  elect  might  at  once  proceed  to  his  consecra- 
tion without  awaiting  the  imperial  confirmation.  Justinian  II.  however, 
did  not  at  all  resemble  his  magnanimous  father.     He  renewed  the 


282  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

pretentions  of  former  emperors,  requiring  that  the  election  of  the 
Popes  should  take  place  in  the  presence  of  the  Exarch  of  Ravenna. 
Justinian  is  likewise  responsible  for  the  abolition  of  the  clerical 
celibacy  in  the  Eastern  Church  ;  the  second  TruUan  Council  con- 
voked by  him  made  celibacy  obligatory  only  on  monks  and  bishops. 

85.  After  the  short  pontificates  of  John  V.,  A.  D.  686,  and  Conon, 
A.  D.  687,  an  attempt  was  made  by  the  imperial  Exarch  John  to  place 
the  archdeacon  Paschalis  in  the  papal  chair,  but  the  Romans  resisted 
and  elected  the  saintly  Sergius  I.  Sergius  I.,  who  reigned  from  A.  D. 
687  to  A.  D.  701,  refused  to  sanction  the  TruUan  Synod,  which  assem- 
bled in  692  at  the  summons  of  the  emperor  Justininian  II.  Irritated 
by  this  refusal  the  haughty  emperor  sent  orders  for  the  apprehension 
and  transportation  of  the  Pope  to  Constantinople.  But  the  Romans, 
and  even  the  imperial  soldiery,  rushed  to  the  defense  of  the  Pope, 
and  only  for  his  intervention,  they  would  have  torn  Zacharias,  the 
imperial  officer,  to  pieces. 

86.  The  eighth  century  opened  with  the  pontificate  of  John  VI., 
A.  D.  701-705.  Scarcely  had  he  ascended  the  papal  throne,  when  the 
usurper  Tiberius  III.  sent  the  Exarch  Theophylactus  to  Rome  to 
compel  the  ratification  of  some  unjust  measures.  But  the  indignant 
people  and  military  again  rallied  together  and  would  have  laid  violent 
hands  upon  the  exarch,  had  not  the  Pope  interposed.  The  Pope 
induced  the  Lombard  Duke  of  Benevento,  who  had  made  a  predatory 
invasion  into  Campania,  to  withdraw  into  his  own  territory,  and 
redeemed  all  the  captives  which  the  Lombard  had  taken.  John  VI.,  as 
also  his  successor,  John  VII.,  A.  D.  705 — 707,  refused,  when  asked  by 
the  emperor,  to  approve  the  Trullan  Council. 

87.  On  the  death  af  John  VII.,  Sisinnius  was  chosen  Pope,  but 
died  twenty  days  after  his  election.  He  was  succeeded  by  Constan- 
tine,  a  Syrian,  A.  D.  708-715.  At  the  urgent  invitation  of  Justinian 
II.,  Constantine,  in  710,  undertook  a  journey  to  Constantinople,  where 
he  was  received  with  great  honors.  Th^  emperor,  wearing  his  crown, 
prostrated  himself  before  the  Vicar  of  Christ  and  kissed  his  feet.  A 
formal  approbation  of  the  council  in  Trullo,  however,  was  not  to  be 
obtained  from  the  Pope,  wjio  consented  to  recognize  only  such  of  its 
acts  as  were  not  contrary  to  the  decrees  of  the  Apostolic  See.  The 
attempt  of  Philipicus  Bardanes,  the  assassin  of  Justinian,  to  re-establish 
Monotheletism,  was  opposed  by  Constantine  with  apostolic  vigor. 
The  fall  of  the  usurper  and  the  promotion  of  Anastasius  II.,  a  pro- 
foundly Catholic  prince,  restored  peace  to  the  troubled  Church.  Anas- 
tasius, after  three  years,  was  dethroned  by  Theodosius  II.,  who,  in 
turn,  was  driven  from  the  throne  by  Leo  III,  the  Isaurian. 


POPES  UNDER  BYZANTINE  RVLE.  283 

88.  Pope  Gregory  II.,  A.  D.  715-731,  was  a  worthy  successor  of 
his  illustrious  namesake,  Gregory  the  Great.  He  was  a  man  of  rare 
virtue  and  equally  renowned  for  learning  and  administrative  ability. 
The  endeavors  of  the  iconoclast  Leo  III.  were  resisted  by  Gregory 
witn  all  the  force  of  his  apostolic  authority.  The  maddened  emperor 
sought  to  rid  himself  of  the  courageous  Pontiff ;  every  effort  was 
made  to  seize  his  person  and  to  take  his  life  ;  but  the  Romans  and 
the  Italians,  including  even  the  Lombards,  rallied  about  the  Pope  and 
routed  the  imperial  troops  that  were  sent  against  Rome.  While 
opposing  the  emperor,  when  he  attacked  the  faith  of  the  Church,  Greg- 
ory nevertheless  upheld  his  authority  in  Italy.  He  used  all  his  influ- 
ence to  appease  the  people  and  to  sustain  their  allegiance  to  their  sover- 
eign, and  effectually  opposed  their  repeated  attempts  to*  elect  a  new 
emperor.  When  the  Lombard  king,  Luitprand,  threatened  the  Holy 
City,  Gregory  went  forth  to  meet  him.  The  Lombard,  over-awed  by 
the  commanding  sanctity  of  the  Pope,  cast  himself  at  his  feet,  put  off 
his  armor,  his  royal  mantel,  and  his  crown  of  gold,  and  offered  them 
at  the  tomb  of  the  Apostle  St.  Peter.  Gregory  rebuilt  the  ruined  walls 
of  Rome  and  restored  the  monastery  of  Monte  Cassino,  which,  one 
hundred  and  forty  years  before,  had  been  destroyed  by  the  Lombards. 

89.  Gregory  III.,  A.  D.  731-741,  with  equal  vigor  defended 
Catholic  faith  against  the  heresy  of  the  Iconoclasts,  which  heresy  he 
solemnly  condemned  in  a  Roman  Council,  A.  D.  732.  To  punish  the 
Pope  for  this  daring  deed,  the  Isaurian  confiscated  the  estates  of  the 
Roman  Church  in  Calabria  and  Cicily,  and  transferred  Greece  and 
Illyricum  from  the  Roman  to  the  Byzantine  patriarchate.  Under  the 
pontificate  of  Gregory  III.,  occurred  the  great  victory  of  Charles 
Martel  over  the  Saracens,  near  Poictiers,  in  the  year  732.  This  vic- 
tory checked  the  power  of  the  Moslems,  and  saved  Western  Europe 
from  their  menacing  domination.  Gregory,  in  739,  invoked  the  aid 
of  Charles  Martel  against  Luitprand,  the  Lombard  king,  who,  after 
having  subdued  the  Exarchate,  invaded  the  Roman  territory  and  laid 
siege  to  Rome.  Charles  sent  an  embassy  to  Italy,  and  Luitprand  soon 
after  raised  the  siege. 

90.  Pope  Zacharias,  A.  D.  741-752,  succeeded  in  conciliating  the 
Lombards  and  saved  the  Roman  Duchy  from  their  further  invasions. 
By  a  visit  to  King  Luitprand,  he  obtained  peace  for  the  Exarch  of 
Ravenna  and  the  restoration  of  the  captured  town  to  the  emperor. 
Upon  Rachis,  successor  of  Liutprand,  the  dignified  appearance  of  the 
Pope  made  such  an  impression  that  the  king  relinquished  not  only 
his  conquests,  but  the  world  also,  and  became  a  monk  in  the  monastery 
of  Monte  Cassino.     Pepin  the  Short,  son  of  Charles  Martel,  availing 


284  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

himself  of  a  decision  of  Pope  Zacharias,  that  the  Franks  might  lawfully 
unite  in  the  same  person  the  title  and  authority  of  king,  had  himself 
crowned  king  of  the  Franks  by  St.  Boniface,  A.  D.  752. 

SECTION     X.— TEMPORAL    DOMINION     OP    THE     POPES — PAPAL     STATES 

STEPHEN    III. HIS    SUCCESSORS. 

Origin  of  Papal  Dominion— Popes  the  Protectors  of  Rome— Misrule  of  the 
Greeks — Lombard  Invasion— Stephen  III.  appeals  for  Aid  to  Pepin — 
Grant  of  Pepin — Papal  States— Title  of  Patrician — Paul  I. — Stephen  IV. 
— Hadrian  I. — Grant  of  Charlemagne. 

91.  The  pontificate  of  Gregory  the  Great  had  been  the  epoch  at 
which  had  commenced  at  least  the  independence  of  the  Roman  See. 
The  temporal  dominion  of  the  Popes  may  be  said  to  have  begun  with 
the  natural  and  gradual  acquisition  of  landed  property,  which  in  those 
times  carried  with  it  princely  authority  over  the  tenants  and  inhabi 
tants  of  the  estates.  The  final  attainment  of  independent,  sovereign 
authority  by  the  Bishops  of  Rome  was  but  the  necessary  consequence 
of  the  then  existing  political  circumstances  in  Italy.  Shortly  after 
the  downfall  of  the  Western  Empire,  the  Ostrogoth  Theodoric  made 
himself  master  of  Italy.  Under  this  prince,  the  Bishops  of  Rome 
exercised  a  predominant  influence  over  even  civil  matters.  In  the 
edsolation  and  distress  which  accompanied  the  dissolution  of  the 
Empire,  not  only  had  the  Popes  on  many  occasions  to  provide  for  the 
needs  of  impoverished  churches,  but  often  for  the  wants  of  a  whole 
province. 

92.  Under  Justinian  I.,  the  Ostrogoth  kingdom  was  overthrown  ; 
Italy  became  a  province  of  the  Eastern  Empire  and  was  governed  by 
exarchs  residing  at  Ravenna.  ,  In  the  year  568,  the  Lombards  under 
Alboin  subdued  the  greater  part  of  Italy  and  compelled  the  Byzantine 
emperor  to  confine  himself  to  his  Exarchate,  the  Pentapolis  along  the 
Adriatic  from  Rimini  to  Ancona,  the  Duchies  of  Rome  and  Naples, 
and  Calabria.  A  period  of  fearful  anarchy  now  began. for  Italy, 
which  became  the  theatre  of  the  continued  wars  of  the  barbarian 
invaders.  While  the  imperial  Exarchs  were  gradually  losing  power  in 
the  peninsula,  the  Bishops  of  Rome  in  those  times  were  often  the  only 
protectors  of  the  people  from  the  incursions  of  the  Lombards.  The 
weakness  or  neglect  of  the  Eastern  emperors  compelled  them  to  con- 
sider the  temporal  safety  of  their  country,  which  more  than  once  was 
saved  from  a  hostile  invasion  by  their  courageous  interference.  As 
in  former  days  Leo  the  Great  stopped  and  turned  back  the  barbarian 
hordes  of  Atilla  and  Genseric,  so  Gregory  the  Great  by  his  skill  and 


TEMPORAL  DOMINION  OF  THE  POPES.  385 

eloquence  stayed  the  fury  of  the  advancing  Lombards  ;  so,  also, 
Popes  Gregory  II.  and  Zacharias  confronted  the  Kings  Luitprand  and 
Rachis,  and  persuaded  them  to  withdraw  their  troops,  and  even  to 
resign  their  conquests. 

93.  The  misrule  of  many  of  the  Greek  emperors,  their  exactions, 
and  their  meddling  with  religious  matters  kept  Italy  especially,  in  a 
state  of  chronic  rebellion.  The  Popes  were  often  the  only  ones  that 
acknowledged  the  actual  government  of  the  emperor.  From  the 
beginning  of  the  eighth  century  a  desire  for  self-government  began 
to  agitate  the  Italians.  They  began  to  look  on  the  Bishop  of  Rome 
as  their  natural  ruler,  their  defender,  and  their  protector  against  all 
foreign  power.  It  was  easy  to  see  that  the  Byzantine  rule  in  Italy 
was  near  its  end,  which  at  length  was  brought  about  by  the  unut- 
terable folly  of  the  iconoclastic  emperors. 

94.  The  Lombards,  profiting  by  the  general  uprising  against  the 
imperial  authority,  prepared  for  the  entire  subjection  of  Italy.  King 
Aistulph  in  752  took  possession  of  Ravenna  and  its  dependent  pro- 
evinces,  and  put  an  end  to  the  Greek  dominion  in  that  part  of  Italy.     He 

resolved  to  make  himself  master  also  of  Rome.  Pope  Stephen  III., 
A.  D.  752-757,  neglected  no  means  to  induce  the  Lombard  to  desist 
from  his  project;  but  Aistulph  remained  inexorable.  Abandoned  by 
the  Greek  emperor,  and  unable  to  cope  with  the  Lombards,  Stephen 
formed  the  resolution  of  visiting  in  person  the  court  of  Pepin  to 
implore  the  assistance  and  protection  of  that  gallant  prince.  Pepin 
received  the  Pope  with  all  the  honors  due  to  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  and 
solemnly  bound  himself  to  place  him  in  the  possession  of  the  sove- 
reign dominion  of  Rome  and  the  Exarchate. 

95.  Pepin  first  attempted  peaceful  negociations  with  Aistulph; 
but  these  being  refused,  he,  in  two  expeditions,  A.  D.  754  and  756, 
compelled  the  Lombard  to  surrender  the  Exarchate  and  all  the  cities 
which  he  had  taken  from  the  Roman  Church.  Pepin,  by  a  solemn 
•deed,  placed  on  the  tomb  of  St.  Peter,  together  with  the  keys  of  the 
cities,  donated,  or  rather  restored  to  the  Roman  See  the  territory 
which  his  valor  had  recovered.  The  district  comprehended  in  all 
twenty-two  towns,  situated  chiefly  on  the  Adriatic. 

96.  Thus  the  Pope  became  an  independent  temporal  sovereign. 
By  the  gift  of  Pepin,  this  large  part  of  Italy  became  the  kingdom  of 
the  Bishop  of  Rome,  and  was  laid  the  foundation  of  what  are  called 
the  Papal  States.  These  states  having  been  donated  to  the  "  Apos- 
tolic See,"  and  being  the  property,  the  "Patrimony  of  St.  Peter," 
belong  not  to  any  Pope,  as  an  individual,  nor  to  any  family  for  action, 
I)ut  to  the  entire  Catholic  Church.     The  protection  of  the  Holy  See, 


288  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

which  the  Byzantine  emperors  had  so  basely  neglected,  was  trans- 
ferred to  the  Frankish  king,  with  the  title  of  "  Patrician  of  Rome," 
which  conferred  upon  him  a  certain  amount  of  patronage  and  a  voice 
in  certain  matters  relating  to  the  temporal  weal  of  the  Roman  Church. 

97.  On  the  death  of  Pope  Stephen  III.,  Paul,  his  brother,  was 
raised  to  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter,  A.  D.  757-767.  His  pontificate,  on 
the  whole,  was  a  period  of  peace.  Desiderius,  till  he  had  secured  the 
Lombard  throne,  remained  on  terms  of  unity  with  the  Pope  ;  but  the 
old  irreconcilable  hostility  soon  broke  out  again.  The  Pope  implored 
the  intervention  of  Pepin  to  compel  the  Lombard  to  surrender  what 
he  unjustly  withheld  from  the  Roman  See. 

98.  Upon  the  death  of  Paul  I.,  Toto,  duke  of  Nepi,  by  armed  force, 
placed  his  brother  Constantine,  a  layman,  in  the  papal  chair,  whom 
George,  bishop  of  Praeneste,  was  forced  to  consecrate.  After  holding 
the  usurped  office  thirteen  months,  the  intruder  was  overthrown  and 
Stephen  IV.  lawfully  elected  Pope.  To  prevent  the  recurrence  of  a 
like  intrusion,  the  Council  of  Lateran,  held  in  769,  prohibited  the  elec- 
tion of  a  layman  to  the  Papacy  and  all  interference  of  the  laity  in 
papal  elections.  The  pontificate  of  Stephen  IV.,  A.  D.  768-772, 
was  much  disturbed  by  the  rivalries  between  the  Frankish  and  Lom- 
bard factions,  who,  contending  for  the  mastery  in  Rome,  committed 
many  acts  of  violence,  which  the  Pope  was  not  always  able  to  pre- 
vent. The  marriage  of  Charles,  afterwards  called  the  Great,  with 
Desiderata,  the  daughter  of  Desiderius,  was  justly  condemned  by 
the  Pope,  because  of  the  existence  of  a  former  wife  of  Charles,  and 
also  because  of  the  dangers  to  the  Holy  See  which  such  an  alliance 
necessarily  involved. 

99.  The  promotion  of  Hadrian  I.,  A.  D.  772-795,  coincides  with 
the  first  year  of  Charlemagne's  sole  rule  over  the  united  monarchy  of 
the  Franks.  The  new  Pontiff  was  bound  to  the  Frankish  King  by  ties 
of  the  warmest  friendship.  Desiderius,  continuing  to  harass  the  Roman 
territory  with  repeated  incursions,  Hadrian  had  recourse  to  Charle- 
magne, who,  in  774,  put  an  end  to  the  Lombard  rule  and  he  himself 
assumed  the  title  of  King  of  Lombardy.  Charlemagne  confirmed  the 
donation  of  territory  made  by  his  father  to  the  Roman  Church,  and, 
by  a  new  grant,  added  the  island  of  Corsica,  the  provinces  of  Parma, 
Mantua,  Venice,  and  Istria,  and  the  Duchies  of  Spoleto  and  Benevento, 
Of  these,  however,  only  Spoleto  and  Benevento  passed  into  the  actual 
poossession  of  the  Popes. 


I 


HOL  7  R  DMA  N  EMPIRE.  287 

SECTION     Xr. THE    HOLY    ROMAN    EMPIRE — POPE    LEO    III.    AND    CHARLE- 
MAGNE. 

Accession  of  Leo  III. — Charlemagne  crowned  Emperor  of  the  West— Coro- 
nation of  Emperor  the  Free  Act  of  the  Pope — Imperial  Dignity  not  Her- 
editary— Idea  of  the  Empire — Secular  Influence  of  the  Pope — Relations 
of  the  Two  Powers— Charlemagne's  Devotion  to  the  Church — His  Death. 

100.  On  the  day  following  the  death  of  Hadrian  I.,  the  unanimous 
vote  of  the  clergy  and  people  raised  Leo  III.  to  the  pontifical  throne. 
His  pontificate,  A.  D.  795-816,  and  that  of  his  great  predecessor  were 
of  much  longer  duration  than  usual.  Leo  immediately  wa*ote  to 
Charlemagne  acquainting  him  with  his  election,  and  requesting  him 
to  continue  his  protection  over  the  Roman  See  and  State.  He  sent 
the  king,  with  other  gifts,  the  standard  of  the  city  of  Rome  and  the 
keys  of  the  Confession,  or  Sepulcher,  of  St.  Peter,  not,  as  many  have 
pretended,  in  recognition  of  Charles'  sovereignty  over  the  Roman 
Republic  and  the  Holy  See,  but  as  a  token  of  deference  and  devotion 
to  his  person. 

1.01.  The  Popes  had  contemplated  for  some  time,  it  appears,  the 
elevation  of  their  powerful  protector  to  the  imperial  dignity.  Had- 
rian I.  predicted  that  the  world  Avould,  at  some  future  time,  see  a  new 
Constantine  in  Charles  the  Great.  The  grand  project  was,  at  last, 
carried  out  by  Leo  III.  At  his  request,  Charlemagne,  in  the  year  800, 
came  to  Rome  to  quell  a  rebellion  in  which  the  Pope  came  very  near 
losing  his  life.  Charles  celebrated  the  festival  of  Christmas  in  St. 
Peter's,  and  whilst  kneeling  in  prayer  before  the  Confession  of  the 
Apostle,  the  Pope  crowned  and  proclaimed  him  Emperor,  amid  the 
joyful  acclamations  of  the  people  :  "To  Charles,  Augustus,  crowned 
by  God,  great  and  pacific  emperor  of  the  Romans,  long  life  and  vic- 
tory." The  Roman  Empire  of  the  West,  after  a  vacancy  of  324  years, 
w^as  thus  restored  by  the  Pope,  in  the  person  of  Charles  the  Great. 

102.  The  coronation  and  subsequent  anointing  of  Charles  as  Em- 
peror of  the  West — an  event  of  great  significance  to  the  Church — was 
the  free  act  of  the  Roman  Pontiff.  "  Leo  III,  on  the  day  of  Charles' 
coronation,"  writes  Cardinal  Herguroether  "was  able,  in  the  face  of 
the  whole  world,  to  claim  as  his  own  act  the  emperor's  elevation  to 
the  imperial  dignity,  for  the  defence  and  protection  of  the  Church. 
He  acted  in  this  matter  as  the  head  of  the  Church;  not,  as  many  have 
pretended,  merely  as  the  instrument  of  Charles'  policy.  There  is  no 
historical  foundation  for  such  an  assertion.  He  acted  primarily  as 
spiritual  head  of  the  Church,  though  he  was  at  the  same  time  civil 
head  of  the  Romans.     The  Roman  people,  who  could  not  have  given 


288  HISTORY  OF   TME  CHURCH. 

a  protector  to  the  Universal  Church,  added  to  Charles'  elevation 
those  joyful  acclamations  which  are  a  sign  of  its  completion.  In 
later  times  it  was  universally  acknowledged  that  only  a  prince 
anointed  and  crowned  by  the  Pope  could  possess  the  full  imperial 
dignity." 

103.  Charles  did  not  receive  the  title  of  emperor  by  right  of  con- 
quest, but  from  the  Pope.  He  came  to  Rome,  not  as  conqueror,  but 
in  compliance  with  the  prayer  of  Leo  III.  He  came  as  protector  of 
the  Holy  See,  an  office  held  by  him,  as  well  as  by  his  father  and 
grandfather,  in  virtue  of  the  patriciate  conferred  upon  them  by  the 
Popes.  He  did  not  owe  his  elevation  to  the  conquest  of  Rome  and 
Italy.  In  crowning  Charles  the  Great  emperor  of  the  West,  the  Pope 
had  no  intention  of  conferring  upon  him  an  hereditary  dignity,  neither 
of  relinquishing  for  the  future  his  right  of  electing  the  most  suitable 
protector  for  the  Holy  See.  No  historical  witness  confirms  the 
supposition  that  the  dignity  conferred  was  hereditary  ;  everything 
speaks  to  the  contrary. 

104.  The  imperial  dignity  included,  according  to  the  ideas  at  that 
time,  the  protection  of  the  Church  and  the  supreme  guidance  of 
Christian  nations  in  civil  affairs.  The  coronation  added  no  new 
power,  nor  did  it  confer  upon  the  emperor  any  territorial  jurisdiction, 
but  only  a  supremacy  of  honor  over  other  sovereigns,  enjoining  upon 
him  the  duty,  above  all  other  princes,  of  defending  the  Church  and 
maintaining  her  rights.  It  was  necessary  that  some  powerful  mon- 
arch should  be  endowed  by  the  Pope  with  a  special  preeminence 
among  other  sovereigns  as  the  protector  of  his  civil  princedom  and  of 
his  spiritual  supremacy.  For  this  reason  Charlemagne  styled  himself 
the  "devoted  Defender  and  humble  Protector  of  the  Holy  Church 
and  of  the  Apostolic  See." 

105.  "  From  that  time,"  writes  Archbishop  Kenrick,  "the  Bish- 
op of  Rome  necessarily  enjoyed  an  immense  itifluence  over  the  em- 
pire, and  the  kingdoms  which  arose  under  its  shadow ;  and  he  was 
regarded  by  princes  and  people  as  their  father  and  judge.  He  created 
a  new  order  of  things,  assigning  to  each  potentate  his  place  in  the 
political  world,  and  controlling  by  laws  the  movements  of  each,  in 
order  to  maintain  the  general  harmony.  His  relations  to  the  empire 
were  most  direct,  since  he  determined  who  should  elect  the  emperor, 
and  exercised  the  right  of  examining  whether  the  individual  chosen 
was  admissible.  The  power  exercised  by  the  Popes  in  designating 
the  emperor,  and  giving  the  royal  title  to  the  chiefs  of  various  na- 
tions, in  a  word,  regulating  the  whole  political  order,  cannot  fairly 
be  branded  as  an  usurj^ation,  since  it  was  vested  in  them  by  the  force 


no LY  R OMAN  EMPIRE.  389 

of  circumstances;  their  spiritual  office  placing  them  at  the  head  of  the 
Christian  world,  and  inspiring  confidence  in  the  justice  and  wisdom 
of  their  acts.  It  was  not  a  result  of  positive  concessions  made  by  the 
respective  nations,  although  it  was  acquiesced  in  and  confirmed  by 
the  free  and  frequent  acts  of  people  and  princes.  Neither  was  it  a 
divine  prerogative  of  their  office;  but  it  naturally  grew  out  of  their 
ecclesiastical  relations,  and  was  strengthened  and  sustained  by  their 
sacred  character." 

106.  The  elevation  of  Charlemagne  to  the  imperial  dignity  in- 
augurated a  close  alliance  between  the  Papacy  and  the  Empire,  the 
Church  and  the  State.  At  the  head  of  Christianity  stood  two  men 
anointed  by  God — the  Pope  chosen  by  Him  to  wield  the  spiritual 
power  for  the  good  of  mankind,  and  the  new  Roman  Emperor,  elect- 
ed freely  by  the  Pope  to  control  the  froward  and  unbelieving  by 
means  of  his  temporal  power,  and  bo  support  the  Church  in  the  dis- 
charge of  her  pastoral  office.  How  wise  and  serviceable  this  relation- 
ship between  the  spiritual  and  the  temporal  powers  was,  the  history  of 
the  following  centuries  abundantly  proves.  For  want  of  powerful 
protectors,  who  were  equal  and  faithful  to  their  vocation,  the  Church 
was  in  a  deplorable  condition  at  the  end  of  the  ninth  century  and  the 
first  half  of  the  tenth. 

107.  This  holy  alliance  between  the  Church  and  the  Empire  was 
fully  recognised  by  Charlemagne.  Whilst  he  reigned,  the  harmony 
between  him  and  the  Pope  was  in  no  wise  disturbed.  This  truly 
great  monarch  consecrated  his  power,  his  intelligence,  and  his  gift  of 
government  to  a  higher  end — to  the  defence  and  exaltation  of  the 
Church,  and  the  promotion  and  propagation  of  the  Christian  religion, 
also  among  the  heathen  nations  of  the  West.  Charlemagne  enter- 
tained a  filial  veneration  for  Christ's  Vicar  on  earth,  whom  he  con- 
sulted in  all  important  affairs.  Thus,  in  806,  he  submitted  to  the 
Pope  his  plan  of  dividing  his  empire  among  his  three  sons.  Four 
times  Charlemagne  went  to  Rome,  and  twice  he  had  the  happiness  of 
receiving  the  Pope  in  Germany.  After  a  glorious  reign  of  forty-seven 
years,  the  great  Emperor  died  in  the  seventy-second  year  of  his  age,  in 
the  year  814.  He  was  buried  at  Aix-la-Chapelle.  At  the  solicitation 
of  Emperor  Frederic  HI.,  Charlemagne  was  canonized  by  the  anti- 
pope  Paschal  IH.,  A.  D.  1165.  As  no  ligitimate  Pontiff  ever  annulled 
the  act,  Charlemagne  received  the  title  and  honors  of  a  saint  in  some 
parts  of  Germany,  France  and  Belgium. 


290  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


SECTION   XII. — SUCCESSORS    OF   LEO    III. 

Emperor  Louis  the  Pious — Paschal  I. — Eugenius  II. — Valentinus — Gregory 
IV.— Sergins  II.— Leo  IV.— Leonine  City— Benedict  III.— Fable  of  Papess 
Joan. 

108.  At  the  diet  of  813,  Charlemagne,  with  the  sanction  of  the 
Pope,  had  appointed  his  only  surviving  son,  Louis,  as  his  colleague 
and  successor  in  the  empire.  Louis,  surnamed  the  Pious,  or  the  Mild, 
A.  D.  814-840,  possessed,  indeed,  the  virtues  and  sentiments  of  his 
great  father,  but  lacked  his  energy,  his  loftiness  of  views  and  firmness 
of  purpose.  His  vacillating  disposition  and  impolitic  measures  drew 
contempt  on  his  authority,  and  finally  brought  misery  upon  him,  and 
disorder  on  the  empire.  Twice  he  was  outraged  and  deposed  by  his 
own  sons,  but  reestablished  by  his  affectionate  subjects.  The  young 
emperor  was  crowned,  together  with  his  consort  Hermingard,  by 
Pope  Stephen  V.,  successor  of  Leo  III.,  at  Rheims,  A.  D.  816. 
Shortly  after  his  return  to  Rome,  Stephen  died,  having  reigned  only 
seven  months. 

109.  On  his  death,  Paschal  I.  was  unanimously  chosen  and  com- 
pelled to  assume  the  pontificate,  A.  D.  817-824.  He  sent  an  embassy 
to  Emperor  Louis  to  renew  the  existing  friendly  relations  between 
the  Holy  See  and  the  Empire.  By  a  new  decree,  the  emperor,  A.  D. 
818,  confirmed  and  somewhat  enlarged  the  donations  made  to  the 
Roman  See  by  his  father  and  grandfather.  In  822,  he  shared  with  his 
eldest  son,  Lothaire,  the  government  of  the  empire,  and  declared 
him  King  of  Italy.  The  young  king  was  crowned  emperor  by  the 
Pope  at  Rome  the  following  year. 

110.  Already  that  turbulent  spirit  of  the  Roman  people,  which 
afterwards,  in  fierce  strife  with  the  nobility  and  the  lawless  petty  sover- 
ereigns,  degraded  the  Papacy  to  its  lowest  state,  was  breaking  out, 
and  began  to  disturb  papal  elections.  The  election  of  Eugenius  11. , 
A.  D.  824-827,  the  candidate  of  the  clergy  and  the  nobility,  gave  rise 
to  popular  disturbances,  which  were  quieted  only  by  the  speedy  arrival 
of  King  Lothaire  in  Rome.  To  prevent  the  recurrence  of  similar  dis- 
orders, this  prince,  conjointly  with  the  Pope,  published  a  constitution 
providing  for  the  safety  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  and  making  obedi- 
ence to  the  Pope  and  to  the  magistrates  appointed  by  him  obligatory 
upon  all.  On  this  occasion  also  Lothaire  is  said  to  have  published  a 
decree  requiring  that  the  consecration  of  the  Pope  should  take  place 
in  presence  of  the  imperial  ambassadors,  and  after  the  Pope-elect  had 


SUCCESSORS  OF  LEO  III.  291 

taken  the  oath  of  fealty  to  the  emperor.  But  the  authenticity  of  this 
decree  is  very  doubtful.  Pope  Eugenius,  in  827,  convened  a  Council, 
in  which  wise  measures  were  adopted  for  the  reform  of  Church- 
discipline. 

111.  After  the  brief  pontificate  of  Valentine,  who  reigned  only 
forty  days,  Gregory  TV.  ascended  the  Apostolic  Chair,  A.  D.  827-844. 
The  quarrels  among  the  imperial  family  were  to  him  a  source  of 
much  sorrow  and  disquietude.  It  was  during  his  pontificate  that  the 
sons  of  Louis  the  Mild  twice  rose  in  arms  against  their  father,  A.  D. 
830  aud  833.  Gregory,  deeming  it  his  duty  to  act  as  mediator,  set 
out  for  Gaul  to  prevent  so  unnatural  a  conflict.  Lothaire  forcibly 
detained  the  Pope  in  his  camp,  and  thus  made  him  the  apparent  abet- 
tor of  the  infamous  treason.  Louis  was  taken  prisoner  by  his  sons  ; 
and,  to  make  it  impossible  for  him  ever  to  reign  again,  Lothaire  forced 
his  father  into  the  rank  of  penitents  and  shut  him  up  in  a  monastery 
at  Soissons.  All  this  was  approved  by  certain  bishops  at  an  assembly 
at  Campiegne.  Pope  Gregory,  however,  never  acknowledged  the  ab- 
dication of  Louis;  and  a  numerous  assembly  of  bishops  and  nobles  at 
St.  Denys,  A.  D.  834,  declared  the  resignation  of  the  aged  emperor, 
which  had  been  extorted  by  force,  null  and  void,  and  solemnly  re- 
stored him  to  the  imperial  dignity.  After  the  death  of  Louis  the 
Mild,  his  sons  took  up  arms  against  one  another.  The  fratricidal 
strife  was  finally  settled  by  the  famous  Treaty  of  Verdun,  by  which 
the  empire  of  Charlemagne  was  divided  into  the  three  kingdoms  of 
Italy,  France  and  Germany.  Lothaire,  with  the  title  of  emperor,  re- 
ceived Italy. 

112.  Upon  the  death  of  Gregory  IV.,  Sergius  II.  was  elected, 
and,  on  account  of  the  menacing  usurpation  of  the  papal  throne  by 
the  deacon  John,  was  immediately  consecrated  without  the  sanction 
of  the  emperor.  During  his  pontificate,  A.  D.  844-847,  the  Saracens 
ravaged  Southern  Italy  and  even  threatened  Rome.  It  was  Serguis 
that  built  the  Scala  Sancta,  or*  sacred  Stairway,  near  the  Lateran 
Basilica.  The  eight  years  of  Leo's  IV.  pontificate,  A.  D.  847-855,  were 
employed  chiefly  in  arming  and  defending  the  Roman  State  against 
the  Saracens,  over  whom  he  gained  a  complete  victory.  He  encom 
passed  the  Vatican  hill  with  walls  and  towers,  and  founded  what  has 
since  been  called  after  him  the  "  Leonine  City."  In  850,  he  crowned 
Louis  II.,  son  of  Lothaire,  emperor;  and  three  years  later,  A.  D.  853, 
the  young  Alfred  of  England,  afterward  surnamed  the  Great,  in  com- 
pany with  his  father  Ethelwolf,  came  to  Rome  and  was  anointed 
king  by  the  Pope.  In  850  and  853,  the  Pope  held  Synods  at  Rome, 
at  which  canons  were  enacted  enforcing  ecclesiastical  discipline. 


292  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

113.  Leo  IV.  was  succeeded  by  Benedict  III.,  A.  855-858.^  His 
election  was  opposed  by  the  ambassadors  of  Emperor  Louis  II., 
who  supported  the  pretensions  of  the  antipope  Anastasius.  But  the 
constancy  of  both  clergy  and  laity  obliged  the  imperial  messengers 
to  recognize  the  lawful  Pontiff.  Benedict  III.  is  praised  for  his 
meekness  and  forbearance  towards  his  adversaries.  He  beautified 
many  churches,  and,  in  conjunction  with  King  Ethelwolf,  re-opened 
the  English  college  in  Rome.  The  pontificate  of  Benedict  HI.  is 
memorable  for  the  intrusion  of  Photius  into  the  see  of  Constantinople, 
which  led  to  the  estrangement  and  final  schism  between  the  Latin  and 
Greek  Churches. 

SECTION    XIII. PONTIFICATE    OF   NICHOLAS  I.  THE  GREAT THE  PAPACY 

TO    THE    CLOSE    OF    THE    NINTH    CENTURY. 

Nicholas  I.— Great  Events  of  his  Pontificate — Ignatius  and  Photius— John  of 
Ravenna— Hincmar  of  Rheims — Divorce  of  King  Lothaire — Pope  Nich- 
'  olas  interferes — Pope  Hadrian  II. — Lothaire  at  Rome — Hincmar  of  Laon 
— John  VIII. — His  embarrassing  Position — Saracen  Invasion— Princes  of 
Italy — Coronation  of  Charles  II.  and  Charles  HI. — Marinus — Hadrian  HI. 
— Stepnen  VI. — Formosus. 

114.  Benedict  III.  was  succeeded  in  the  Papacy  by  his  deacon, 
the  highly  gifted  and  energetic  Nicholas  I.,  A.  D.  858-867.  His  in- 
flexible firmness  in  maintaining  the  rights  of  the  Holy  See  against 
arrogant  metropolitans  ;  his  championship  of  oppressed  innocence 
against  royal  tyranny;  and  his  heroic  character  and  magnanimity  in 
times  of  peril  and  affliction,  won  Nicholas  the  surname  of  Great. 
Three  important  events  signalized  his  pontificate, — the  outbreak  of  the 
Greek  schism;  the  prohibition  of  the  divorce  of  King  Lothaire  from 
his  Queen  Theutberga;  and  the  successful  assertion  of  papal  supre- 
macy over  presumptions  prelates. 

115.  Ignatius  the  lawful  patriarch  of  Constantinople,  on  the 
false  charge  of  high-treason,  had  been  unjustly  deposed,  exiled  and 

1.  The  story  that  between  the  pontificates  of  Leo  IV.  and  Benedict  III.  the  papal 
throne  was  occupied  for  more  than  two  years  by  a  woman— Papess  Joan— is  now  univer- 
sally pronounced  a  fable  by  even  Protestant  writers.  1.  The  interval  between  the 
death  of  Leo  IV.,  which  took  place  July  17th,  855,  and  the  accession  of  Benedict  III.,  who 
was  elected  in  the  same  month  and  consecrated  September  29th  of  the  same  year, 
leaves  no  room  for  the  imaKlnary  reig-n  of  a  papess,  for  which  two  years  and  a  half 
are  claimed.  2.  Hincmar  of  Kheims,  in  a  letter  to  Pope  Nicholas  I.,  observes  that  the 
messenger  whom  he  had  sent  to  Leo  IV.,  learned  on  the  way  the  news  of  that  Pontiff's 
death,  and  on  his  arrival  at  Home  found  Benedict  III.  on  the  throne.  3.  The  story  is  not 
mentioned  by  any  of  the  Latin  or  Greek  writers  f  x'om  the  ninth  to  the  thirteenth  cen- 
tury. It  made  its  first  appearance  about  the  year  1240  or  1250— nearly  400  years  after  its 
supposed  date ;  beinf?  first  mentioned  in  the  chronicle  of  Martinus  Polonus  and  by  Ste- 
phen of  Bourbon  who  died,  the  former  in  1378,  and  the  latter  in  1261.  4.  Photius,  who 
searched  for  whatever  mig-ht  cast  odium  upon  the  Roman  Church  and  the  Popes,  does 
not  mention  the  fable.  5.  As  regards  the  statement  of  Anastasius  the  Librarian  of  the 
ninth  century,  and  Marianus  Scotus  of  the  eleventh  century,  it  is  established  beyond  a 
doubt  that  the  story  was  interpolated  into  their  works,  since  some  manuscripts  and  earl- 
ier copies  of  their  writings  do  not  contain  it. 


PONTIFICATE  OF  NICHOLAS  I.  293 

treated  with  the  greatest  inhumanity  by  the  licentious  Caesar  Bardas. 
The  persecuted  prelate  implored  the  judgment  and  protection  of  the 
Head  of  the  Church.  With  admirable  constancy  Nicholas  maintained^ 
the  cause  of  Ignatius  and  refused  the  recognition  of  the  usurper  Pho- 
tius.  He  likewise  forced  the  haughty  archbishop  John  of  Ravenna 
to  submission,  compelling  him  to  make  restitution  to  the  parties  he 
had  wronged,  as  well  as  to  the  Roman  See  for  seizing  its  estates. 

116.  Against  Hincmar,  archbishop  of  Rheims,  the  most  learned, 
political,  and  powerful  ecclesiastic  in  France,  Nicholas  defended 
with  firmness  the  right  of  suffragan  bishops  to  appeal  to  the  Pope, 
and  condemned  the  unlawfulness  of  deposing  a  bishop  without  con- 
sulting the  Holy  See.  Two  synods,  presided  over  by  Hincmar,  had 
deposed  Rhotadius,  bishop  of  Soissons,  and  sentenced  him  to  impris- 
onment for  appealing  to  the  Holy  See.  Nicholas  promptly  annulled 
the  sentence  and  reinstated  Rhotadius. 

117.  In  regard  to  Lothaire,  king  of  Lorraine,  who  had  divorced 
his  wife  Theutberga  to  marry  his  concubine  Waldrada,  Nicholas  with 
a  like  apostolic  firmness  maintained  the  sanctity  and  indissolubility  of 
marriage.  He  compelled  the  king  to  put  away  the  concubine  and 
take  back  his  lawful  wife,  annulled  the  synodical  decrees  authorizing 
the  divorce  and  the  adulterous  alliance,  and  deposed  the  prelates — 
Archbishops  Giinther  of  Cologne  and  Teutgand  of  Treves — through 
whose  intrigues  the  iniquitous  judgment  had  been  secured.  With 
steadfast  severity  the  Pope  persisted  to  the  end  in  his  resistance  to 
the  intercession  of  the  emperor  Louis  and  of  many  German  bishops, 
and  even  to  the  supplication  of  the  unhappy  queen,  who  implored  the 
dissolution  of  her  marriage  with  Lothaire. 

118.  Nicholas  was  succeeded  by  Hadrian  II.,  A.  D.  867-872,  who 
resolutely  maintained,  though  not  perhaps  with  equal  judgment  and* 
success,  the  principles  of  his  great  predecessor.  Yielding  to  the  influ- 
ence of  Emperor  Louis,  he  at  length  removed  the  excommunication 
from  Waldrada,  and  restored  her  to  the  communion  with  the  Church; 
he  also  admitted  King  Lothaire  to  Holy  Communion  after  that 
prince  had  testified  under  oath  that  he  had  held  no  communication 
with  Waldrada  since  her  excommunication  by  Pope  Nicholas.  The 
sudden  and  miserable  death  of  the  king,  which  occurred  shortly  after, 
was  generally  regarded  as  a  just  punishment  of  God.  Hadrian  like- 
wise espoused  the  cause  of  the  younger  Hincmar,  bishop  of  Laon, 
against  his  uncle,  Hincmar  of  Rheims,  by  whom  he  had  been  deposed 
without  authority  from  the  Pope. 

119.  The  position  of  John  YIIL,  A.  D.  872-882,  a  vigorous  and 
indefatigable  Pontiff,  was  embarrassing  in  the  extreme.     During  his 


294  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

whole  pontificate  Rome  was  continually  in  danger  of  falling  into  the 
hands  of  the  Saracens.  These  invaders  had  now  obtained  a  firm  foot- 
ing in  Southern  Italy,  whence  they  made  predatory  incursions  into 
the  papal  territory,  and  even  threatened  Rome  itself.  The  Pope, 
in  the  most  urgent  and  suppliant  language,  appealed  for  aid  to  Charles 
the  Bald,  whom,  in  875,  he  had  crowned  emperor.  "  If  all  the 
trees  in  the  forest,"  such  are  the  words  of  the  Pope,  "  were  turned 
into  tongues,  they  could  not  describe  the  ravages  of  these  impious 
pagans.  The  devout  people  of  God  are  destroyed  by  a  continual 
slaughter;  he,  who  escapes  the  fire  and  the  sword,  is  carried  a  cap- 
tive into  exile.  Cities,  castles  and  villages  are  utterly  wasted  and 
without  an  inhabitant.  The  bishops  are  wandering  about  in  beggary, 
or  fly  to  Rome  as  the  only  place  of  refuge." 

120.  Yet  even  more  formidable  to  the  Holy  See  than  the  Saracens 
were  the  petty  Christian  princes  of  Italy.  In  some  parts  of  Italy  had 
gradually  arisen  independent  dukes  and  princes,  who,  far  from  check- 
ing, only  helped  to  increase  the  existing  evils,  and  even  made  common 
cause  with  the  Mohammedans.  There  were  the  Lombard  dukes  of 
Benevento  and  Spoleto,  the  dukes  of  Naples,  and  the  princes  of  Capua, 
Amalfi  and  Salerno.  They  were  ready  on  every  occasion  to  plunder 
the  patrimony  of  St.  Peter,  and  to  enrich  themselves,  or  enlarge  their 
dominions  at  the  expense  of  the  Holy  See.  On  the  vacancy  after  the 
death  of  Pope  Nicholas,  Lafhbert  of  Spoleto  had  occupied  and  pil- 
laged Rome,  sparing  neither  monastery  nor  church.  The  Neopolitans 
and  neighboring  princes  formed  an  alliance  with  the  Saracens,  which 
the  Pope  used  every  means  to  break. 

121.  Under  these  distressing  circumstances.  Pope  John  appealed 
for  aid,  first  to  Charles  the  Bald,  and  after  the  latter's  death,  in  877, 
to  his  son,  Louis  of  France.  But  the  Carlovingian  princes  were 
unable  or  unwilling  to  grant  the  help  and  protection  solicited  by  the 
Pope ;  he  was  obliged  to  purchase  the  safety  of  Rome  by  the  pay- 
ment of  an  annual  tribute  to  the  Saracens.  In  881,  the  Pope  bestowed 
the  imperial  crown  on  Charles  III.  the  Fat,  who  once  more  united, 
under  one  rule,  the  whole  dominion  of  Charlemagne.  For  his  inca- 
pacity and  cowardice,  however,  Charles  was  deposed  by  his  own 
vassals,  A.  D.  887.  He  was  the  last  emperor  of  the  Carlovingian 
dynasty.  Pope  John  died  without  having  accomplished  the  great 
object  of  all  his  zeal  and  endeavors  during  the  ten  years  of  his 
troublesome  pontificate — the  liberation  of  Italy  from  Saracen  invasion. 

122.  Popes  Marinus,  A.  D.  882-884,  and  Hadrian  III.,  A.  D.  884- 
885,  reigning  only  a  little  over  two  years,  adorned  the  Papacy  by  their 
many  virtues.     In  the  pontificate  of  Marinus  occured  ^Jje  destruction 


EN8LA  VEMEMT  OF  THE  HOL  T  SEE.  295 

of  the  celebrated  monastery  of  Monte  Cassino  by  the  Saracens. 
Stephen  VI.,  A.  D.  885-891,  was  universally  revered  for  his  zeal  and 
boundless  charity.  He  was  succeeded  by  Formosus,  A.  D.  891-896. 
The  disturbed  affairs  of  Italy,  and  the  oppressions  perpetrated  by  the 
factions  of  Lambert,  duke  of  Spoleto,  and  Berengar,  duke  of  Friuli, 
who  both  aspired  to  the  kingdom  of  Italy  and  the  imperial  crown, 
caused  the  Pope  to  summon  Arnulf,  king  of  Germany,  to  come  to 
the  relief  of  the  Holy  See  and  Italy.  Arnulf  obeyed  the  summons, 
made  a  forcible  entry  into  Rome,  released  the  Pope  whom  the  Lam- 
bertine  faction,  having  gained  the  upper  hand,  had  thrown  into  prison, 
and  was  by  him  crowned  emperor,  A.  D.  896. 

SECTIOX  XIV. THE  PAPACY  FROM  THE  DEATH  OF  FORMOSUS  TO  JOHN 

XII ENSLAVEMENT  OF  THE  HOLY  SEE. 

Iron  Age— Anarchy  in  Italy — Humilitating  Condition  of  the  Roman  See — 
Boniface  VH. — Stephen  VII. — Formosans  and  Anti-Formosans— Rom- 
anus —  Theodorus — John  IX.  —  Benedict  IV.  —  Leo  V. — Sergius  III. — 
Counts  of  Tusculum — John  X. — Rapid  Papal  Succession — Alberic  Prince 
of  Rome  — John  Xll. 

123.  We  come  now  to  the  darkest  period  in  the  history  of  the 
Church,  commonly  called  "  the  iron  age,"  because  of  the  general  de- 
cay of  morals  and  learning  which  characterized  that  epoch.  Europe 
was  then  in  a  state  of  fearful  convulsions  and  disorders,  caused  by  the 
decline  of  the  imperial  authority  and  by  the  ceaseless  incursions  of 
the  Saracens  and  other  barbarians.  This  was  particularly  the  case 
with  Italy,  where  the  strife  of  contending  races  and  factions  raged 
with  the  utmost  fury,  and  where  rival  princes,  being  unrestrained  by 
the  imperial  power,  which  had  been  suspended  for  forty  years,  knew 
no  limits  to  their  ambition.  Guy  and  Lambert  of  Spoleto,  Louis  III. 
of  Burgundy,  Berengar  of  Friuli,  Hugh  and  Lothaire  of  Provence, 
and  Berengar  of  Ivrea,  strove  for,  and  successively  obtained,  the 
mastership  of  the  distracted  country.  The  Saracens  and  Hungarians, 
who  overran  Italy,  spread  desolation  all  around  and  pushed  their 
incursions  to  the  very  walls  of  Rome. 

124.  For  want  of  a  protector,  able  and  willing  to  preserve  peace 
and  order  among  the  petty  princes  and  states  of  Italy,  and  to  defend 
the  Pope  and  his  principality  against  the  rebellions  and  intrigues  of 
powerful  nobles  and  opposite  factions,  the  Roman  Church  was  in  a 
lamentable  condition  during  the  first  half  of  the  present  century. 
The  papal  throne  had  became  an  object  of  fierce,  and,  at  times,  sanguin- 
ary strife.      Whoever   now  obtained  the  mastery  of  Rome  by  any 


296  HISTORY  OB'  THE  CHURCH. 

means  of  violence,  intrigue  or  factions,  arrogated  the  right  of  nomin- 
ating the  Head  of  Christendom.  The  petty  tyrants,  who  ruled  at 
Rome,  held  the  Apostolic  See  in  a  long  and  disgraceful  servitude,  and 
thrust  into  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter  their  creatures,  their  kinsmen,  or 
their  own  sons,  who,  as  might  be  expected,  were  not  always  worthy 
of  that  high  and  responsible  position.  "  But  these  Popes,"  Gibbon 
well  remarks,  "  were  chosen,  not  by  the  Cardinals,  but  by  their  lay 
patrons."  God  permitted  these  trials  to  show  that  the  government 
of  His  Church  depends,  not  like  other  governments,  upon  the  virlues 
or  vices  of  its  representatives,  but  on  His  divine  power. 

125.  "We  need  not  be  surprised,"  says  Archbishop  Kenrick, 
"that  daring  and  licentious  men,  under  such  circumstances,  were 
sometimes  seen  to  occupy  the  highest  places  in  the  Church  ;  but  we 
must  admire  the  overruling  providence  of  God,  which  preserved  the 
succession  of  Chief  Pastors,  and  gave  from  time  to  time  bright  exam- 
ples of  Christian  virtue.  The  scandals  of  those  ages  menaced,  indeed, 
with  destruction  the  Church,  which  drifted  like  a  shattered  vessel, 
whose  pilot  had  uo  power  or  care  to  direct  her  course,  whilst  wave 
on  wave  dashed  over  her,  and  no  light  beamed  on  her  but  the  light- 
ning flash,  as  bolt  after  bolt  struck  her  masts;  but  He  who  controls 
the  tempest  slept  within  her,  and  in  His  own  good  time  He  bade  the 
storm  be  still,  and  all  was  calm  and  sunshine." 

126.  The  elevation  of  !Arnulf  to  the  imperial  dignity  by  Formo- 
sus,  had  greatly  incensed  the  Italian  party,  and  the  death  of  this  able 
and  zealous  Pontiff  left  Rome,  torn  by  the  factions  of  the  rival  emper- 
ors, in  a  state  of  dissension.  During  the  short  period  of  eight 
years,  nine  Popes  followed  in  rapid  succession.  The  immediate  suc- 
cessor of  Formosus,  Pope  Boniface  VI,  A.  D.  896,  reigned  only  fifteen 
days,  when  the  party  of  Lambert  succeded  in  intruding  the  fanatical 
Stephen  VII.,  A.  D.  896-897,  into  the  papal  chair.  He  was  the  first 
Pope  who  grievously  disgraced  his  high  office.  Yielding  to  party, 
spiritj  he  had  the  body  of  Formosus  unearthed,  and  in  a  Council 
assembled  for  that  purpose,  declared  his  election  to  the  Papacy  irreg- 
ular ;  after  cutting  off  three  fingers  of  the  right  hand,  the  body  was 
cast  into  the  Tiber.  The  ordinations  which  Formosus  had  conferred 
were  declared  invalid.  The  barbarity  of  this  act,  which,  it  is  consol- 
ing to  know,  were  committed  by  an  intruder,  aroused  the  indignation 
of  the  people,  by  whom  the  perpetrator  of  the  outrage  was  seized  and 
strangled  in  prison. 

127.  Rome  had  now  become  the  seat  of  discord  and  party-strife; 
two  rival  and  mutually  hostile  factions — the   Formosans  and  Anti- 


ENSLAVEMENT  OF  THE  HOLT  SEE.  297 

Formosans,  or  party  of  Lambert — fiercely  opposed  each  other.  The 
two  succeeding  Popes — the  pious  Romanus  and  the  mild  Theodorus 
II. — survived  their  promotion  each  only  a  few  months.  Theodorus 
aimed  at  reconciling  the  parties  and  solemnly  reinterred  Formosus; 
the  body  of  the  ill-treated  Pontiff,  which  had  been  found  by  fishermen 
in  the  Tiber,  was  again  deposited  in  the  papal  vaults  and  the  clerics 
ordained  by  him  were  reinstated.  The  pontificate  of  the  active  and 
energetic  John  IX.,  A.  D.  898-900,  who  labored  most  zealously  to 
heal  the  evils  of  his  time,  closed  the  ninth  century.  A  Roman  Coun- 
cil held  under  him,  annulled  the  unprecedented  judgment  passed  on 
Pope  Formosus,  and  solemnly  restored  his  memory.  The  orders 
which  he  had  bestowed  were  confirmed,  and  re-ordinations  condemned. 

128.  The  year  900  was  inaugurated  by  the  accession  of  the  vir- 
tuous and  benevolent  Benedict  IV.,  A.  D.  900-903.  The  unfortunate 
Louis  of  Provence  was  crowned  emperor  by  him,  in  901.  Leo  V.,  A. 
D.  903,  who  is  praised  for  the  singular  purity  of  his  life,  was  imprisoned, 
and  the  Papacy  usurped  by  a  certain  Christopher.  The  usurper,  after 
six  months,  was  dethroned  to  make  room  for  Sergius  III.,  A.  D.  904- 
911.  The  moral  character  of  Sergius  is  grievously  assailed  by  Luit- 
prand,  a  contemporary  writer,  whose  testimony,  however,  is  weakened 
by  his  known  hostility  to  the  counts  of  Tusculum,  to  whom  Sergius 
was  related,  and  by  his  partial  devotion  to  the  imperial  interests.^ 
Flodoard  and  Deacon  John,  other  contemporary  writers,  represent 
Sergius  as  a  favorite  with  the  Roman  people  and  a  kind  and  active 
Pontiff,  w^ho  labored  strenuously  for  the  restoration  of  ecclesiastical 
discipline.  With  the  exception  that  he  was  an  opj^onent  of  Pope 
Formosus,  he  is  guiltless  of  the  charges  brought  against  him  by  the 
slanderous  Luitprand. 

129.  After  the  brief  pontificates  of  Anastasius  III.,  A.  D.  911- 
913,  and  Lando  A.  D.  913-914,  who  were  reduced  to  inactivity,  the 
Apostolic  See  w  as  held  in  a  disgraceful  servitude  by  the  counts  of 
Tusculum,  for  a  space  of  fifty  years,  during  which  period  three  notor- 
ious women — Theodora  and  her  daughters,  Marozia  and  Theodora — 
had  an  almost  absolute  sway  over  papal  elections. 

130.  On  the  death  of  Lando,  John  X.  was  called  to  the  Papacy 
A.  D.  914-928.  He  was  a  near  relative,  according  to  some,  the 
nephew  of  the  elder  Theodora.  Upon  this  fact  the  lying  Luitprand 
built  up   his   grievous   accusations   against   that   Pontiff,   whom   he 

1.  Luitprand,  bishop  of  Cremona,  lived  about  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century.  He 
was  the  author  of  several  historical  works  containing'  a  f  rig-htful  picture  of  the  depravity 
of  the  ag-e.  But  the  truthfulness  of  his  statements  is  very  much  shaken  by  the  loose- 
ness of  his  own  life  and  his  courtly  servility.  Being-  a  courtier  of  Otho  I.  and  a  violent 
adherent  of  the  German  party,  he  was  bitterly  hostile  to  the  Italian  party,  and  all  the 
Popes  who  favored  it. 


298  HISTORY  OF   THE   CHURCH. 

charges  with  gross  licentiousness.  The  conflicting  statements  of 
Luitprand  are  a  sufficient  proof  of  the  falsehood  of  his  allegations. 
By  other  contemporary  writers,  John  X.  is  represented  as  a  Pontiff 
of  unimpeachable  conduct,  whose  reign  was  eminently  useful  to  the 
Church.  The  extraordinary  ability  which  he  exhibited  as  archbishop 
of  Ravenna,  had  pointed  him  out  as  the  one  best  qualified  to  occupy 
the  papal  chair  at  that  critical  time.  Pope  John  displayed  great 
activity  and  energy  for  the  liberation  of  Italy  from  the  Saracens.  He 
united  the  Italian  princes  into  a  powerful  confederacy,  and  placing  him- 
self at  the  head  of  the  combined  army,  he  utterly  routed  the  Moslems 
and  freed  the  country  from  their  power,  A.  D.  916.  John  next  mani- 
fested a  disposition  to  break  the  power  of  the  Tuscan  tyrants,  and 
free  the  Papacy  from  its  degrading  dependency.  But  his  noble  en- 
deavors were  anticipated  by  the  party  of  Marozia.  He  was  surprised 
in  the  Lateran  palace  by  this  daring  woman  ;  his  brother  Peter  was 
killed  before  his  face,  and  the  Pope  himself  thrown  into  prison,  where 
shortly  after  he  died,  it  is  said,  by  violence. 

131.  After  the  two  short  and,  perhaps,  abbreviated  pontificates  of 
Leo  VI.,  A.  D.  928-929,  and  Stephen  VIII.,  A.  D.  929-931,  Marozia 
caused  her  own  son  by  her  first  husband,  Alberic  I.,  to  be  elected 
Pope,  under  the  name  of  John  XI.,  he  being  then  only  twenty-five 
years  old,  A.  D.  931-936.  The  youthful  Pontiff  was  wholly  dependent 
on  his  mother,  and,  after  her  banishment  from  Rome,  on  his  still 
younger  step-brother,  Alberic  II.,  who,  with  the  title  of  "  Princeps 
Romae,"  reigned  as  absolute  sovereign  over  Rome,  and  kept  the  Pope, 
his  brother,  in  strict  captivity  during  his  lifetime. 

132.  The  rule  of  Prince  Alberic,  which  lasted  twenty-two  years, 
was  conducted  with  ability,  justice,  and  moderation.  The  elections  of 
Popes  during  his  reign  were  free  and  peaceful,  and  the  best  men 
among  the  Roman  clergy  were  chosen.  Such  were  the  pious  Leo 
VII.,  A.  D.  936-939,  and  Stephen  IX.,  A.  D.  939-943,  who  were 
wholly  devoted  to  the  work  of  peace  and  the  interests  of  the  Church; 
and  the  two  saintly  Pontiffs,  Marinus  II.,  A.  D.  943-946,  and  Agapetus 
II.,  A.  D.  946-956,  who  distinguished  themselves  by  their  zeal  for  re- 
form. Notwithstanding  the  personal  worth  of  these  Popes,  they 
were  nevertheless  obliged  to  submit  to  the  dictatorship  of  Alberic. 

133.  Prince  Alberic  was  instrumental  in  restoring  the  temporal 
sovereignty  to  tlie  Popes.  Shortly  before  his  death,  in  954,  he  induced 
the  Romans  to  promise  that  they  would  elect  his  son  Octavian,  Pope, 
on  the  first  vacancy  in  the  Holy  See.  Octavian,  accordingly,  after  the 
death  of  Agapetus  II.,  assumed  the  pontificate,  although  he  was  then 
but  eighteen  years  old,  A.  D.  956-964.     He  took  the  name  of  John 


PAPACY  AFTER  RESTORATION  OF  THE  EMPIRE.  299 

XII.,  being  the  lirst  Pope  who  thus  changed  his  name.  This  youthful 
Pontiif,  whose  training  and  conduct  in  no  wise  befitted  him  for  his 
exalted  office,  was  an  unworthy  occupant  of  the  papal  chair,  upon 
which  he  brought  disgrace  by  his  dissolute  life.  But  the  Church,  then 
in  a  most  humiliating  state  of  bondage,  cannot  be  held  responsible 
for  the  outrageous  conduct  of  this  young  profligate,  who  was  not  her 
choice,  but  who  had  intruded  himself  into  the  pontificate  by  means  of 
the  temporal  power  which  he  inherited  from  his  father. 

SECTION    XV. THE    PAPACY    AFTER    THE    RESTORATION    OF    THE    EMPIRE, 

UNDER    OTHO    I.    THE    GREAT. 

Otho  I. — Restoration  of  the  Empire— Deposition  of  John  XII.— Leo  VIII. 
Antipope— Reinstatement  and  Death  of  John  XII. — John  XIII.— Otho's 
Conduct  towards  the  Holy  See— Creseentius— Benedict  VI.— Boniface 
VII.  Antipope— Benedict  VII.— John  XIV.— John  XV.— Otho  III.  in 
Rome — Gregory  V. — Sylvester  II. 

134.  Upon  the  death  of  King  Lothaire,  in  950,  Berengar  of  Ivrea, 
grandson  of  Emperor  Berengar,  became  King  of  Italy.  Adelaide,  the 
widow  of  Lothaire,  Berengar  wished  to  marry  to  his  son  Adalbert. 
But  she  sought  and  obtained  the  protection  of  King  Otho  I.  of  Ger- 
many, who  married  her  and  was  crowned  king  of  Lombardy,  A.  D. 
951.  Thy  tyranny  of  Berengar  caused  Pope  John  XII.  and  the 
Italian  nobles  to  invoke  the  aid  of  Otho.  The  gallant  king  of  Ger- 
many again  marched  into  Italy,  and  having  deposed  Berenger,  pro- 
ceeded to  Rome,  where  he  was  crowned  Emperor,  A.  D.  962.  Thus, 
after  a  vacancy  of  thirty-eight  years,  the  Empire  of  the  West  was 
a  second  time  restored,  and  from  that  time  the  imperial  dignity 
remained  permanently  with  the  kings  of  Germany. 

135.  Otho  I.  promised  under  oath  to  respect  and  uphold  the 
authority  of  the  Pope,  and,  by  a  new  diploma,  secured  to  him  the  states 
that  had  been  donated  to  the  Holy  See  by  Pepin  and  Charlemagne. 
The  Pope  and  the  Romans,  on  their  part,  swore  to  hold  no  connection 
with  the  enemies  of  the  emperor.  John,  however,  violated  these 
promises,  and  entered  into  an  alliance  against  the  emperor  with  the 
Greeks  and  Adalbert  of  Ivrea.  The  faithlessness  of  the  Pope,  and 
the  loud  complaints  about  his  unedifying  conduct  caused  Otho  to 
hasten  again  to  Rome,  where  he  called  a  Synod,  which  deposed  John 
XII.,  and  chose  in  his  stead  Leo  VIII.  After  the  departure  of  Otho, 
John,  returning  to  Rome,  drove  out  the  antipope  and  retaliated  upon 
all  who  sided  with  the  emperor.  Shortly  after,  John  suddenly  fell 
sick  and  died  .     Thus  providence  had  vindicated  his  rights  by  restor- 


300  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

ing  him  to  the  Papacy;  and  on  the  other  hand,  by  his  sudden  death, 
brought  his  disgraceful  career  to  an  early  close. 

136.  The  Romans,  instead  of  closing  the  schism  by  choosing  Leo 
VIII.,  the  protege  of  the  emperor,  elected  Benedict  V.,  a  man  of 
great  virtue  and  learning,  and  swore  to  defend  him,  even  against  the 
emperor  himself.  On  receiving  this  news,  Otho  returned,  besieged 
and  took  Rome  and  reinstated  Leo  VIII.  Benedict,  the  lawful  Pon- 
tiff, was  carried  away  into  Germany  and  kept  in  captivity  at  Hamburg, 
where  he  died  the  following  year,  965,  surviving  his  rival  three 
months.  With  the  concurrence  of  the  ambassadors  of  Otho,  the 
Romans  elected  John  XIII.,  A.  D.  965-972.  The  severity  with  which 
the  new  Pope  maintained  his  sovereign  rights  against  the  nobility, 
caused  an  insurrection  against  him  ;  he  was  seized  and  held  in  prison 
for  ten  months.  Otho,  on  learning  this,  hurried  to  Rome  and  inflicted 
a  summary  punishment  upon  the  authors  of  the  revolt,  A.  D.  966. 
The  following  year  the  emperor's  son,  Otho  II.,  received  from  the 
Pope  the  imperial  crown. 

137.  Otho  I.  died  in  the  year  973.  He  well  deserves  the  name  of 
Great,  notwithstanding  his  grievous  errors  and  wrongs  toward  the 
Holy  See.  The  return  of  the  old  disorders  at  Rome,  made,  perhaps, 
his  intervention  necessary ;  but  he  certainly  carried  it  too  far  with 
regard  to  Popes  John  XII.  and  Benedict  V.  His  example  became  a 
f>recedence  for  subsequent  emperors,  some  of  whom  interfered  more 
than  it  was  meet  in  ecclesiastical  affairs  and  in  the  election  of  Popes, 
to  the  great  detriment  of  the  Holy  See  and  the  Church  in  general. 

138.  The  death  of  Otto  I.  was  the  signal  for  new  outbreaks  and 
disturbances  in  Rome.  An  attempt  was  made  to  overthrow  the 
imperial  power  in  Italy.  The  movement  was  headed  by  Crescentius, 
or  Cencius,  who  is  supposed  to  have  been  a  son  of  Theodora,  the  sister 
of  the  notorious  Marozia.  Having  made  himself  master  of  Rome, 
Crescentius  oppressed,  imprisoned,  and  even  murdered  the  Popes 
favoring  the  imperial  power.  Pope  Benedict  VI.,  A.  D.  972-974, 
successor  of  John  XIII,  was  dethroned,  imprisoned  in  the  castle  of  St. 
Angelo,  and  finally  strangled;  and  Cardinal  Franco,  a  partisan  of  Cres- 
centius, intruded  into  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter  as  Boniface  VII.  After 
one  month,  however,  the  intruder  was  dispossessed  by  the  Romans 
and  fled  to  Constantinople.  With  the  assent  of  Otho  IL,  the  bishop 
of  Sutri  was  enthroned  as  Benedict  VII.,  A.  D.  975-983.  He  excom- 
municated Cardinal  Franco,  the  antipope,  and  governed  the  Church 
with  vigor  and  great  prudence. 

139.  Benedict  VII.  was  succeeded  by  Peter,  bishop  of  Pavia  and 
chancellor  to  Otho  IL,  as  John  XIV.,  A.  D.  983-985.     The  premature 


I 


PAPACY  AFTER  THE  RESTORATION  OF  EMPIRE.  301 

death  of  the  emperor  in  983,  was  the  signal  for  a  fresh  revolt  in  Rome. 
Cardinal  Franco  returned  to  Rome,  and,  with  the  aid' of  the  Crescen- 
tians,  dethroned  the  Pope,  confined  him  in  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo, 
and  there  left  him  to  die  of  hunger.  But  the  early  and  sudden  death 
of  the  antipope  enabled  the  Roman  clergy  to  elect  a  worthy  Pope  in 
the  person  of  John  XV.  (A.  D.  985-996),  who  governed  with  great 
prudence  and  success,  notwithstanding  the  many  difficulties  of  his  po- 
sition. In  the  meantime,  the  son  of  Crescentius,  called  Crescentius 
II.,  or  Numentanus,  had  seized  upon  the  Roman  principality  and  made 
himself  patrician  and  governor  of  Rome.  His  tyranny  obliged  the 
Pope  to  leave  Rome,  and  to  invite  the  young  emperor-elect,  Otho  III., 
to  his  aid,  A.  D.  996. 

140.  On  his  arrival  at  Rome,  Otho  found  the  Roman  See  va- 
cant by  the  death  of  John  XV. ;  through  his  iniluence,  his  cousin 
Bruno,  a  man  of  extensive  literary  acquirements,  was  raised  to  the 
papal  chair  as  Gregory  V.,  A.  D.  996-999.  He  was  the  first  German 
Pope.  By  him,  Otho  was  crowned  emperor.  After  the  departure  of 
Otho,  Crescentius  renewed  his  insurrection,  drove  out  Gregory,  and 
caused  the  elevation  of  John  Philagathos,  bishop  of  Piacenza,  to  the 
Papacy,  who  assumed  the  name  of  John  XVI.  Otho  returned,  and  in 
company  with  Gregory,  entered  Rome.  The  antipope  was  severely 
punished,  and  Crescentius,  the  author  of  the  revolt,  together  with 
twelve  of  his  principal  adherents,  was  beheaded.  Pope  Gregory  la- 
bored zealously  for  the  reformation  of  ecclesiastical  life;  but  his  life 
of  usefulness  was  cut  short  by  a  premature  death. 

141.  Gregory  was  succeeded  by  the  first  French  Pope,  the  famous 
and  learned  Gerbert,  former  tutor  of  Emperor  Otto  III.  He  assumed 
the  name  of  Sylvester  II.,  A.  D.  999-1003.  Xo  Pope  so  truly  gi-eat 
had  occupied  the  papal  chair  since  the  time  of  Nicholas  I.  He  dis- 
played great  zeal,  talent,  and  severity  in  his  administration,  especially 
in  reforming  and  elevating  the  clergy.  His  uncommon  knowledge  of 
the  fine  arts  and  sciences,  and  his  rapid  elevation  to  the  highest  dig- 
nities in  the  Church,  caused  him,  in  a  barbarous  age,  to  pass  for  a 
magician.  To  King  Stephen  of  Hungary  and  his  successors  he  gave 
the  title  of  "  Apostolic  Majesty "  and  the  right  to  have  the  cross 
borne  before  him.  Sylvester  was  the  first  Pope  that  conceived  the 
idea  of  arming  Christendom  for  delivering  the  Holy  Land  from  the 
hands  of  the  Mussulmans.  But  this  plan  perished  with  the  death  of 
Otho  III.  in  1002,  whom  the  Pope  followed  to  the  grave  in  the  suc- 
ceeding year.  Otho  III.  entertained  the  idea  of  transferring  the  cap- 
ital of  the  empire  to  Rome,  but  was  prevented  from  carrying  it 
u)nt  by  his  early  death. 


302  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

SECTION  XVI. THE  PAPACY  FROM  THE  DEATH  OF  SYLVESTER  II.  TO 

THAT  OF  LEO  IX. RENEWED  DEPENDENCY  OF  THE  HOLY  SEE. 

John  Crescentius  Lord  of  Rome — Popes  under  his  administration — Tuseulan 
Popes — Benedict  VIII. — Emperor  Henry  II.— John  XIX. — Emperor  Con- 
rad II. — Benedict  IX. — Gregory  VI. — Papal  Schism — Emperor  Henry  III. 
— German  Popes— Clement  II. — Damasus  II. — Leo  IX. — Robert  Guiscard. 

142.  After  the  death  of  Otho  III.  and  Pope  Sylvester  II.,  the 
Roman  pontificate  again  became  the  prey  of  Italian  factions.  The 
Crescentian  family,  under  John  Crescentius,  regained  predominance 
in  Rome  and  maintained  it  during  the  pontificates  of  John  XYII.,  which 
lasted  only  five  months,  of  John  XVIII.,  A.  D.  1003-1009,  and  Sergius 
IV.,  A.  D.  1009-1012;  the  last  two  ruled  the  Church  in  peace. and  with 
honor  to  themselves.  After  the  death  of  John  Crescentius  in  1012, 
the  dominion  of  this  family  passed  over  to  the  counts  of  Tusculum, 
who  retained  it  for  thirty  years;  they,  as  a  rule,  placed  their  rela- 
tives on  the  papal  throne. 

143.  Benedict  VIII.,  A.  D.  1012-1024,  was  the  son  of  the  count 
of  Tusculum,  but  proved  a  most  worthy  Pontiff,  who  spared  neither 
weariness  nor  exertion  to  restore  to  his  high  oflice  the  value  it  had 
lost.  An  antipope,  named  Gregory,  set  up  by  the  opposite  party, 
forced  Benedict  to  leave  Rome.  He  was  restored  to  his  see  by  the  em- 
peror St.  Henry  II.  of  Germany,  who  with  his  wife,  the  sainted  Cun- 
igunda,  received  from  him  the  imperial  crown,  A.  D.  1014.  The  in- 
defatigable Pontiff  labored  strenuously  for  church-reform,  and  held 
several  Councils,  the  decrees  of  which  the  emperor  confirmed  as  laws 
of  the  empire.  The  Pope  and  the  emperor  planned  the  convocation  of 
a  General  Council  for  the  purpose  of  effecting  a  universal  and  thor- 
ough reformation  of  morals  and  discipline,  but  were  prevented  from 
carrying  out  this  grand  project  by  their  premature  death.  With  Henry 
II.  ended  the  Saxon  line  of  emperors.  He  was  canonized  in  1146 ;  his 
empress,  Cunigunda,  in  1200. 

144.  Benedict's  brother,  Romanus,  succeeded  him  in  the  pontifi- 
cate, under  the  name  of  John  XIX.,  A.  D.  1024-1032.  His  reign  of 
eight  years  was  a  laudable  administration.  In  1027,  he  conferred,  in 
the  presence  of  the  kings  of  Burgundy  and  Denmark,  the  imperial 
crown  upon  Conrad  II.  of  Germany,  with  whom  the  Franconian  dynas- 
ty ascended  the  German  throne.  Upon  the  death  of  this  Pope,  his 
brother,  Count  Alberic,  notwithstanding  the  remonstrances  of  the 
cardinals,  secured,  by  liberal  -contributions  among  the  people,  the 
election  of  his  son,  Theophylact,  a  youth  of  eighteen,  as  Benedict  IX., 
A.  D.  1033-1044. 


^ 


PAPACY  FROM  SYLVESTER  II.   TO  LEO  IX.  303 

145.  During  the  eleven  years  of  his  reign,  under  the  protection 
of  the  Emperor,  and  supported  by  the  power  of  his  family,  this  papal 
youth  harrassed  the  people  by  his  capricious  tyranny,  and  disgraced 
the  Apostolic  See  by  the  wanton  conduct  of  his  life.  The  Romans, 
disgusted  with  his  disorders,  expelled  him  ;  but  he  was  restored  by 
Emperor  Conrad.  In  1044,  he  was  driven  away  a  second  time,  when 
an  antipope,  styled  Sylvester  III.,  was  intruded  on  the  throne  for  three 
months.  To  free  the  Holy  See  from  the  degradation  to  which  it  had 
sunk  in  consequence  of  the  bribery  and  tyranny  of  the  nobles,  Gratian, 
a  distinguished  and  respected  Roman  archpriest,  by  offering  a  large 
subsidy  in  money,  induced  Benedict  to  resign  and  withdraw  to  private 
life.  Gratian  was  then  himself  canonically  elected  Pope,  under  the 
name  of  Gregory  VI.,  A.  D.  1044-1046.  But  Benedict  soon  repented 
of  his  resignation,  and  renewed  his  pretensions  to  the  Papacy.  There 
were  now  three  claimants  to  the  Papal  office — Benedict  IX.,  who  had 
formally  abdicated  ;  Sylvester  III.,  the  antipope  ;  and  Gregory  VI., 
the  now  legitimate  Pontiff. 

146.  To  put  an  end  to  the  schism,  Henry  III.,  successor  of  Con- 
rad II.,  was  invited  to  interpose  his  aid.  On  his  arrival  in  Italy,  he 
caused  Gregory  VI.  to  call  a  Council,  that  the  claims  of  the  rival 
Popes  might  be  examined  and  measures  be  adopted  to  restore  peace 
and  order.  The  Council,  which  met  at  Sutri  in  1846,  set  both  Sylvester 
jand  Benedict  entirely  aside,  and  confirmed  the  resignation  of  Gregory 
VI.,  who  disclaiming  most  solemnly  all  selfish  motives  in  assuming 
the  pontificate,  abdicated  of  his  own  free  will.  Accompanied  by  his 
disciple  Hildebrand,  he  went  into  exile  to  Germany,  where  he  died  in 
1048. 

147.  Upon  the  recommendation  of  Henry  III.,  three  German  bishops 
successively  ascended  the  papal  throne.^  Suidger  of  Bamberg,  as 
Clement  II.,  reigned  only  nine  months,  A.  D.  1046-2047.  He  crowned 
Henry  emperor,  and  held  a  Council  at  Rome  for  the  extirpation  of 
simony.  His  successor,  Damasua  II.,  survived  his  enthronization  only 
twenty-three  days;  before  his  elevation  to  the  pontificate  he  was 
bishop  of  Brixen. 

148.  On  the  premature  death  of  Damasus  II.,  the  pious  and 
learned  bishop  Bruno  of  Toul,  after  a  long  resistance,  finally  con- 
sented to  accept  the  papal  dignity,  on  the  condition,  however,  that  he 
should  be  freely  elected  by  the  clergy  of  the  Roman  Church.  He  was 
enthroned  as  Leo  IX.,  A.  D.  1049.     With  his  accession  began  the 

1.  It  must  be  acknowledged,  that  the  worst  scandals  of  those  times  were  given  by- 
Romans,  or  other  Italians  raised  to  that  high  eminence  by  the  prejudices  and  partiality 
of  their  countrymen,  or  still  more  by  the  swords  of  their  kinsfolk,  and  that  the  splendor 
and  glory  of  the  pontificate  were  restored  by  Popes  of  German  origin,  or  who  rose  to 
■office  under  imperial  protection.— Kenrick. 


304  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

dawn  of  better  and  brighter  days  for  the  Papacy.  He  resumed  and 
carried  on  with  untiring  zeal  the  great  work  of  reformation  begun  by 
Clement  II.  His  pontificate  was  one  continued  journey,  undertaken 
for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  everywhere  ecclesiastical  reforms.  In 
Italy,  France,  and  Germany  numerous  Councils  were  held  and  presided 
over  by  the  Pope  in  person.  Severe  laws  were  enacted  for  the  extir- 
pation of  the  then  prevailing  vices  of  simony  and  clerical  incontinence. 
149.  The  pontificate  of  Leo  IX.  was  troubled  by  the  Norman 
invasion.  Under  their  famous  chief,  Robert  Guiscard,  the  Normans 
ravaged  and  devastated  Lower  Italy  and  the  Papal  States.  Leo 
enlisted  an  army  to  expel  these  barbarous  freebooters  from  the  peninsula. 
But  the  expedition  failed,  and  the  Pope  himself  was  taken  prisoner. 
The  conquerors,  beholding  in  their  captive  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  knelt 
before  him  and  asked  his  blessing.  Guiscard  promised  to  support 
the  Pope  against  hi^  enemis,  and  was  invested  by  him  with  the  lands- 
which  he  had  conquered  or  would  conquer  from  the  Saracens.  With 
the  successful  though  short  pontificate  of  Leo  IX.  closes  the  first. 
epoch  of  the  Middle  Ages.     He  died  A.  D.  1054. 


CHAPTER  III. 


CATHOLIC  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE. 


SECTION  XVII. GENERAL  STATE  OF  LEARNING  IN  THIS  EPOCH EN- 
DEAVORS OP  THE  CHURCH  TO  PROMOTE  LETTERS. 

Decline  of  Literature—Its  Causes— Preservation  of  Learning— Causes  that 
prevented  the  total  Extinction  of  Learning— Literary  Popes — Their 
Measures  to  promote  Learning— Cathedral  and  Conventual  Schools- 
Primary  Schools— High  Schools— Monks  and  Monasteries— Charlemagne 
—His  Palatine  School— Famous  Scholars —Famous  Monastic  Schools— 
The  Irish  Church  a  Nursery  of  Learning— Testimony  of  Bede— State  of 
Learning  in  England. 

150.  During  the  disturbances  which  followed  the  fall  of  the 
Roman  Empire  in  the  West,  and  the  establishment  of  barbarian 
nations  on  its  ruins,  learning  rapidly  declined  in  Italy  and  Southern 
Europe  generally.  The  conquests  of  the  northern  nations,  and  the 
ceaseless  incursions  of  the  Saracens  and  Hungarians  again  plunged 
the  greatest  part  of  Europe  into  the  barbarity  and  ignorance  from 
which  it  had  slowly  emerged  during  the  lapse  of  several  centuries. 
In  their  ruthless  career  of  destruction,  nothing  w^as  spared  by  the 


GENERAL  STATE  OF  LEARNING,  iii^^^'^n»B»' 

barbarian  hordes.  Churches  and  monasteries,  those  sanctuaries  of 
piety  and  learning,  were  destroyed  ;  once  flourishing  schools  were 
<;losed  and  abandoned,  and  their  libraries  consigned  to  the  flames — an 
irreparable  loss  in  those  days,  when  we  consider  that  obtaining  and 
multiplying  books  was  attended  with  so  much  labor  and  difficulty. 

151.  It  would,  however,  be  unfair  to  assert  that  literature  in  those 
days  was  utterly  neglected,  and  that  all  desire  for  learning  had  died 
out.  There  were  always  some  learned  men,  who  exercised  a  benefi- 
cial influence  over  their  age  ;  zealous  and  holy  bishops,  who  strove 
ardently  to  promote  learning  and  science  ;  and  wise  rulers,  such  as 
Charlemagne,  and  Otho  the  Great  in  Germany,  and  Alfred  in  England, 
who  counted  it  among  the  first  of  their  duties  to  provide  for  the 
instruction  of  their  people.  That  the  light  of  science  in  these  ages 
was  not  wholly  extinguished,  was  owing  especially  to  the  solicitude 
of  the  Church,  and  the  industry  of  the  monks,  who  continued  to  culti- 
vate knowledge  with  an  ardor  such  as  religion  alone  can  inspire. 

152.  "The  preservation  of  ancient  learning,"  says  Hallam,  "must 
be  ascribed  to  the  establishment  of  Christianity.  Religion  alone 
made  a  bridge,  as  it  were,  across  the  chaos,  and  has  linked  the  two 
periods  of  ancient  and  modern  civilization.  .  .  .  The  sole  hope 
for  literature  depended  on  the  Latin  language,  which  three  circum- 
stances in  the  prevailing  religious  system  conspired  to  maintain  : 
The  Papal  supremacy,  the  monastic  institutions,  and  the  use  of  a 
Latin  liturgy."  A  continual  intercourse  was  kept  up  in  consequence 
of  the  first,  between  Rome  and  the  several  nations  of  Europe,  and 
made  a,  common  language  necessary  in  the  Church.  The  monasteries 
beld  out  the  best  opportunities  for  study  and  were  the  secure  reposi- 
tories for  books.  All  ancient  manuscripts  were  preserved  and  multi- 
plied in  this  manner,  and  could  hardly  have  descended  to  us  through 
any  other  channel.  The  Latin  liturgy,  and  the  reading  and  study  of 
the  Latin  Yulgate,  caused  the  Latin  to  be  looked  upon  as  a  sacred 
language,  and  contributed  not  a  little  towards  the  preservation  of 
learning.  But  the  Church  not  only  saved  science  and  literature 
from  universal  destruction  ;  she  also  caused  the  barbarian  tribes, 
whose  destructive  invasions  had  been  so  detrimental  to  the  cause  of 
letters,  gradually  to  imbibe  and  adopt  the  principles  of  true  civilization. 

153.  Notwithstanding  the  general  decline  of  learning,  the  Popes 
continued  to  be  distinguished  for  their  personal  attainments,  as  well 
as  for  their  zeal  in  diffusing  knowledge  and  science.  Superior  liter- 
ary acquirements  generally  graced  the  successors  of  St.  Peter.  Leo 
II.  was  a  most  eloquent  and  learned  Pontiff ;  Benedict  II.,  John  VI., 
and  John  YII.  were  respected  for  their  knowledge  of  Sacred  Scrip- 


306  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

ture  ;  and  Popes  Gregory  II.,  Gregory  III.,  Zacharias,'  Stephen  III., 
and  Hadrian  I.,  in  the  eighth  century,  were  remarkable  for  their 
extensive  knowledge  and  great  literary  attainments.  In  the  ninth 
century,  we  find  Popes  Leo  III.,  Eugenius  II.,  Gregory  IV.,  Sergius^ 
II.,  Leo  IV.,  Nicholas  I.,  and  Stephen  V.,  who  were  not  only  learned 
themselves,  but  had  courts  remarkable  for  their  literary  character. 
Sylvester  II.  was,  beyond  question,  the  greatest  and  most  accom- 
plished scholar  of  his  age. 

154.  The  praise  of  having  originally  established  schools,  belongs- 
to  the  Church.  They  came  in  place  of  the  imperial  schools  over- 
thrown by  the  barbarians.  Monasteries  and  episcopal  sees  became 
special  nurseries  of  learning.  Wherever  a  cathedral  church  or  a  mon- 
astery was  erected,  there  also  a  school,  with  a  library  attached,  was 
opened  for  the  education  of  the  clergy  and  the  literary  improvement 
of  the  people  in  general.  In  some  places,  at  least,  for  the  instruction 
of  the  young,  primary  schools  were  established.  Popes  Eugenius  IL 
and  Leo  IV.  labored  zealously  to  dissipate  the  ignorance  which  then 
prevailed.  The  former  in  a  Roman  Synod,  A.  D.  826,  enacted  that 
schools  should  be  opened  in  cathedral  and  parish  churches,  and  where- 
soever they  might  be  deemed  necessary.  Flourishing  high  schools 
existed  in  Italy,  at  Rome,  Florence,  Pavia,  Turin,  Ivrea,  Cremona, 
Verona,'  Vicenza,  Fermo,  and  Friuli,  not  to  mention  the  monastic 
schools  of  Monte-Cassino,  Bobbio  and  elsewhere.  Italy  was  still 
considered  the  center  of  literature,  and  students  flocked  thither  from 
all  parts  of  Europe  to  receive  an  education. 

155.  The  monks  especially  distinguished  themselves  by  collecting 
and  compiling  books  and  founding  schools  and  libraries.  In  every 
monastery  a  considerable  portion  of  time  was  daily  allotted  to  the 
copying  of  books,  and  thus  by  their  untiring  industry  the  monks 
preserved  and  transmitted  to  us  the  precious  treasures  of  the  ancient 
classics  and  Christian  literature.  Libraries  and  schools  for  the  educa- 
tion of  youth  were  attached  to  most  of  the  monasteries,  many  of 
which  were  famed  far  and  near  as  seminaries  of  learning  and 
repositories  of  science. 

156.  The  revival  of  literature  in  France,  as  well  as  in  Germany, 
was  principally  due  to  the  efforts  and  generous  encouragement  of 
Charlemagne.  With  a  view  to  his  own  improvement  and  that  of  his 
people,  he  invited  men  of  learning  and  erudition  from  all  parts  to  his 
court,  and  with  their  help  established  in  the  principal  towns  of  his 
empire,  schools  for  the  purpose  of  promoting  the  study  of  every  true 
and  useful  branch  of  knowledge.  Among  these,  the  most  celebrated 
were  Alcuin,  a  learned  Anglo-Saxon,  whom  Charles  called  his  master. 


GENERAL  STATE  OF  LEARNING,  807 

and  whom  he  placed  at  the  head  of  his  Palatine  school ;  Paul  Warne- 
fried,  or  Paul  the  Deacon,  a  Lombard,  his  preceptor  in  Greek,  and 
Eginhard,  his  secretary  and  biographer.  Among  the  other  sages  pat- 
ronized by  Charlemagne,  were  Paulinus,  patriarch  of  Aquileja,  cele- 
brated for  his  virtues  and  learning ;  Theodolphus,  bishop  of  Orleans, 
and  two  metropolitans  of  Milan,  Peter  and  Odelbertus. 

157.  The  cathedral  and  conventual  schools,  erected  or  restored  by 
Charlemagne,  flourished  the  best,  having  had  time  to  produce  fruits, 
under  his  successors.  Many  monasteries  in  France  and  Germany, 
among  others,  Tours,  Corvey,  Rheims,  Aniane,  St.  Gall,  Fulda, 
Reichenau,  and  Hirsau  vied  with  one  another  in  learned  pursuits. 
Especially  famous  as  a  center  of  ecclesiastical  training  and  general 
culture  was  the  abbey  of  Cluny  in  France.  From  the  abbey  of  Cluny, 
which  in  the  eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries  acquired  great  celebrity, 
flowed  forth,  as  from  a  fountain,  a  new  desire  for  learning  and  literary 
pursuits. 

158.  Soon  after  her  conversion  to  the  faith,  Ireland  became  and 
for  three  centuries  continued  to  be  the  great  nursery  of  learning  and 
religion.  While  almost  the  whole  of  Europe  was  desol^tted  by  war, 
peaceful  Ireland,  free  from  the  invasions  of  external  foes,  opened  to 
the  lovers  of  learning  and  piety  a  welcome  asylum.  The  strangers, 
who  visited  the  Holy  Isle  from  Britain  and  from  even  the  most 
remote  parts  of  the  Continent,  received  from  the  Irish  the  most  hos- 
pitable reception,  free  instruction,  and  even  the  books  that  were 
necessary  for  their  studies.  We  are  told  by  the  Venerable  Bede  and 
other  ancient  writers,  that  the  Irish  Church  in  its  golden  age  was 
celebrated  for  the  sanctity  as  well  as  the  general  learning  of  its 
priests  and  monks ;  that  it  had  libraries  and  flourishing  schools 
from  which  learning  was  often  imported  into  other  countries  ;  and, 
they  add,  that  not  only  England,  but  the  whole  of  Europe,  received 
instructions  from  that  island,  to  which  there  was  a  general  resort 
of  scholars  as  to  an  emporium  of  science. 

159.  In  Ireland,  more  than  anywhere  else,  each  monastery  was  a 
school,  in  which  many  missionaries  and  doctors  were  educated  for 
the  service  of  the  Church  and  the  propagation  of  the  faith  and  Chris- 
tian civilization  in  other  countries.  From  the  Irish  monasteries  issued 
numberless  copies  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  and  the  Fathers  —  copies 
which  were  distributed  throughout  Europe  and  which  are  still  to  be 
found  in  the  continental  libraries.  "  To  give  one  instance  of  the 
flourishing  condition  of  her  institutions  of  learning  during  the 
period  in  question,"  writes  Archbishop  Spalding,  "  it  is  well  known 
that  the  monastery  of  Bangor  contained  no  less  than  three  thousand 


308  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

monks,  besides  scholars  almost  innumerable.  Fired  with  enthusiasm, 
Irishmen  visited  almost  every  country  in  Europe,  leaving  behind 
them  splendid  institutions  of  learning  and  religion, — for  these  two 
always  went  hand  in  hand.  Irishmen  established  the  monastery  of 
Lindisfarne  in  England,  of  Bobbio  in  Italy,  of  Verdun  in  France, 
and  of  Wiirtzburg,  Ratisbon,  Erf  urth,  Cologne,  and  Vienna  in  Ger- 
many ;  —  to  say  nothing  of  their  literary  labors  in  Paris,  throughout 
England,  and  elsewhere." 

160.  The  appointment  of  the  learned  Theodore  of  Tarsus  for  the 
see  of  Canterbury  resulted  in  great  literary  advantage  to  England. 
The  archiepiscopal  palace  and  the  monastery  of  the  Abbot  Hadrian 
became  normal  schools  for  the  whole  country.  The  conventual  schools 
of  Canterbury,  Glastonbury,  Lindisfarne,  Jarrow,  Weremouth,  and 
York  were  eminent  seats  of  culture  and  learning.  Even  the  nuns 
pursued  the  path  of  learning  with  ardor,  and  there  are  several  instan- 
ces of  their  knowledge,  liot  only  of  Latin,  but  also  of  Greek  and  the 
works  of  the  Fathers.  The  immortal  Alfred  was  most  active,  both 
in  restoring  and  promoting  the  study  of  science  and  of  every  useful 
art  among  his  subjects.  After  Alfred,  letters  were  much  indebted  to 
the  exciting  zeal  of  the  celebrated  Archbishop  Dunstan.  The  knowl- 
edge which  he  had  acquired  from  the  Irish  ecclesiastics,  he  liberally 
imparted  to  his  pupils,  and  from  his  monastery,  Glastonbury,  diffused 
a  spirit  of  literary  improvement  throughout  the  realm.  His  efforts 
were  nobly  supported  by  his  disciple,  Bishop  Ethelwold  of  Winchester. 
From  the  school  which  Ethelwold  founded  at  Winchester  and 
superintended  in  person,  teachers  were  distributed  for  the  different 
monasteries  in  the  kingdom. 

SECTION     XVIII. CHRISTIAN    SCHOLARS     AND    AVRITERS THEIR   WORKS. 

Rabanus  Maurus— Other  German  Scholars — French  Writers — Gerbert — Irish 
Scholars — St.  Cummian  —  Adatiinan — St.  Virgilius  —  His  ControvenBy 
with  St.  Boniface  —  Dungal  —  Erigena — English  Scholars — Aldhelm — 
Bade — Alcuin. 

161.  The  most  distinguished  German  scholar  flourishing  in  this 
epoch  was  Rabanus  Maurus.  He  was  a  monk  of  the  abbey  of  Fulda, 
and  Alcuin's  most  noted  pupil.  He  was  the  chief  teacher  in  his  mon- 
astery, and  his  school  became  so  celebrated  that  pupils  from  all  quar- 
ters flocked  to  Fulda.  Rabanus  was  afterwards  raised  to  the  see  of 
Mentz,  which  he  adorned  by  his  virtues  as  he  had  adorned  Fulda  by 
his  learning.  He  died  about  A.  D.  856.  The  general  opinion  was 
^*  that  Italy  had  not  seen  his  like,  nor  Germany  produced  his  equal." 


CHRISTIAN  SCHOLARS  AND   WRITERS.  309 

His  principal  work  "  De  Institutione  Clericorum,"  written  originally 
for  the  instruction  of  his  own  scholars  and  their  pupils,  exercised  a 
great  and  beneficial  influence  upon  all  the  cloister-schools  in  the 
Frankish  Empire.  His  work  "  De  Universo"  is  a  sort  of  universal 
encyclopaedia  of  the  arts  and  sciences  then  known. 

162.  Walafried  Strabo,  the  disciple  of  Rabanus  Maurus,  and 
abbot  of  Reichenau,  was  the  author  of  numerous  exgetical  writings 
which  were  held  in  high  esteem  during  the  Middle  Ages.  His  death 
occurred  A.  D.  849.  His  contemporary,  Bishop  Haymo  of  Halber- 
stadt,  left,  besides  a  Church  History,  also  some  w^orks  on  exegesis. 
Bruno,  brother  of  Otho  the  Great,  and  archbishop  of  Cologne,  contrib- 
uted much  to  the  cause  of  science.  As  chancellor  of  the  Empire  he 
re-opened  the  Palatine  school,  invited  learned  Irish  priests  to  the  im- 
perial court,  and  by  every  means  endeavored  to  raise  the  standard  of 
the  cloister-schools.  We  must  not  omit  to  mention  here  the  name  of 
the  celebrated  Roswitha,  a  Saxon  nun.  She  flourished  in  the  reigns  of 
the  Othos,  and  was  the  most  accomplished  woman  of  her  age.  She 
spoke  Latin,  and  even  Greek,  fluently,  sung  the  deeds  of  Emperors 
Henry  I.  and  Otho  the  Great  in  elegant  Latin  verses,  wrote  many  lives 
of  the  Saints,  and  also  composed  religious  dramas,  in  which  she  cele- 
brates the  triumph  of  the  chastity  of  Christian  virgins. 

163.  Of  the  French  writers  of  this  epoch,  we  must  mention  Druth- 
mar,  the  Grammarian,  a  monk  of  Corvey,  who  had  gained  some  reputa- 
tion as  a  Greek  and  Hebrew  scholar;  Angelolmus,  a  Benedictine  of  Lux- 
euil,  who  wrote  commentaries  on  the  Scriptures  of  considerable 
merit ;  Hincmar,  archbishop  of  Rheims,  the  greatest  canonist  of  his 
time,  whose  many  controversial  writings  are  valuable  contributions  to 
the  history  of  his  age  ;  and  Flodoard,  the  author  of  a  history  of  the 
Church  of  Rheims.  Paschasius  Radbertus,  abbot  of  Corvey,  has  left, 
besides  biblical  commentaries,  a  comprehensive  treatise  "  On  the 
Body  and  Blood  of  the  Lord,"  in  which  he  sets  forth,  with  great  pre- 
cision, but  in  terms  then  not  in  vogue  among  theologians,  the  be- 
lief of  the  universal  Church  regarding  the  Blessed  Sacrament.  Anas- 
tasius,  Roman  Librarian  (died  A.  D.  886),  compiled  the  lives  of  a 
number  of  Popes  from  three  Byzantine  authors,  to  which  he  added 
others  of  his  own  composition. 

164.  But  the  most  accomplished  scholar  of  this  epoch  was  the  cele- 
brated Gerbert,  who  became  Pope,  taking  the  name  of  Sylvester  II. 
He  was  born  in  Auvergne  of  obscure  parentage,  about  A.  D.  920. 
When  a  young  student  he  was  taken  to  Spain,  where  he  visited  Cor- 
dova and  Seville,  and  profited  by  the  mathematical  science  taught  in 
the  Mohammedan  schools.     He  became  precejJtor  to  Otho  III.,  and 


310        .  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

subsequently  to  Robert,  son  and  successor  of  King  Hugh  Capet  of 
France.  His  learning,  which  comprised  poetry,  mathematics,  astronomy, 
and  the  natural  sciences,  as  well  as  the  whole  of  theology,  is  described 
to  have  been  prodigious.  The  fame  of  his  learning  raised  the  school  of 
Rheims  to  a  high  reputation.  By  his  writings,  as  well  as  by  his  ex- 
ample and  exhortations,  he  gave  a  fresh  impetus  to  study,  and  drew 
to  his  side  a  numerous  crowd  of  enthusiastic  disciples.  The  most 
illustrious  of  these  was  Fulbert,  bishop  of  Chartres,  who  became  the 
master  of  many  accomplished  scholars.  Gerbert  is  said  to  have  intro- 
duced the  use  of  Arabic  figures  in  arithmetic,  which  he  jDrobably  ac- 
quired in  the  school  of  Cordova. 

165.  Venerable  Bede  informs  us  that  before  and  about  his  time 
the  Irish  Church  possessed  many  eminent  scholars.  Among  the  ear- 
liest Irish  scholars  are  named  Cummian  and  Adamnan.  St.  Cum- 
mian,  an  Irish  monk,  flourishing  in  the  first  half  of  the  seventh 
century,  was  instrumental  in  procuring  the  adoption  of  the  Roman 
rule  regarding  the  celebration  of  Easter  by  the  Irish.  His  well 
known  paschal  treatise,  A.  D.  634,  addressed  in  the  form  of  an  epistle 
to  Segienus,  abbot  of  Hy,  gives  us  a  lofty  idea  of  the  erudition  of  the 
author,  as  well  as  of  the  solid  learning  which  Ireland  could  then  give 
her  priests.  He  also  left  a  collection  of  penitential  canons,  entitled 
"Liber  de  Penitentiarum  mensura."  Cummian  died,  according  to 
the  Four  Masters,  in  the  year  661. 

166.  Adamnan,  a  near  contemporary  of  St.  Cummian,  flourished 
in  the  latter  half  of  the  seventh  century.  He  was  the  ablest  and 
most  accomplished  of  St.  Columbkill's  successors  at  Hy.  Of  Adam- 
nan's  learning  we  have  the  highest  testimony  in  the  statements  of 
Bede  and  Alcuin,  the  former  calling  him  a  "  holy  and  wise  man,  well 
versed  in  the  science  of  the  Holy  Scripture,"  while  Alcuin  classes  him 
among  "  the  celebrated  Fathers  of  the  Irish."  His  undoubted  writ- 
ings are  the  work  "  De  Locis  Sanctis,"  of  which  Bede  has  transferred 
large  portions  into  his  Ecclesiastical  History,  and  the  "  Life  of  St. 
Columbkill,"  which  has  been  pronounced  the  most  complete  biography 
of  the  Middle  Ages. 

167.  In  the  eighth  century,  another  Irish  monk,  Virgilius,  shed  a 
lustre  on  his  native  country  by  his  learning  as  well  as  by  his  virtues. 
He  was  a  celebrated  missionary  in  Germany  with  St.  Boniface,  and 
subsequently  was  appointed  bishop  of  Salzburg  by  Pope  Stephen  II. 
He  is  designated  by  his  German  biographers  as  "  the  most  learned 
among  the  learned."  It  was  while  sharing  the  missionary  toils  of  St. 
Boniface,  that  Virgilius  became  involved  with  him  in  controversy. 
The  disputed  questions  turned  on  the  validity  of  the  baptismal  form, 


CHRISTIAN  SCHOLARS  AND  WRITERS,  ,  311 

when  mispronounced  through  ignorance,^  and  the  existence  of  antipo- 
des. Virgilius  in  both  instances  held  the  affirmative.  Pope  Zacharias, 
to  whom  the  questions  were  referred,  virtually  gave  his  approbation  to 
the  opinions  of  Virgilius  ;  he  declared  that  the  want  of  grammatical 
knowledge  in  the  minister  could  not  invalidate  the  efficacy  of  the 
sacrament,  and  censured  the  opinion  of  Virgilius  regarding  the  exist- 
ence of  antipodes  only,  because  it  had  been  represented  ignorantly  to 
him  as  a  belief  in  another  race  of  men,  who  descended  not  from  Adam 
and  were  not  redeemed  by  Christ,  which  would  be  heresy. 

168.  Dungal,  in  the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century,  one  of  the 
most  learned  men  of  his  time,  was  an  excellent  theologian,  poet  and 
scholar.  When  Claudius,  bishop  of  Turin,  openly  attacked  the  use  of 
holy  images,  Dungal  came  forward  as  a  learned  apologist  in  their  be- 
half in  a  work  entitled,  "  Responsa  contra  Perversas  Claudii  Senten- 
tias,"  A.  D.  827.  His  reply  to  Charlemagne  on  the  two  solar  eclipses 
which  happened  in  the  year  810,  proves  the  writer  to  have  been  well 
acquainted  with  all  that  the  ancients  had  taught  upon  the  subject.  He 
was  appointed  chief  teacher  in  the  great  school  at  Pavia  by  Lothaire 
n.  Another  eminent  Irish  scholar  of  this  period  is  Sedulius,  abbot 
of  Kildare,  who  won  fame  by  his  commentaries  on  the  Gospels  and 
on  the  Pauline  Epistles. 

169.  But  the  greatest  scholar  of  this  epoch,  after  Gerbert,  or  Pope 
Sylvester  II.,  is  the  learned  and  subtle  John  Scotus,  whose  distinctive 
surname  of  Erigena  seems  to  point  clearly  to  Ireland  as  his  native 
country.  The  fame  of  his  talents  and  learning  caused  Emperor 
Charles  the  Bald  to  invite  him  to  his  court  and  place  him  at  the  head 
of  the  Palatine  school.  He  is  said  to  have  been  master  of  the  Greek, 
Hebrew,  and  Arabic  languages.  He  was  perfectly  familiar  with  the 
writings  and  systems  of  the  Greek  philosophers,  and  with  the  works 
of  the  Fathers  of  the  Church,  both  Greek  and  Latin.  At  the  solicita- 
tion of  his  royal  master,  he  translated  the  mystical  works  of  Dionysius 
the  Areopagite,  which  were  then  deemed  genuine.  He  became  in- 
volved in  the  predestinarian  controversy  against  Gottschalk.  His 
treatise  on  the  Eucharist,  now  lost,  excited  much  controversy 
in  a  later  age  ;  and  his  principal  work  "  De  Divisione  Naturae"  was 
condemned  by  Pope  Leo  IX  in  1050.  The  wild  theories,  advanced  by 
Erigena  in  this  and  other  w^orks,  justly  exposed  their  author  to  the 


1.  In  administering'  the  sacrament  of  Baptism,  some  ignorant  priest  was  wont  to  say, 
"  Baptizo  te  in  nomine  Patria  et  Filia  et  Spiritua  Sancta,"  instead  of  "  Patris,  et  Filii,  et 
Spiritus  Sancti."  St.  Boniface  judged  that  the  sacrament  thus  administered  was  invalid; 
St.  Virgilius,  however,  distinguishing  with  more  precision  between  the  accidental  and 
essential  parts  of  the  sacrament,  pronounced  it  his  opinion  that  the  baptism,  in  the  case 
at  issue,  was  valid. 


312  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

censures  of  .the  Church.     At  what  period  Erigena  died  is  not  clearly 
ascertained. 

170.  Among  the  most  learned  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  flourishing  in 
this  period,  are  St.  Aldhelm,  VeneraJble  Bede,  and  Alcuin.  St.  Aid- 
helm,  whom  Alfred  the  Great  calls  "  the  prince  of  English  poets," 
lived  towards  the  close  of  the  seventh  century.  He  was  a  pupil  of 
Mailduf ,  founder  of  the  abbey  of  Malmesbury,  and  Hadrian,  the  abbot. 
The  school  which  he  founded  in  the  abbey  of  Glastonbury,  became  for 
a  time  the  most  celebrated  in  the  island.  He  was  the  first  English- 
man who  composed  a  work  in  Latin.  He  is*  chiefly  known  by  his  two 
w^orks  "De  Virginitate,"  and  "De  Laude  Virginum,"  the  latter  in 
verse. 

171.  Bede,  who  from  his  superior  learning  and  admirable  virtues 
received  the  appellation  of  "Venerable,"  was  born  about  A.  D.  673. 
He  was  educated  by  the  monks  of  Jarrow  and  Weremouth,  his  first 
instructor  being  Benedict  Biscop  himself.  The  proficiency  of  Bede 
in  all  branches  of  learning  was  considerable,  and  the  diversity  as 
well  as  the  extent  of  his  reading  remarkable.  His  ardent  and  com- 
prehensive mind  embraced  every  science  which  was  then  studied.  In 
his  own  catalogue  of  books,  which  he  composed,  we  find  commentaries 
on  most  of  the  books  of  the  Scripture,  treatises  on  physics,  geography, 
astronomy  and  all  the  sciences  of  the  period,  lives  of  Saints,  and  ser- 
mons. But  his  Ecclesiastical  History  of  the  Anglo-Saxons,  in  five 
books,  from  the  landing  of  Julius  Caesar  to  the  year  731,  is  the  most 
celebrated  of  his  works.     Venerable  Bede  died  A.  D.  735. 

172.  Alcuin  was  born  at  York  about  the  time  of  Venerable  Bede's 
death.  He  was  a  pupil  of  Egbert,  archbishop  of  York,  himself  a  dis- 
ciple and  friend  of  Bede,  and  the  patron  of  the  learned.  He  succeeded 
that  prelate  as  master  of  the  then  flourishing  school  of  York,  until,  at 
the  invitation  of  Charlemagne,  he  joined  the  imperial  court  in  782, 
taking  charge  of  the  Palatine  school.  The  Emperor  himself  did  not 
disdain  to  become  his  pupil.  The  talents  of  Alcuin  were  great,  and 
his  acquirements  considerable  when  compared  with  the  literary  attain- 
ments of  his  age.  His  many  works  comprise  chiefly  treatises  on 
religion  and  other  associated  points.  For  the  use  of  his  pupils  he 
wrote,  in  the  form  of  dialogues,  treatises  on  most  of  the  sciences.  To 
him  the  Caroline  books,  and  the  canons  of  the  Council  of  Frankfort, 
have  been  generally  ascribed  ;  and  his  writings  against  Felix  and 
Elipandus  exposed  the  errors  of  those  innovators.  Alcuin  died 
A.  D.  804. 


IGONOCLASM.  818 

CHAPTER   IV. 


HERESIES  AND  SCHISMS. 


SECTION    XIX. ICONOCLASM SEVENTH    ECUMENICAL  COUNCIL,  A.  D.   787. 

Veneration  of  Sacred  Images— Iconoclasm— Leo  the  Isaurian — Edicts  against 
Images  —  Gregory  II.  —  Gregory  III.  —  Patriarch  Germanus  — 
His  Degradation  — Patriarch  Anastasius.  — Constantine  Copronymus 
Emperor  —  Persecution  —  False  Synod  of  Constantinople  —  Leo  IV.  Em- 
peror— Irene  Empress— Restoration  of  Images— Seventh  General  Council 
— Decision  of  the  Council — Renewal  of  Iconoclasm— Leo  the  Armenian 
against  Images— Theophilus  a  Cruel  Persecutor— Theodora  Empress — 
Close  of  Iconclasm — Result  of  the  Controversy— Council  of  Frankfort — 
Caroline  Books. 

173.  The  use  of  images  in  the  Church  dates  from  very  remote 
antiquity.  This  is  sufficiently  proved  from  the  monuments  of  the 
Apostolic  age,  and  from  the  numerous  symbols  and  images  of  Christ, 
the  Virgin,  the  Apostles,  and  biblical  personages  which  adorn  the 
Roman  Catacombs ;  many  of  these  symbols  belong  to  the  first  and 
second  centuries.  The  Greeks,  who  even  in  our  days  show  a  greater 
zeal  and  display  in  the  veneration  of  holy  images  than  the  Latins,  by 
their  exaggerated  devotion  paid  to  sacred  symbols,  at  this  period,  gave 
occasion  for  the  rise  of  a  violent  reaction,  the  iconoclastic  persecu- 
tion, the  origin  of  which  is  usually  ascribed  to  Emperor  Leo,  surnamed 
the  Isaurian,  A.  D.  716-741.  Ignorant  of  sacred  and  profane  letters, 
and  a  fell  barbarian,  risen  from  the  ranks  of  a  common  soldier  to  the 
imperial  purple,  Leo  took  upon  himself  to  bring  against  the  whole 
Church  an  accusation  of  the  grossest  idolatry,  because  she  approved 
the  use  and  veneration  of  the  pictures  of  Christ  and  the  Saints.  Po- 
litical motives  seem  to  have  moved  Leo  to  declare  war  against  images. 
His  intercourse  with  Jews  and  Saracens  had  inspired  him  with  a 
hatred  of  holy  images,  which,  in  his  opinion,  were  the  chief  obstacle 
to  their  conversion  to  Christianity.  To  this  may  be  added  the  example 
of  the  Caliph  Zezid  II.,  who,  in  722,  commenced  a  destructive  war 
against  sacred  pictures  in  Syria.  This  was  urged  upon  the  Isaurian 
for  imitation  by  his  chief  counselors,  the  renegade  Beser,  and  the 
bishops  Constantine  of  Xacolia  in  Phrygia,  Thomas  of  Claudiopolis, 
and  Theodosius  of  Ephesus. 

174.  Leo,  in  726,  published  an  edict,  enacting  the  immediate^ 
removal  of  all  pictures  of  Saints,  and  of  all  statues  and  crucifixes  from 
churches  and  public  places.  In  vain  did  the  whole  Christian  world 
rise  up  against  the  imperial   mandate.     St.   Germanus,  patriarch  of 


314  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Constantinople,  protested  against  it  ;  and  St.  John  Damascene,  the 
greatest  theologian  of  his  time,  opposed  it  with  voice  and  pen.  The 
promulgation  of  the  imperial  edict  was  the  occasion  of  violent  tumults 
and  popular  outbreaks  throughout  the-  empire.  In  the  East  there  was 
a  rebellion  in  the  Cyclades,  and  a  revolt  in  the  capital ;  the  latter  was 
•quelled  only  after  much  bloodshed.  The  iconoclastic  policy  of  Leo 
met  with  still  greater  resistance  in  Italy.  The  Romans  refused  to 
<^omply  with  the  imperial  edict,  and  Gregory  II.,  with  apostolic  vigor, 
remonstrated  against  its  enforcement.  In  the  epistles  which  he  wrote 
to  the  emperor,  A.  D.  727,  the  Pope  warned  him  to  desist  from  his 
rash  and  fatal  enterprise,  and  solemnly  protested  against  the  imperial 
interference  in  purely  ecclesiastical  matters,  as  well  as  against  the 
•charge  that  the  Church  had  for  centuries  sanctioned  and  practiced 
idolatry.  Gregory  III.  also,  by  letters  and  embassies,  sought  to  dis- 
suade Leo  from  his  senseless  war  against  holy  images.  A  Synod  held 
at  Rome  in  731  by  Gregory,  pronounced  excommunication  against 
all  who  denied  that  veneration  was  due  to  holy  images. 

175.  Everything,  however,  was  in  vain.  Leo,  who  claimed  to  be 
^'  bishop  as  well  as  emperor,"  in  730  issued  a  second  edict  ordering 
the  destruction  of  all  religious  pictures  throughout  the  empire.  St. 
Germanus  was  made  to  resign,  and  retired  to  a  convent ;  he  died,  A. 
D.  740.  Anastasius,  a  temporizing  priest,  was  thrust  into  the  patri- 
archal See.  To  the  great  scandal  of  the  people,  the  crucifixes  and 
statues  were  demolished  or  burned,  and  the  paintings  on  the  walls  ef- 
faced. Fearful  riots  and  massacres  occurred  in  consequence,  and 
many  iconolators,  especially  monks,  paid  with  their  lives  their  zeal 
rand  veneration  for  holy  images. 

176.  The  war  against  images  was  pursued  with  equal  zeal  by 
Leo's  son,  Constantine  V.  Copronymus,  A.  D.  741-775.  He  even  sur- 
passed his  father  in  acts  of  violence.  In  754,  he  assembled  a  Council 
of  338  bishops  at  Constantinople,  at  which  neither  papal  envoy  nor 
a  single  patriarch  assisted.  The  See  of  Constantinople  having  be- 
come vacant  by  the  death  of  the  intruder  Anastasius  in  753,  Theo- 
dosius  of  Ephesus  presided.  In  compliance  with  the  imperial  man- 
date, the  assembled  bishops,  though  admitting  the  lawfulness  of  the 
veneration  of  the  Saints,  declared  holy  images  to  be  an  invention  of 
the  devil  and  all  honor  paid  to  them  to  be  idolatrous.  Excommuni- 
cation and  severe  punishments  were  decreed  against  all  makers  and 
worshippers  of  images.  This  enactment  was  not  suffered  to  be  a 
4ead  letter.  The  decision  of  the  pseudo-synod  was  carried  out  by 
Constantine  with  the  utmost  severity.  He  began  and  maintained  till 
the  end  of  his  reign  a  most  vigorous  persecution  against  the  advocates 


IGONOGLASM.  315 

of  holy  images.  He  even  compelled  his  subjects  to  take  an  oath 
never  again  to  venerate  images.  The  tyrant  turned  the  whole  tide  of 
his  wrath  against  the  monks,  who  were  boldest  in  defending  the  ven- 
eration of  holy  images.  Among  the  martyrs  that  suffered  in  this 
reign,  the  most  celebrated  were  the  Abbots  John  and  Stephen,  and 
Peter  surnamed  the  Calybite. 

1*7 7.  Leo  lY.,  A.  D.  7 75-680,  though  adhering  to  the  same  poli- 
cy, was  less  severe  in  enforcing  the  cruel  laws  of  his  father  against 
image  veneration,  and  the  persecution  ceased  under  his  short  reign. 
After  his  death,  the  Empress  regent  Irene  undertook  the  restoration 
of  images.  In  784,  the  patriarch  Paul  abdicated  and  retired  into  a 
cloister ;  his  dying  words  bemoaned  his  past  opposition  to  sacred 
images.  Tarasius,  a  man  of  many  virtues  and  great  learning,  was 
promoted  to  the  patriarchal  dignity,  which,  after  some  reluctance,  he 
consented  to  accept  on  a  promise  that  the  orthodox  belief  and  the 
unity  of  the  Church  should  be  restored,  and  a  General  Council  be  call- 
ed for  that  purpose. 

1*78.  With  the  concurrence  of  Pope  Hadrian  I.,  the  Seventh  Gen- 
eral Cmmdl,  at  which  the  papal  legates  presided,  convened,  first  at 
Constantinople,  but,  on  account  of  the  violent  opposition  it  met  with, 
adjourned  to  Nice,  A.  D.  787.  Three  hundred  and  fifty  bishops  were 
present.  The  acts  of  the  pseudo-synod  of  754  were  rescinded.  Dis- 
tinguishing between  the  homage  of  veneration  given  to  the  Saints  and 
their  images,  and  the  homage  of  adoration  (latria,  direct  divine  wor- 
ship) due  to  God  alone,  the  Council  declared  the  veneration  of  holy 
images  to  be  in  conformity  with  the  Scriptures  and  with  the  teach- 
ings of  the  Fathers  and  the  Councils.  The  decision  of  the  assembled 
Fathers  was:  "That  besides  representations  of  the  Holy  Cross,  sacred 
images  of  our  Lord,  of  the  Immaculate  Mother  of  God,  of  the  holy 
Angels  and  the  Saints  are  fitly  to  be  placed  in  churches  and  other 
places;  that  it  is  lawful  to  offer  them  salutations  and  homage,  though 
not  that  supreme  worship  called  Latria,  which  belongs  to  God  alone; 
for  the  honor  paid  to  an  image  passes  on  to  the  original,  and  whoso 
venerates  the  image,  venerates  him  whom  it  represents." 

179.  From  this  time  the  iconoclast  controversy  dropped  until  the 
ninth  centurj",  when  the  strife  and  the  persecution  of  the  faithful  was 
renewed  with  increased  violence  under  the  reigns  of  Leo  Y.  the 
Armenian,  A.  D.  813-820;  Michael  11.  Balbus,  A.  D.  820-829,  and 
Theophilus,  A.  D.  829-842,  who  was  the  most  cruel  of  the  iconoclastic 
emperors.  The  Empress  Theodora,  at  length,  put  an  end  to  this  dis- 
turbance by  re-establishing  the  use  of  holy  images.  The  Synod  which 
she  summoned  at  Constantinople  in  842,  adhered  to  the  decisions  of 


316  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

the  last  General  Council  of  Nice ;  the  feast  of  Orthodoxy  was  insti- 
tuted to  commemorate  the  final  overthrow  of  Iconoclasm.  The  only 
success  of  the  iconoclastic  controversy,  which  had  disturbed  the 
Church  more  than  120  years,  consisted  in  preparing  the  way  for  two 
results  of  vast  importance  to  Christiandom:  the  establishment  of  the 
temporal  power  of  the  Popes,  and  the  restoration  of  the  Western 
Empire. 

1 80.  Pope  Hadrian  I.  had  a  Latin  translation  of  the  Seventh  Council 
made,  which  he  sent  th  Charlemagne.  An  unfortunate  mistake  of  the 
translator  was  the  cause  of  a  grave  misunderstanding  on  the  part  of 
the  Prankish  bishops  regarding  the  real  doctrine  of  that  Council.  In 
their  reply  to  the  Pope  they  severely  censured  and  protested  against 
the  supposed  errors  of  the  Xicene  Synod.  Misled  by  this  same  faulty 
translation,  the  Great  Western  Council  of  Frankfort,  A.  D.  794,  in 
its  second  canon,  repudiated  the  doctrine  wrongly  imputed  to  the 
Fathers  of  Nice,  and  charged  Pope  Hadrian  with  having  favored  the 
superstition  of  the  Greeks. 

181.  A  fuller  refutation  of  the  Seventh  Council  is  given  in  the 
Caroline  Books,  so  called  because  they  were  composed,  as  is  reported, 
by  order  of  Charlemagne.  From  this  work,  however,  it  is  clear 
beyond  doubt  that  the  Council  at  Frankfort  never  condemned  the  true 
doctrine  defined  at  Nice.  What  it  did  condemn,  was  the  opinion 
falsely  attributed  to  Bishop  Constantine  of  Constantia  in  Cyprus,  for 
which  it  held  the  Fathers  of  Nice  responsible,  viz.:that  Latria — the 
homage  of  adoration — the  same  as  that  due  to  the  Trinity,  was  to  be 
given  to  images.  Pope  Hadrian,  to  set  right  the  erroneous  apprehen- 
sion of  the  Prankish  bishops,  forwarded  to  Charlemagne  a  dignified 
reply  defending  the  Council  of  Nice,  and  explaining  the  true  doctrine 
on  the  veneration  of  images.  Seeing  that  there  was  no  real  difference 
of  faith  between  the  Nicene  and  Gallic  prelates,  the  Pope,  although 
he  approved  its  teaching,  yet  for  the  present  prudently  abstained 
from  giving  the  Seventh  Council  that  solemn  confirmation  which  nec- 
essarily involved  the  enforcement  of  the  decrees  as  a  condition  of 
communion. 

SECTION    XX. ADOPTIONIST    HERESY PREDESTINARIANISM. 

Adalbert  and  Clement — Their'Errors— Bishops  Elipandus  and  Felix — Heresy 
of    Migetius — Adoptionist  Heresy— Its    Condemnation  —  Refutation    of 
» Adoptionism— Gottschalk— His  Errors — Controversy  on  Predestination 
— Rabanus  Maurus— Erigena — Council  of  Tousy. 

182.  In  the  time  of  St.  Boniface,  two  impostors  disturbed  the  in- 
fant Church  of  Germany.     The  one,  Adalbert,  a  Gaulish  fanatic,  who 


I 


ADOPTIONIST  HERESY.  317 

pretended  to  know  the  secrets  of  hearts  and  to  have  received  relics 
from  an  angel  and  a  letter  from  Christ,  imposed  upon  the  new  con- 
verts by  distributing  his  own  hair  and  the  parings  of  his  nails  as  relics, 
and  causing  houses  of  prayer  to  be  dedicated  to  his  honor.  The 
other,  Clement,  an  Irishman  or  Scotchman,  rejected  the  canons  and 
laws  of  the  Church,  celibacy,  and  the  scriptural  interpretations  of  the 
Fathers;  he  held  erroneous  opinions  concerning  predestination,  and  as- 
serted the  redemption  and  deliverance  of  all  the  damned  by  Christ  in 
his  descent  into  hell.  The  two  imposters  were  condemned  in  the 
Synod  of  Soissons  in  744,  and  the  sentence  was  confirmed  by  Pope 
Zacharias  in  a  Synod  at  Rome  in  745. 

183.  The  first  important  theological  controversy  in  the  West 
concerning  the  person  of  Christ,  was  called  forth  by  the  heresy  of  the 
Adoptionists.  The  first  advocates,  if  not  the  authors,  of  this  heresy, 
were  Elipandus,  archbishop  of  Toledo,  and  Felix,  bishop  of  Urgel  in 
Catalonia.  A  certain  Migetius,  explaining  the  mystery  of  the  Trinity 
in  a  Sabellian  sense,  maintained  a  triple  Incarnation,  or,  manifestation 
of  God,  as  he  called  it,  viz.:  of  the  Father  in  the  person  of  David; 
of  the  Son  in  the  person  of  Christ;  and  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  the 
person  of  St.  Paul.  Elipandus,  in  refuting  Migetius,  whom  he  con- 
demned in  the  Synod  of  Sevilla  in  782,  declared  that  Christ  as  Logos, 
or  according  to  his  divine  nature,  was  truly  and  properly  the  Son  o 
God;  but  as  man,  or  according  to  his  human  nature,  he  was  only  the 
adopted  son  of  God.  This  theory  was  but  the  renewal  of  the  Pho- 
tinian  heresy  of  "  two  sons  of  God,"  and  of  the  Nestorian  error  of 
"  two  persons  in  Christ."  Felix  of  Urgel  warmly  approved  the  heret- 
ical views  of  Elipandus,  and  defended  them  with  his  wonted  skill  and 
learning. 

184.  The  adoptionist  heresy  was  condemned  by  the  Synod  of 
Ratisbon  in  792.  Felix  recanted,  and  confirmed  his  recantation  be- 
fore Pope  Hadrian  I.  in  Rome,  while  Elipandus  remained  obstinate. 
But  after  his  return  to  Urgel,  Felix  re-affirmed  his  adoptionist  views. 
This  caused  Charlemagne  to  summon  another  Council  at  Frankfort  in 
794,  by  which  Adoptionism  was  again  condemned.  Pope  Hadrian,  in 
a  Roman  Council,  confirmed  the  decree  of  Frankfort.  At  the  request 
of  Charlemagne,  the  learned  Alcuin  wrote  a  formal  refutation  of 
Adoptionism.  Paulinus  of  Aquileja,  Archbishop  Richbod  of  Treves, 
and  Bishop  Theodulph  of  Orleans,  joined  in  the  controversy  and 
wrote  against  Felix.  Finally,  at  the  Synod  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  in  798, 
Felix,  after  a  six  days'  discussion  of  the  subject  with  Alcuin,  again 
solemnly  recanted  his  error.  He  was  now  committed  to  the  charge 
of  Archbishop  Leidrad  of  Lyons,  where  he  died  in  816.     Elipandus, 


818  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

it  seems,  persisted  in  his  error  till  his  death  in  800.  The  sect  soon  be- 
came extinct. 

185.  Three  centuries  had  elapsed  since  the  Gallic  priest  Lucidus 
first  started  the  controversy  on  predestination.  His  errors  were  now 
revived  by  Gottschalk,  a  wandering  monk  of  the  monastery  of  Orbais, 
in  France,  and  a  disciple  of  the  learned  Rabanus  Maurus.  Gottschalk 
blasphemously  asserted  that  God  predestinates  to  good  as  well  as  to 
evil,  and  foreordains  some — the  elect — to  eternal  life,  and  others — the 
reprobate — to  eternal  death.  As  the  elect  cannot  help  being  saved, 
neither  can  the  reprobate  help  being  damned.  For  these  latter,  he 
maintained,  the  sacraments  are  but  empty  forms  and  ceremonies. 
Christ,  he  said,  died  only  for  the  elect,  who  alone  are  the  objects  of  his 
merciful  redemption.  This  heresy  was  condemned  in  the  Councils  of 
Mentz,  in  848,  and  of  Quiercy,  in  849,  presided  over  respectively  by 
Rabanus  Maurus  and  Hincmar  of  Rheims;  Gottschalk  was  himself  com- 
mitted to  the  charge  of  the  latter  who  sentenced  him  to  corporal 
punishment  and  to  confinement  in  a  monastery. 

186.  The  intricate  questions  which  predestinarianism  raised  on 
free  will,  divine  fore-knowledge,  the  necessity  of  divine  grace,  and  on 
the  death  of  Christ  for  all  men,  became  the  subjects  of  a  serious  con- 
troversy, which  for  some  time,  agitated  theological  minds.  Remigius, 
archbishop  of  Lyons,  Prudentius,  bishop  of  Troyes,  Lupus,  abbot  of 
Feri^res,  and  the  monk  Ratramnus  defended  Gottschalk,  believing 
him  to  be  innocent  of  the  errors  imputed  to  him,  and  accused  his  ad- 
versaries of  Semi-Pelagianism.  Both  sides  agreed  in  doctrine,  and 
differed  only  as  to  the  use  and  meaning  of  terms,  which  were  after- 
wards more  clearly  defined.  At  the  request  of  Hincmar,  John  Scotus 
Erigena  also  took  part  in  the  controversy,  and  in  851  published  a  trea- 
tise "  On  Predestination,"  which  was  hotly  assailed  for  the  many  er- 
rors which  it  contained.  The  controversy  was  finally  brought  to  a 
close  at  the  National  Council  of  Tousy,  in  860;  the  bishops  of  both 
sides  published  a  Synodical  Epistle,  explaining  the  Catholic  doctrine 
against  the  Predestinarians  as  well  as  against  the  Semi-Pelagians. 

SECTION  XXI. THE  GREEK  SCHISM. 

Causes  of  Separation— Origin  of  the  Schism— Bardas— Deposition  of  Igna- 
tius—Elevation of  Photius— Pope  Nicholas!.— Council  at  Constantinople 
—Condemnation  of  Photius — Accusations  against  the  Latins. 

187.  Before  relating  the  history  of  this  great  schism,  it  may  be 
well  to  note  briefly  the  chief  causes  and  events  which  gradually  sun- 
dered, and  at  last  completely  separated  the  Greek  Church,  and,  with 


GREEK  SCHISM.  319 

it  the  greater  part  of  the  Eastern  nations,  from  the  Western  or  Latin 
Ohurch,  with  which  they  had  been  in  full  communion  for  the  first 
eight  centuries.  1.  A  constant  source  of  dissension  between  the  East 
and  the  West,  was,  besides  the  difference  of  rite,  discipline,  and  lan- 
guage, the  antagonism  which  existed  between  Rome  and  Constantino- 
ple, and  the  national  aversion  which  the  Greeks  always  entertained 
toward  the  Latins.  Proud  of  their  pretended  superiority  in  profane 
.and  religious  science,  the  Greeks  looked  upon  the  Latins  as  barbari- 
ans, who,  in  their  opinion,  were  incapable  of  understanding  and  arguing 
on  the  mysteries  of  religion.  The  Latins,  in  their  turn,  rightly  regarded 
the  restless  and  subtle  Orientals  as  the  authors  of  every  heresy  that 
threatened  the  doctrine  and  disturbed  the  peace  of  the  Church.  Out 
of  the  fifty-eight  bishops,  who  held  the  see  of  Constantinople,  from 
Metrophanes,  A.  D.  315,  to  Ignatius,  no  less  than  twenty-one  were 
heretics,  or  suspected  of  heresy.  2.  The  iconoclastic  controversy,  and 
^«specially  the  establishment  of  the  temporal  power  of  the  Popes, 
contributed  much  to  irritate  and  increase  the  animosity  of  the  Greeks 
toward  the  Romans,  and  the  Holy  See  in  particular.  3.  The  cause  of 
the  greatest  offence  to  the  Greeks  and  the  Byzantine  emperors  was 
the  preference  which  the  Romans  had  given  to  the  alliance  of  the 
Franks,  and  the  re-establishment  of  the  Western  Empire  by  the  Popes. 

188.  4.  But  the  real  and  immediate  cause  of  the  schism  is  to  be 
traced  to  the  ambition  of  the  patriarchs  of  Constantinople.  The 
splendor  of  the  imperial  capital  led  them  to  desire  a  style  and  title 
suitable,  as  they  thought,  to  the  dignity  of  the  bishop  of  New  Rome. 
They  aspired  to  a  power,  as  far  as  possible,  equal  to  that  of  the  Bishop 
of  ancient  Rome,  from  whose  authority  they  strove  to  withdraw  them- 

-selves.     5.  The  Second  General  Council  of  Constantinople,  and  the 
fourth  of  Chalcedon,  unfortunately  seconded  and  supported  the  ambi- 
tious wishes  of  the  Byzantine  patriarchs  by  enacting  canons  which 
•decreed  that  the  bishops  of  Constantinople,  which  they  called  New 
Rome,  should  be  second  in  rank  and  enjoy  equal  privileges  in  eccle- 
siastical matters  with  the  bishops  of  ancient  Rome.    But  these  canons, 
iontaining  the  germ  of  schism,  were  promptly  annulled  by  the  Popes, 
iwho  always  opposed  the  ambitious  pretensions   of    the  prelates   of 
;Constantinople,  and  jealously  guarded  against  encroachments  which 
bhey  saw  were  only  the  forerunners  of  greater  and  more  fatal  usurpa- 
tions.    6.  To  these  causes  we  must  add  the  despotical  interference  of 
le  Byzantine  emperors  in  purely  religious  matters,  and  the  state  of 
servitude  to  which  they  had  reduced  the  clergy,  both  by  honors  and 
riches,  and  by  menaces  and  persecutions. 

189.  The  prime  author  of  the  Greek  schism  was  Photius,  an  in- 


820  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

trader  in  the  patriarchal  See  of  Constantinople.  On  the  death  of  the 
sainted  Methodius  in  846,  Ignatius,  son  of  Emperor  Michael  I.,  pre- 
decessor of  Leo  the  Armenian,  was  elected  patriarch  of  Constanti- 
nople. The  then  reigning  emperor  was  Michael  III.,  a  licentious  and 
intemperate  prince,  who  spent  his  time  in  sumptuous  feasts,  degrad- 
ing shows  and  mock  exhibitions  of  the  Christian  worship.  He  was 
wholly  under  the  influence  of  his  uncle  Bardas,  brother  of  the  Em- 
press Theodora,  a  man  of  great  ability  but  depraved  morals.  On  ac- 
count of  his  scandalous  conduct,  and  incestuous  relations  with  his 
own  daughter-in-law,  Bardas  was  publicly  denied  Holy  Communion 
by  Ignatius.  For  this  repulse,  Bardas  vowed  vengeance,  and  formed 
the  determination  to  ruin  the  patriarch  in  the  eyes  of  the  emperor.  In 
order  to  secure  the  full  exercise  of  authority,  he  persuaded  the  young 
emperor  not  only  to  remove  his  mother  and  his  sisters  from  court, 
but  to  force  them  also  to  take  the  veil.  Ignatius  steadily  resisted 
the  imperial  commands  to  dedicate  the  unwilling  votaries  to  a  relig- 
ious life.  For  this  refusal,  he  was  arraigned  for  high  treason  and  im- 
prisoned in  a  monastery  on  the  island  of  Terebinthus;  in  his  stead,, 
the  emperor,  disregarding  the  canons  of  the  Church,  appointed  the 
crafty  Photius  patriarch,  A.  D.  857. 

190.  Photius  was  of  illustrious  birth,  possessed  great  accomplish- 
ments of  mind  and  body,  and  was  esteemed  the-  most  learned  of  his 
age;  but  his  unbounded  ambition  and  hypocrisy  tarnished  the  lustre 
of  these  qualities.  He  was  then  only  a  layman;  but  he  contrived  in 
six  successive  days  to  pass  through  the  inferior  orders  up  to  the  patri- 
archate; he  was  ordained,  and  consecrated  bishop  by  Gregory  Asbes- 
tas,  the  deposed  bishop  of  Syracuse,  and  the  bitter  opponent  of  Igna- 
tius. The  greater  number  of  the  bishops,  either  through  fear  or 
favor,  basely  consented  to  the  change,  whilst  the  people  remained 
faithful  to  their  legitimate  patriarch. 

191.  To  secure  himself  in  the  See  which  he  had  usurped,  Pho- 
tius resorted  to  fraud  and  violence.  Every  means  was  employed  to 
force  from  Ignatius  a  resignation  of  his  See.  But  as  no  power  or 
persuasion  could  induce  Ignatius  to  resign  his  patriarchal  dignity,  he  was 
declared  to  be  deposed,  and,  after  suffering  much  cruel '  treatment, 
banished  to  the  island  of  Mytelene.  The  bishops  of  his  party  like- 
wise were  deposed  and  exiled,  and  all  who  remained  firm  to  Ignatius 
were  subjected  to  cruel  persecution.  In  the  meantime  Photius  sought  by 
deceiption  to  obtain  from  Pope  Nicholas  I.  an  approval  of  his  intrusion. 
He  sent  legates  to  Rome  who  were  charged  to  inform  the  Pope  that 
Ignatius  had  voluntarily  renounced  the  episcopal  dignity  and  retired  to 
a  monastery,  and  that  Photius  had  been  canonically  elected  and  forced 


OREEK  SCHISM.  321 

to  accept  the  dignity.  The  emperor,  too,  sent  his  representative  with 
a  letter  requesting  the  Pope  to  restore  discipline,  and  root  out  the 
heresy  of  Iconoclasm. 

192.  Pope  Nicholas  I.,  too  clear-sighted  to  be  imposed  upon,  in- 
deed sent  legates — the  Bishops  Rodoald  and  Zachary — to  Constan- 
tinople, with  letters  to  the  emperor  and  Photius;  they  were  charged 
merely  to  examine  into  the-  case  of  Ignatius,  and  then  report  thereon 
to  the  Holy  See.  They,  however,  proved  unfaithful  to  their  high 
trust.  Influenced,  partly  by  threats,  partly  by  gifts,  they  favored  the 
cause  of  the  intruder.  At  a  Synod  of  318  bishops,  meeting  at  Con- 
stantinople, in  861,  at  which  for  appearance  sake  they  were  permitted 
to  preside,  the  legates  confirmed  the  deposition  of  Ignatius  notwith- 
standing his  appeal  to  the  Pope,  and  decreed  Photius  to  be.  the  rightful 
patriarch. 

193.  The  sentence  of  Ignatius'  deposition  by  the  Synod  of  Con- 
stantinople had  been  communicated  to  the  Pope,  with  letters  from 
Photius  and  the  emperor.  But  Nicholas  was  not  to  be  deceived. 
Finding  that  his  legates  had  violated  his  instructions,  he  disclaimed 
their  acts  and  declared  them  excommunicated.  In  the  meantime. 
Abbot  Theognostus,  the  messenger  of  Ignatius,  arrived  in  Rome  with 
a  full  account  of  all  that  had  passed  at  Constantinople.  Nicholas 
summoned  a  Council  in  which  he  solemnly  annulled  the  deposal  of 
Ignatius  and  the  elevation  of  Photius  whom  he  condemned  as  a 
usurper.  All  the  acts  of  Photius  were  declared  null  and  void;  those 
ordained  by  him  were  suspended,  and  the  ill-treated  Ignatius  was 
commanded  to  be  restored  to  his  see.  These  decrees  the  Pope  com- 
municated to  the  emperor  and  the  Christian  world. 

194.  Photius  now  throwing  off  his  mask  proceeded  to  a 
formal  schism.  In  869,  he  called  a  Synod,  at  which  he  assumed 
to  formally  excommunicate  the  Pope.  Twenty-one  obsequious 
bishops  signed  the  daring  act.  The  wicked  endeavors  of  the  intruder 
were  considerably  aided  hy  the  controversy  which  was  then  going  on 
regarding  the  question  of  jurisdiction  over  Bulgaria.  The  Bulgarians 
had  been  converted  by  the  Greeks;  but  their  king  Bogoris  asked  Pope 
Nicholas  for  Latin  missionaries,  and  also,  that  his  kingdom  be  united 
with  the  Roman,  instead  of  the  Byzantine,  patriarchate.  Nicholas 
granted  the  request  and  published  his  celebrated  "  Responsa  "  for  the 
instruction  of  the  Bulgarian  neophites. 

195.  Confident  of  the  sympathy  of  the  Eastern  prelates  on  the 
Bulgarian  question,  Photius  took  occasion  of  this  fact  to  support  him 
in  his  usurpation  of  the  See  of  Constantinople.  He  published  a 
circular  to  the  patriarchs  and  bishops  of  the  East,  in  which  he  openly 


322  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

accuses  the  See  of  Rome  and  the  Latin  Church  of  heresy,  and  of 
departing  from  ancient  and  canonical  discipline.  Among  the  accusa- 
tions against  the  Latins  were:  1.  That  they  observrd  Saturday  as  a 
fast;  2.  That  they  shortened  Lent  by  one  week,  and  permitted  the  use 
of  milk  and  cheese  (Lacticinia)  on  fast-days;  3.  That  they  enjoined 
celibacy  and  despised  priests  living  in  the  married  state;  4.  That  they 
restricted  the  right  of  conferring  the  sacrament  of  confirmation  to 
bishops;  and  5.  That  they  changed  the  Symbol  of  the  creed  by  the 
addition  of  the  Filioque.,  teaching  the  procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
from  the  Son  as  well  as  from  the  Father.  These  were  but  pretext* 
for  division,  the  real  cause  being  the  total  denial  of  the  Papal  suprem- 
acy by  the  Greeks. 

SECTION  XXII. EIGHTH  ECUMENICAL  COUNCIL REVIVAL  OF  THE  GREEK 

SCHISM  BY  MICHAEL  CERURALIUS. 

Basil  the  Macedonian  Emperor— Exile  of  Photius — Reinstatement  of  Ignatius 
— Eighth  General  Council— Death  of  Ignatius — Reinstatement  of  Photius 
—Acknowledged  by  Pope  John  VIII.— Leo  VI.  Emperor— Banishment  of 
Photius — His  Death — Restoration  of  Peace — Revival  of  the  Greek  Schism 
— The  Patriarch  Michael  Cerularius  — His  Accomplices — Charges  against 
the  Latins — Pope  Leo  IX.— Excommunication  of  Cerularius. 

196.  The  assassination  of  the  unworthy  Emperor  Michael,  sur- 
named  the  Drunkard,  put  a  stop  for  the  present  to  the  machinations 
of  Photius.  The  false  patriarch  fell  with  his  patron.  The  first  act  of 
the  new  Emperor  Basil  the  Macedonian  was  to  depose  and  banish 
Photius  and  recall  the  much  tried  Ignatius  to  his  see,  A.  D.  867. 
Basil,  with  the  advice  of  Ignatius,  wrote  to  the  Pope  to  inform  him 
of  the  change  and  request  him  to  assemble  a  General  Council,  in 
order  to  heal  the  wounds  inflicted  on  the  Church  by  the  schism  of 
Photius. 

197.  Pope  Nicholas  having  meanwhile  died,  his  successor,  Ha- 
drian XL,  convened  the  Eighth  General  Council  to  restore  peace  to 
the  Greek  Church.  The  Council  was  opened  in  the  Church  of  St. 
Sophia,  at  Constantinople,  A.  D.  869.  The  papal  legates  presided. 
Ignatius  was  declared  the  legitimate  patriarch,  and  Photius  forever 
deposed  from  all  clerical  orders.  The  acts  of  the  Council  were  sub- 
sequently confirmed  by  Hadrian.  After  the  adjournment  of  the 
Council,  the  question  of  jurisdiction  over  Bulgaria  was  discussed 
between  the  papal  legates,  the  Patriarch  Ignatius,  and  the  Bulgarian 
ambassadors.  Notwithstanding  the  protest  of  the  papal  legates,  after 
their  departure,  Bulgaria  was  assigned  to  the  patriarchate  of  Constan- 
tinople, and  ever  since  has  recognized  its  dependence  on  that  see. 


I 


t. 


GREEK  SCHISM.  323 

198.  Photius  meanwhile  succeeded  in  regaining  the  favor  of  the 
emperor,  who,  on  the  death  of  Ignatius,  A.  D.  877,  re-established  him 
on  the  patriarchal  throne.  At  the  urgent  request  of  the  emperor  and 
the  Oriental  patriarchs,  Pope  John  YIII.,  moved  by  unquestionably 
serious  reasons  of  policy,  consented  to  recognize  Photius,  on  the  con- 
dition, however,  that  he  should  in  a  public  Synod  apologize  for  his 
former  conduct  and  acknowledge  the  jurisdiction  of  the  Roman  See 
over  Bulgaria,  He  also  sent  legates  to  Constantinople  to  execute  this 
decree  of  mercy. 

199.  But  Photius  would  not  brook  submission,  and  resorted  to  his 
old  arts.  At  a  numerously  attended  Synod,  in  879,  over  which  he 
presided  himself,  the  Eighth  Council  was  abrogated,  the  doctrine  of 
the  "  Filioque  "  rejected,  and  the  acts  of  Popes  Nicholas  and  Hadrian 
condemned.  The  letters  of  Pope  John  VIII.  were  read,  but  in  a 
mutilated  and  falsified  translation.  The  papal  legates  being  ignorant 
of  the  Greek  language,  and  completely  outwitted  by  the  crafty  Greeks, 
confirmed  the  enactments  of  the  false  Synod.  On  learning  these 
disgraceful  transactions.  Pope  John  excommunicated  both  Photius 
and  the  faithless  legates,  and  annulled  the  decrees  of  the  pseudo- 
synod.  This  was  occasion  for  a  new  rupture  between  Rome  and 
Constantinople.  Photius,  however,  remained  in  possession  of  the  see 
he  had  usurped  as  long  as  Emperor  Basil  lived.  But  the  son  and 
successor  of  Basil,  Leo  VI.  the  Philosopher,  caused  the  sentence  of 
the  Roman  Pontiffs  to  be  executed.  Photius  was  deposed  and  exiled 
to  a  monastery,  this  time  not  to  return,  A.  D.  886.  His  successor 
in  the  patriarchal  see  was  Stephen,  the  brother  of  the  emperor. 
Photius  died  in  the  year  891. 

200.  From  that  time,  there  was  peace  between  Rome  and  Con- 
stantinople until  toward  the  end  of  the  tenth  century,  when  the 
Patriarchs  Sisinnius  and  Sergius  renewed  the  old  accusations  against 
the  Latins.  Eustachius,  who  succeeded  Sergius,  applied  to  Pope  John 
XIX.  for  the  title  of  "Ecumenical  Patriarch."  The  request  being 
refused,  the  name  of  the  Pope  was  omitted  from  the  dyptichs  by  the 
angry  patriarch.  In  the  year  1034,  the  ambitious  and  turbulent 
Michael  Cerularius  was  made  patriarch.  He  revived  the  Photian 
schism.  His  chief  accomplices  were  Leo  of  Acrida,  Metropolitan  of 
Bulgaria,  and  Nicetas  Stethatus,  a  monk  of  the  monastery  of  Stud- 
ium.  At  the  instance  of  Cerularius,  Leo  circulated  a  document  in 
which  the  following  charges  were  brought  against  the  Latins  as  so 
many  grievances  :  1.  The  use  of  unleavened  bread  in  the  holy  sacri- 
fice ;  2.  Fasting  on  Saturdays  in  Lent ;  3.  The  eating  of  blood  and 
things  strangled  ;   and  4.  The  omission  of  the  "  Alleluja  "  in  Lent. 


824        ^  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

201.  This  was  the  beginning  of  new  troubles.  Pope  St.  Leo  IX. 
addressed  an  eloquent  letter  to  the  schismatical  prelates,  in  which  he 
refuted  their  puerile  incriminations.  He  also  sent  three  legates,  the 
Cardinals  Frederic  (afterward  Stephen  IX.)  and  Humbert,  and  Arch- 
bishop Peter  to  Constantinople  to  settle  the  prevailing  difficulties. 
They  were  well  received  by  the  Emperor  Constantine  IX,  but  the 
haughty  Cerularius  persistently  refused  all  communication  with  them. 
Finding  all  their  efforts  useless,  they  proceeded  to  spiritual  penalties. 
On  July  16,  A.  D.  1054,  the  legates  deposited  on  the  altar  of  St.  Sophia 
the  excommunication  of  Cerularius  and  his  adherents,  and  then  depart- 
ed for  Rome.  From  this  period,  the  definitive  separation  of  the  Greek 
Church  from  that  of  Rome  is  generally  dated,  though  communication 
between  them  was  at  times  resumed.  After  several  ineffectual  at- 
tempts at  reunion,  the  evil  became  desperate  in  the  fifteenth  century, 
when  the  sword  of  the  Mussulman  was  employed  by  Divine  Provi- 
dence to  punish  the  obstinacy  which  no  condescension  on  the  part  of 
Rome  could  cure. 

.SECTION  XXIII. CONTROVERSY   ON    THE    HOLY    EUCHARIST HERESY    OF 

BERENGARIUS. 

Paschasius  Radbertus— His  Treatise  on  the  Eucharist— Reply  of  Rabanus 
Maurus  and  Ratramnus  —  Erigena  —  His  Opinion  on  the  Eucharist  — 
Berengarius— His  Heresy— Condemned  by  Councils— His  Recantations— 
His  Death. 

202.  The  doctrine  of  the  Real  Presence  of  Christ  in  the  Holy 
Eucharist  had  been  the  constant  belief  of  the  Christian  world  from 
the  time  of  the  Apostles.  Up  to  this  period  this  adorable  sacrament 
had  never  been  a  subject  of  dispute.  The  first  controversy  on  the 
Eucharist  was  called  forth  by  Paschasius  Radbertus,  abbot  of  Cor- 
vey,  a  man  distinguished  both  for  his  learning  and  the  sanctity  of  his 
life.  In  a  treatise,  entitled  "  On  the  Body  and  Blood  of  the  Lord," 
he  explained  the  doctrine  of  the  Church  on  the  Eucharist  with 
accuracy  and  fullness,  but  in  terms  which  were  then  not  in  use,  and 
which  were  liable  to  be  misunderstood.  Laying  special  stress  on  the 
identity  of  the  physical  and  Eucharistic  Body  of  Christ,  he  advanced 
the  view  that  "  The  Flesh  (of  Christ  in  the  Eucharist)  was  none  other 
than  that  which  was  born  of  the  Virgin  Mary,  and  in  which  He 
suffered  on  the  Cross  and  rose  again  from  the  grave." 

203.  This  view  of  Paschasius  was  especially  opposed  by  Ra- 
banus Maurus,  and  Ratramnus,  a  monk  of  Corvey.  Making  a  dis- 
tinction between  the  natural  and  sacramental  Body  of  Christ,  they 


CONTROVERSY  ON  THE  EUCHARIST.  325 

maintained  a  formal  difference  between  both,  and  held  that  the 
Eucharistic  Body  of  Christ  was  in  substance,  indeed,  identical  with 
the  Body  which  Christ  took  from  the  womb  of  Mary,  but  differed  in 
form  and  appearance.  Scotus  Erigena  also  took  part  in  the  contro- 
versy. Without  expressly  denying  the  Real  Presence,  he  considered 
the  Eucharist  a  mere  symbol  and  memorial  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of 
Christ.  The  treatise  of  Erigena  on  the  Eucharist  was  condemned  by 
the  Council  of  Vercelli,  in  1050.  The  celebrated  Gerbert  in  a  mast- 
erly treatise  defended  the  teaching  of  Paschasius,  showing  that  there 
existed  no  real  difference  of  belief  between  him  and  his  orthodox 
opponents. 

204.  In  the  preceding  controversy,  the  Real  Presence  had  not 
really  been  called  into  question.  Berengarius  of  Tours  was  the  first 
that  impugned  the  presence  of  our  Lord  in  the  Holy  Eucharist  and 
the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation,  and  thus  anticipated  the  Sacra- 
mentarians  of  a  later  age.  He  was^  born  about  A.  D.  1000,  and  was 
made  Archdeacon  of  Angers  and  appointed  Scholasticus,  or  Master, 
of  the  cathedral-school  of  Tours.  Adopting  the  erroneous  tenets 
of  Erigena  on  the  Sacrament  of  the  Altar,  Berengarius  held  that 
Christ  was  only  spiritually  present  in  the  sacred  elements,  which  in 
every  respect  remained  what  they  were,  and  that  a  certain  efficacy 
was  imparted  to  them  by  the  faith  of  the  individual.  Hugh,  bishop 
of  Langres,  and  Adelmann,  Scholasticus  of  Liitich,  who  had  been  his 
school-fellows  under  the  celebrated  Fulbert  of  Chartres,  kindly 
warned  Berengarius  of  the  novelty  of  his  doctrine,  which  stood  in 
opposition  to  the  faith  of  the  whole  Church.  But  being  supported 
by  the  king  of  France  and  other  persons  of  influence,  Berengarius 
disregarded  the  friendly  admonitions.  In  a  letter  to  Lanfranc,  then 
Prior  of  Bee,  he  openly  espoused  the  erroneous  doctrine  of  Erigena 
on  the  Eucharist.  The  matter  was  referred  to  Rome,  and  his  errors, 
together  with  those  of  Erigna,  were  condemned  by  Pope  Leo  IX.  in 
the  Councils,  which  were  held  at  Rome  and  Vercelli,  in  1050;  Beren- 
garius himself  was  excommunicated  until  he  would  recant. 

205.  In  1054,  a  Synod  was  held  at  Tours  by  the  papal  legate 
Hildebiand,  and  there  Berengarus  made  and  signed  a  confession  of 
faith,  acknowledging  that  "  bread  and  wine  after  the  consecration  are 
the  Flesh  and  Blood  of  Christ.."  As  he  continued,  however,  to  teach 
his  heresy,  he  was,  in  1059,  cited  to  Rome  by  Pope  Nicholas  II., 
and  there,  before  a  Council  of  113  bishops,  Berengarius  made  a  new 
recantation,  and  signed  a  new  confession  of  faith,  affirming  that  *'  the 
bread  and  wine  placed  on  the  altar,  are,  after  the  consecration,  not 
only  the  sacrament,  but  also  the  true  Body  and  Blood  of  our  Lord.'* 


826  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CHURCH. 

206.  Nevertheless,  the  fraudulent  heretic  having  returned  to 
France,  relapsed  into  the  condemned  errors,  and  spoke  detractingly 
of  the  Pope,  and  the  Roman  See,  which  he  called  the  "  See  of  Satan." 
Pope  Alexander  II.  in  vain  exhorted  him  no  longer  to  scandalize  the 
Church.  Cardinal  Hildebrand,  who  in  the  meantime  had  ascended 
the  papal  throne  as  Gregory  VII.,  summoned  Berengarius  once  more 
to  Rome,  and,  in  the  Councils  held  in  10*78  and  1079,  obliged  him  to 
confess  that  he  had  till  then  erred  on  the  mystery  of  the  Eucharist, 
and  to  declare,  under  oath,  that  the  "Bread  of  the  altar  is,  after  conse- 
cration, the  true  Body  of  Christ,  the  same  which  was  born  of  the 
Virgin,  which  died  on  the  Cross,  and  is  now  seated  at  the  right  hand 
of  the  Father  in  heaven."  But  the  obstinate  heretic  continued  to 
teach  as  before,  and  accused  Gregory  VII.  of  inconsistency  and  par- 
tiality. He  made  a  last  recantation  at  the  Council  of  Bordeaux,  in 
1080,  after  which  he  became  silent.  He  is  said  to  have  died  in  the 
communion  of  the  Church,  in  1088. 


CHAPTER  V. 


CONSTITUTION  AND  DISCIPLINE. 


SECTION     XXIV. THE     CHURCH     IN     HER     RELATION     TO     THE     STATE. 

SUPREMACY    OF    THE    POPES. 

Close  Union  between  Church  and  State— Advantages  to  Society — Truce  of 
God — Influence  of  the  Clergy,  especially  the  Bishops— Exalted  Position 
of  the  Popes — Acknowledgment  of  the  Primacy— Exercise  of  the  Pri- 
macy—Counsellors of  the  Pope— Cardinals. 

20V.  The  Middle  Ages  pre-eminently  were  ages  of  religion  and  of 
faith.  Religion  was  the  foundation  and  mainstay  of  society;  the 
spirit  of  Christianity  penetrated  every  action  of  public  and  private 
life,  animating  not  only  the  higher  classes,  the  nobles  and  the  clergy, 
but  thoroughly  penetrating  and  forming  the  masses.  Hence  that 
close  union  between  Church  and  State  which  was  considered  essential 
to  the  general  welfare  of  society,  and  a  pledge  of  happiness  and  pros- 
perity. As  submission  to  temporal  powers  was  enjoined  by  the 
Church,  so  submission  to  the  Church  was,  on  their  side,  enforced  by 
the  temporal  rulers  upon  their  subjects.  The  laws  of  the  Church  were 
confirmed  by  the  sovereign  as  laws  of  the  land,  and  their  observance 
was  enforced  by  the  infliction  of  external  punishment.  In.  the  East 
the  emperors  regularly  confirmed  the  decrees  of  General  Councils  ; 


RELATION  OF  CHURCH  AND  STATBt  327 

in  the  West  the  Carlovingian  rulers  in  legislation  adhered  closely  to 
the  canon  law  of  the  Church. 

208.  If  the  Church  was  assisted  by  the  power  of  the  temporal 
rulers,  the  temporal  rulers  in  return  were  much  indebted  to  the  bene- 
licient  influence  of  the  Church.  It  was  she  who  tamed  the  rude  and 
lawless  spirits  and  subdued  the  outbursts  of  wild  passion,  and  more 
than  once  prevented  society  from  relapsing  into  foi-mer  barbarism. 
At  the  Reichstag  of  Constance,  in  1043,  the  emperor  Henry  III.  in 
vain  endeavored  to  establish  a  general  peace.  The  Church  was  forced 
to  lend  her  superior  authority  to  confirm  the  imperial  enactments  for 
the  maintenance  of  law  and  order ;  she  introduced,  and,  by  the  inflic- 

"tion  of  ecclesiastical  censures,  enforced  the  observance  of  the  "Truce 
of  God."  Every  week,  from  Wednesday  evening  till  Monday  morn- 
ing, from  the  first  day  of  Advent  till  eight  days  after  Epiphany,  and 
from  the  beginning  of  Lent  until  eight  days  after  Pentecost,  all  feuds 
were  to  cease  under  pain  of  excommunication.  This  "Truce  of  God" 
prevented  countless  crimes,  introduced  milder  and  gentler  manners, 
and  placed  a  wholesome  restraint  upon  the  turbulent  spirit  of  the  age. 

209.  From  this  close  union  between  the  two  powers,  it  followed 
necessarily  that  the  clergy  should,  by  their  superior  learning  and 
intelligence,  exercise  a  powerful  influence  and  take  an  active  part  in 
all  the  weighty  affairs  of  their  country.  Mixed  parliaments  (concilia 
mixta)  were  formed,  composed  of  lords  spiritual  and  temporal,  that  is, 
the  prelates  of  the  Church  and  the  chiefs  of  the  nation.  These  lords 
spiritual  and  temporal  chose  the  king,  who  had,  before  receiving  the 
crown  from  the  hands  of  the  Church,  to  promise  by  solemn  oath  to  fulfill 
all  his  obligations  towards  his  subjects  and  the  Church.  Bishops  and 
abbots  filled  the  posts  of  chancellor  and  ambassador  at  the  various 
courts  ;  they  were,  on  account  of  their  piety  and  learning,  the  most 
valued  and  trusted  councillors  of  the  sovereigns,  and  above  all  they 
were  the  advisers  and  spokesmen  in  the  assembly  of  the  nation. 

210.  But  greater  yet  was  the  influence  the  Bishops  of  Rome 
exercised  upon  society.  As  head  of  the  Church  universal  the  Pope 
was  held  in  the  highest  veneration  by  the  Christian  nations.  All 
Christian  nations  formed  one  family — Christendom  united  in  one  faith. 
In  the  Bishop  of  Rome  this  family  possessed  a  head,  and  the  successor 
of  Peter  was  honored  by  all  as  their  common  father  and  the  Vicar  of 
Christ.  Emperors  and  kings  addressed  him  as  "  father,"  and  were  in 
turn  called  by  him  "  sons."  Hence  the  Pope  was  repeatedly  called 
upon  by  princes  and  people  to  interpose  his  authority  and  act  as  medi- 
ator, or  arbitrator,  in  the  disputes  of  individual  nations.  Gregory  IV. 
felt  obliged  to  mediate  between  Louis  the  Pious  and  his  sons.    While 


328  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

the  imperial  troops  besieged  the  capital  of  Hungary,  the  king,  An- 
drew, sought  the  mediation  of  Pope  Leo  IX.,  who  willingly  undertook 
the  journey  to  Germany,  in  order  to  procure  peace. 

211.  The  Christian  writers  and  Councils  of  the  present  epoch  are 
unanimous  in  testifying  the  general  recognition  of  the  papal  suprem- 
acy throughout  all  Christendom.  Venerable  Bede  says,  that  Gregory 
*'  was  invested  with  the  first,"  that  is,  supreme  "  pontificate  in  the 
whole  world,  and  was  set  over  the  churches  converted  to  the  faith." 
The  celebrated  Alcuin  avows  that  "  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  constituted 
Peter  shepherd  of  His  chosen  flock  ;  "  and  acknowledges  Hadrian  I., 
the  actual  Pontiff,  as  "Vicar  of  Peter,  occupying  his  chair,  and 
inheriting  his  wonderful  authority."  The  bishops  assembled  at  the 
first  German  Synod,  held  in  the  year  742,  promised,  under  oath,  to 
render  "  canonical  obedience  to  the  Pope; "  and  those  summoned  by 
Charlemagne  to  examine  into  the  charges  falsely  brought  against 
Pope  Leo  III.,  promptly  declared  that  "  it  was  the  right  of  the  Pope 
to  judge  them,  but  not  theirs  to  judge  him." 

212.  The  authority  and  spiritual  supremacy  of  the  Popes  was 
manifested:  1.  In  the  promulgation  of  general  laws  for  the  govern- 
ment of  the  entire  Church;  2.  In  the  exercise  of  judiciary  powers 
over  bishops,  including  patriarchs,  notably  when  appeals  were  made 
to  the  Holy  See;  3.  In  the  deposition  of  bishops;  4.  In  calling  foreign 
bishops  to  attend  Councils  held  in  Rome;  5.  In  conferring  the  pallium 
and  the  right  to  exercise  metropolitan  rights  to  archbishops;  and  6. 
In  appointing  bishops  as  "  Vicars  Apostolic  "  to  represent  the  Holy 
See  in  foreign  countries.  Papal  legates  convoked  and  presided  over 
National  Councils. 

213.  From  early  times  the  chief  counsellors  and  assistants  of  the 
Pope  were,  besides  the  regionary  deacons  and  archpriests  of  the 
principal  churches  at  Rome,  the  neighboring  bishops  (episcopi  subur- 
bicarii),  especially  those  of  Ostia,  Portus,  Albano,  Silva  Candida 
(Santa  Rufina),  Praeneste  (Palestrina),  etc.  Thus  in  the  process  of 
time  an  ecclesiastical  senate — the  College  of  Cardinals — was  formed 
to  advise  and  assist  the  Pope  in  the  government  of  the  Church.  As 
early  as  A.  D.  769  seven  Cardinal  bishops  are  recorded;  the  title  of 
Cardinal,  however,  we  find  in  use  since  the  beginning  of  the  seventh 
century.  At  first  it  was  applied  to  all  ecclesiastics  permanently  in 
charge  of  churches,  particularly  to  those  attached  to  cathedrals.  Pope 
Pius  y.  in  1567  ordained  that  it  should  henceforth  be  exclusively 
applied  to  the  members  of  the  Sacred  College,  or  Cardinals  of  the 
Roman  Church. 


ECCLESIASTICAL  LEGISLATION  82fr 

SECTION    XXV. ECCLESIASTICAL    LEGISLATION FALSE    DECRETALS. 

Law  of  the  Early  Church — Collections  of  Canons — Collection  of  Dionysius— 
Pseudo-Isidorian  Collection,  or  False  Decretals  —  Their  Origin  and 
Object — View  of  Mohler — No  Change  in  Discipline  wrought  by  them. 

214.  In  the  early  ages,  the  Sacred  Scriptures,  tradition,  and  the 
disciplinary  rules  laid  down  by  the  Apostles,  or  apostolic  men,  consti- 
tuted the  law  of  the  Church  in  the  East  as  well  as  in  the  West.  Later 
on,  however,  Church-synods  framed  numerous  canons  for  the  regula- 
tion of  ecclesiastical  discipline  and  the  government  of  the  particular 
churches.  Thus  the  Council  of  Nice,  besides  its  dogmatic  decrees,, 
framed  a  number  of  canons,  which,  together  with  those  of  subsequent 
Councils,  were  translated  into  Latin  and  widely  circulated  in  the 
West.  The  celebrated  and  very  ancient  collection  referred  to  in  the 
Council  of  Chalcedon,  contained  166  canons,  enacted  respectively  by 
the  Councils  of  Nice,  Ancyra,  Neo-Caesarea,  Gangra,  Antioch,  Lao- 
dicea,  and  Constantinople. 

215.  Up  to  this  period  there  existed  various  other  collections  of 
canons  and  papal  decretals  in  the  Latin  church.  Of  these,  the  collec- 
tion of  Dionysius  Exiguus  was  most  generally  in  use.  The  work  is- 
divided  into  two  parts  :  the  first  part  contains  the  canons  of  Councils; 
the  second,  the  decretal  epistles  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiffs  from  Siri- 
cius  to  Anastasius  II.  This  collection,  though  never  expressly  ap- 
proved by  the  Holy  See,  attained  great  influence  throughout  the  whole 
Church.  Pope  Hadrian  I.  presented  it,  with  some  additions,  to  Char- 
lemagne, in  order  that  it  might  serve  as  the  code  of  laws  for  the  gov- 
ernment of  the  churches  in  the  Prankish  Empire.  The  collection 
wrongly  ascribed  to  St.  Isidore  of  Seville  contained,  besides  the 
canons  and  decretals  of  Dionysius,  additions  from  the  Fathers  and 
Spanish  Councils. 

216.  About  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century,  a  new  and  largely 
increased  code  of  canons  came  in  use  ;  first  in  the  Prankish  Empire,, 
and  then  also  in  other  countries.  It  appeared  under  the  assumed 
name  of  Isidore  Mercator,  or  Peccator,  and  is  now  generally  known 
as  the  Pseudo-Isidorian  collection,  or  False  Decretals.  This  collection 
contains,  besides  questions  of  ecclesiastical  law,  also  treatises  on  dogmat- 
ical and  moral  theology,  liturgy,  and  penitential  discipline.  It  is  divided 
into  three  parts,  of  which  the  first  contains  the  canons  of  the  Apostles,, 
and  sixty  decretals  of  the  earlier  Popes,  from  Clement  I.  to  Melchiades. 
The  second  part  contains  a  number  of  conciliar  canons,  beginning 
with  the  Council  of  Nice,  and  ending  with  the  Second  Council  of 
Seville,  A.  D.  619.    Many  of  these  canons  are  unauthentic.    The  third 


330  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

part  is  made  up  of  the  decretal  letters  of  the  Popes  from  Sylvester  I. 
to  Gregory  II.  Of  these,  about  forty  were  compiled  by  the  author 
himself.  * 

217.  The  author  of  this  elaborate  collection  is  unknown.  It  has 
been  variously  ascribed  to  Benedictus  Levita  of  Mentz,  to  Paschasius 
Radbertus,  to  Otgar,  archbishop  of  Mentz,  and  to  Agobard,  arch- 
bishop of  Lyons.  MOhler  calls  this  collection  a  pious  fraud,  and  the 
work  of  a  pious,  but  over-zealous  theologian.  He  dates  its  composi- 
tion between  the  years  829  and  845,  and  the  place  of  its  origin  he 
believes  to  have  been  Mentz.  Others,  however,  think  that  it  came 
from  Rheims.  The  collection  meeting  a  palpable  want,  was,  without 
any  suspicion,  universally  accepted  as  an  authentic  exposition  of 
general  ecclesiastical  discipline. 

218.  The  main  object  of  the  author  in  compiling  this  collection, 
was  to  defend  and  maintain,  by  principles  already  universally  acknowl- 
edged, the  dignity  and  prerogatives  of  the  Roman  Church  ;  the  rela- 
tion of  the  Holy  See  to  metropolitans  and  provincial  synods,  and  of 
suffragan  bishops  to  their  metropolitans  ;  and  the  independence  of  the 
the  spiritual  power  from  the  secular.  He  aimed  at  relieving  the 
bishops  and  the  inferior  clergy  from  the  tyranny  of  the  metropolitans, 
who  were  but  too  frequently  the  tools  of  the  secular  power.  But  no 
essential  change  was  introduced  in  ecclesiastical  discipline  by  these 
false  decretals,  which  were  but  the  expression  of  the  principles  and 
tendency  of  the  age.  Pseudo-Isidore  merely  attributed  to  Popes  of 
the  first  three  centuries  what  was  declared  by  Popes  and  Councils  of  a 
later  period. 

219.  Of  the  unknown  author,  the  learned  MShler  says  :  "If  we 
examine  carefully  these  invented  decretals,  and  try  to  characterise 
their  composer  in  accordance  with  their  general  import  and  spirit,  we 
must  confess  that  he  was  a  very  learned  man,  perhaps  the  most  learned 
man  of  his  time,  and  at  the  same  time  extremely  wise  and  intelli- 
gent, who  knew  his  age  and  its  wants  as  few  did.  Rightly  he 
perceived  that  he  must  exalt  the  power  of  the  centre — that  is,  the 
power  of  the  Pope — ^because  by  this  power  only  was  deliverance 
possible.  Nay,  if  we  would  pass  an  unconstrained  judgment,  we  may 
venture  even  to  call  him  a  great  man." 

220.  The  Pseudo-Isidorian  collection  was  regarded  as  genuine 
during  the  whole  of  the  Middle  Ages,  that  is,  from  the  ninth  to  the 
fifteenth  century;  no  one  thought  of  questioning  the  genuineness  of  the 
papal  decretals  which  it  contained.  The  first  doubts  as  to  their 
authenticity  were  raised  about  A.  D.  1400  by  Laurentius  Valla,  canon 
of   the   Lateran.     As   early   as   1431   Nicholas  of    Cusa  proved  the 


CLERGY  AND  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS. 

Iforgery  of  the  Donation  of  Constantine  as  well  as  of  the  writings 
Fattributed  to  Popes  St.  Clement,  St.  Anastasius,  and  St.  Melchiades. 
^hat  the  Isidorian  collection  is  a  forgery,  at  least  in  part,  there  can 
be  no  doubt  at  present.  The  Pseudo-decretals  wrought,  however,  no 
material  change  in  the  discipline  of  the  Church.  So  much  is  certain 
that  the  Popes  had  nothing  to  do  with  their  compilation;  and  their 
authority  derived  no  confirmation,  much  less  an  increase  of  power 
from  the  False  Decretals. 

SECTION    XXVI. THE    CLERGY    AND    RELIGIOUS    ORDERS. 

Degeneracy  of  the  Clergy— Its  Causes— Holy  Bishops— Illustrious  Person- 
ages among  the  Laity — Relaxation  of  Monastic  Discipline — St.  Benedict 
of  Aniane— Abbey  of  Cluny— Orders  of  Camaldoli  and  Vallombrosa. 

221.  The  clergy,  it  must  be  confessed,  in  this  epoch,  were  not 
always  at  the  height  of  their  divine  calling  and  mission.  It  is  easy 
to  see  how  greatly,  in  consequence  of  the  prevailing  disorders,  educa- 
tion must  have  suffered.  The  clergy  for  the  most  part  shared  in  the 
general  ignorance  and  torpidity,  while  the  common  people  became 
more  and  more  barbarous.  In  some  countries  the  clergy  were  so 
utterly  destitute  of  the  very  elements  of  learning  and  general  culture, 
that  it  was  necessary  to  reduce  the  standard  of  fitness  for  holy  orders 
to  the  lowest  possible  requirements.  Before  the  invasion  of  England 
by  the  Danes,  King  Alfred  tells  us  that  churches  were  indeed  well 
furnished  with  books;  but  the  priests  got  little  good  from  them,  as 
the  works  were  written  in  a  foreign  language,  which  the  priests  did 
not  understand. 

222.  Amid  the  frequent  and  violent  disturbances  which  occurred 
during  this  eventful  period,  the  vigilance  of  the  bishops  often  relaxed 
and  the  lower  clergy  grew  daily  more  dissolute.  There  arose  a  class 
of  men  whose  ignorance  could  not  comprehend,  or  whose  passions 
refused  to  obey,  the  prohibitory  statutes  of  the  Church.  In  many 
places  the  celibacy  of  the  clergy  was  wholly  ignored;  and  impunity 
promoted  the  diffusion  of  the  scandal.  This  degeneracy  of  the  clergy 
was,  in  a  great  measure,  due  to  the  interference  of  secular  power  in 
the  domain  of  the  Church,  and  especially  to  the  intrusion  of  unworthy 
men  into  the  episcopal  sees  and  even  the  Papacy. 

223.  But  while  many  of  the  clergy  dishonored  their  dignity  by 
the  irregularity  of  their  lives,  others,  and  these  not  a  few,  adorned  it 
with  many  illustrious  virtues.  It  was  in  the  tenth  contury,  which 
has  been  the  most  decried  of  all  in  this  respect,  that  many  holy 
bishops  lived,  and  strove  zealously  to  restore  among  the  clergy  the 


832  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

severity  of  the  ancient  discipline.  Illustrious  among  these  were,  in 
Italy,  Ratherius  and  Atto,  successively  bishops  of  Verona;  in  Ger- 
many the  Bishops  Willigis  of  Mentz,  St.  Wolfgang  and  St.  Ulrich 
of  Ratisbon,  St.  Conrad  of  Constance,  Piligrim  of  Passau,  Bernward 
of  Hildesheim,  St.  Adalbert  of  Prague,  and  St.  Bruno,  brother  of 
Otho  I.,  of  Cologne;  in  France,  St.  Gerard  of  Toul;  and  in  England 
the  Bishops  Dunstan,  Oswald  and  Ethelwold. 

224.  Nor  did  holiness  fail  in  this  epoch  among  the  laity;  the 
calendars  are  crowded  with  the  names  of  great  saints  and  other 
illustrious  men  and  women.  Among  the  emperors  and  kings  we 
name  Charlemagne,  Otho  the  Great,  Henry  II.,  Alfred,  Canute,  St. 
Edward  and  St.  Edmund  martyrs,  St.  Edward  the  Confessor,  Brian 
Boroihme,  St.  Ferdinand,  St.  Stephen,  St.  Olaf,  and  Wladimir.  As 
illustrious  models  of  sanctity  and  charity  among  empresses  and  queens 
we  mention  St.  Adelaide,  St.  Cunegunda,  St.  Mathilda,  Theophanea, 
and  Olga. 

225.  To  give  an  idea  of  the  flourishing  condition  of  the  monastic 
state  and  the  sanctity  of  many  of  its  members  during  the  early  part 
of  the  present  epoch,  it  will  be  sufiicient  to  enumerate  the  names  of 
the  more  illustrious  representatives  of  monasticism.  These  are  Pat- 
rick, Columbkill,  Cummian,  Dongal,  Augustine  and  his  companions, 
Theodore,  Hadrian,  Benedict  Biscop,  Columbanus,  Gall,  Severin, 
Fridolin,  Valentine,  Kilian,  Emeramnus,  Rupertus,  Corbinian,  Bon- 
iface, Willehad,  Bede  the  Venerable,  and  Alcuin.  But,  while  the 
reputation  of  the  clergy  was,  especially  in  the  ninth  and  tenth  centu- 
ries, dimmed  by  their  ignorance  and  degeneracy,  the  monastic  profes- 
sion had  also  rapidly  sunk  into  insignificance  and  contempt.  Exces- 
sive wealth,  exemption  from  episcopal  jurisdiction,  and  the  govern- 
ment of  lay  abbots  brought  on  great  disorders;  many  monasteries, 
whose  members  had  at  one  time  been  distinguished  for  their  strict 
observance  of  rule,  their  piety  and  learning,  became  prominent  for 
their  irregularities  and  disregard  of  all  discipline. 

226.  St.  Benedict  of  Aniane,  encouraged  by  Louis  the  Mild,  con- 
ceived and  carried  out  the  idea  of  restoring  among  his  monks  the 
severity  of  the  ancient  discipline.  They  soon  became  models  of  order 
and  piety  for  other  monasteries,  and  contributed  much  to  the  revival 
of  letters.  But  owing  to  the  disturbances  arising  from  the  strife  of 
contending  parties  within  the  Prankish  Empire,  the  reforms  of  Bene- 
dict did  not  exert  any  permanent  influence.     He  died  A.  D.  821. 

227.  Very  important  and  extensive,  however,  became  the  influ- 
ence of  the  abbey  of  Cluny  in  France.  It  was  founded  in  910  by 
Bernard,  a  member  of  a  noble  Burgundian  family,  and  was  raised  by 


CLERGY  AND  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS.  CSS 

his  successors,  the  abbots  Odo,  Aymar,  Majolus,  and  particularly 
Odilo  to  high  renown.  From  Cluny  a  desire  for  learning 
and  for  strictness  of  monastic  discipline  sprung  up  anew.  This 
asylum  of  piety  and  learning  had  a  number  of  branch  houses  in  many 
other  countries,  all  recognizing  the  jurisdiction  of  the  abbot  of  Cluny, 
and  holding  strictly  to  the  Benedictine  rule. 

228.  We  must  not  forget  to  mention  the  two  new  orders  of  Cam- 
aldoli  and  Yallombrosa.  The  former  was  founded  by  St.  Romuald 
in  1012.  The  Camaldolites,  who  observed  the  Benedictine  Rule  in  its 
stricter  form,  were  divided  into  Cenobites,  living  in  ordinary  monas- 
tories;  hermits,  who  passed  their  lives  in  Lauras,  and  recluses,  who 
never  quitted  their  cells.  The  order  of  Yallombrosa  founded  in  the 
year  1038  by  St.  John  Gualbert,  a  member  of  a  noble  Tuscan  family, 
was  still  more  austere  than  that  of  the  Camaldolites.  Gualbert  left 
about  twelve  monastories  at  his  death.,  which  occurred  in  1073. 


SECOND   EPOCH. 


FBOM    THE    GREEK    SCHISM    TO    THE    BEGINNINa    OF    THE 
SIXTEENTH    CENTURY, 

OR, 

FROM   A.  D.   1054    TO   A.  D.   1500. 


E^TKODUCTORY  REMARKS. 

Catholic  Europe  a  Great  Family  of  Nations— Leading  Ideas — Close  Union 
between  Church  and  State— Mediatorial  Office  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs- 
Archbishop  Kenrick— Achievements  and  Triumphs  of  the  Church— Car- 
dinal Newman. 

1.  The  Epoch  now  to  be  reviewed,  the  most  eventful  and  inter- 
esting, perhaps,  of  all  ecclesiastical  history,  exhibits  the  full  develop- 
ment of  the  Western  Christian  Nations  into  one  great  family,  under 
the  guidance  of  their  common  mother — the  Church.  The  universality 
of  the  Church  having  triumphed  over  their  selfish  interests,  united 
the  various  peoples  of  Western  Europe  into  a  great  Christian  com- 
monwealth— Christendom — of  which  the  Bishop  of  Rome  was  the 
acknowledged  Head.  It  was  in  this  Epoch  that  the  Papacy  attained 
its  full  height.  The  two  ideas  then  relished  and  realized,  were  Free- 
dom and  Religion.  The  Church,  the  custodian  of  Religion,  was  at  the 
same  time  the  guardian  of  Freedom. 

2.  Thence  came  that  close  alliance  between  the  Church  and  the 
State;  the  one  aided  and  supplemented  the  other.  This  also  explains 
the  frequent  interposition  of  the  Popes  in  settling  many  controversies 
among  princes,  and  internal  dissensions  in  kingdoms.  To  the  judg- 
ment of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  which  was  regarded  as  the  expression  of 
right  and  justice,  both  rulers  and  subjects  confidently  submitted  their, 
grievances  and  disputes  for  adjustment.  The  right  of  the  Pope  to 
judge  Christian  princes,  and  decide  differences  which  might  arise 
among  nations,  was  scarcely  ever  questioned;  and  his  rulings  were 
almost  invariably  accepted  without  a  murmur. 


n 


INTU OD  UCTOR  Y  REMARKS.  335 

3.  Speaking  of  this  mediatorial  authority  exercised  by  the  Popes 
in  the  Middle  Ages,  Archbishop  Kenrick  observes :  "  It  seemed  a 
common  instinct  of  all  Christian  nations  to  appeal  to  his  (the  Pope's) 
justice,  for  the  redress  of  every  grievance  for  which  the  local  author- 
ities proved  insufficient,  and  to  implore  his  power  for  the  punishment 
of  those  whose  station  placed  them  beyond  the  reach  of  municipal 
law.  He  was,  in  fact,  by  common  consent,  judge,  not  only  in  causes 
strictly  ecclesiastical,  or  in  the  private  concerns  of  obscure  individ- 
uals, but  in  civil  matters,  where  flagrant  wrongs  were  perpetrated  by 
crowned  heads.  He  was  called  to  interpose  his  authority;  he  was 
T3lamed  if  he  hesitated;  he  was  feared  by  delinquents  of  every  class, 
\>j  the  haughty  baron  and  the  proud  emperor,  as  well  as  by  the 
humble  vassal;  and  when  the  thunder  of  his  censure  rolled,  the 
prison  doors  flew  open,  the  hand  of  avarice  let  fall  the  wages  of  in- 
justice, and  the  knees  of  the  oppressor  beat  together." 

4.  This  Epoch  was  an  age  of  great  activity  and  intellectual 
energy.  The  stirring  events  and  grand  achievements  which  mark 
this  era  will  ever  remain  in  the  remembrance  of  man.  Such  were  the 
exciting  struggles  of  the  Church  with  the  temporal  powers  for  the 
maintenance  of  her  inalienable  rights  and  the  independence  of  her 
hierarchy;  such,  too,  were  the  crusades,  which  attempted  to  re-unite 
the  East  with  the  AVest.  The  wonderful  enthusiasm  which  thrilled 
the  West  for  the  liberation  of  the  Holy  Land,  contributed  much  to 
the  circulation  and  interchange  of  knowledge.  To  the  great  intellec- 
tual activity  of  those  times  are  likewise  owing  the  establishment  of 
many  universities,  the  erection  of  numerous  grand  cathedrals  through- 
out Europe,  the  foundation  of  the  great  military  and  monastic  orders, 
the  development  of  the  science  of  theology,  both  scholastic  and  myst- 
ical, and  the  splendid  achievements  in  every  department  of  science 
and  in  every  branch  of  art. 

5.  A  Church  which  achieved  results  so  glorious,  and  accomplished 
triumphs  so  grand  and  so  numerous,  as  this  epoch  exhibits,  must  call 
forth  feelings  of  love,  pride  and  gratitude.  But,  alas,  these  feelings 
are  alloyed  with  grief  and  sorrow.  As  this  epoch  was  drawing  to  a 
close,  "  the  Christian  world,"  says  Cardinal  Newman,  "  was  in  a  more 
melancholy  state  than  it  ever  had  been  either  before  or  since.  The 
sins  of  nations  were  accumulating  that  heavy  judgment  which  fell 
u^Don  them  in  the  Ottoman  conquests  and  the  Keformation.  There 
were  great  scandals  among  Bishops  and  Priests,  as  well  as  heresy  and 
insubordination.  As  to  the  Pontiffs  who  filled  the  Holy  See  during 
that  period,  I  will  say  no  more  than  this,  that  it  did  not  please  the 
good  Providence  of  God  to  raise  up  for  his  Church  such  heroic  men 


336  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

as  St.  Leo,  of  the  fifth,  and  St.  Gregory,  of  the  eleventh  century.  For 
a  time  the  Popes  removed  from  Italy  to  France;  then,  when  they  re- 
turned to  Rome,  there  was  a  schism  in  the  Papacy  for  nearly  forty 
years,  during  which  time  the  populations  of  Europe  were  perplexed 
to  find  the  real  successor  of  St.  Peter,  or  even  took  the  pretended  for 
the  true  one." 


CHAPTER  L 


I.     PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


SECTION   XXVn. PROGRESS    OF    CHRISTIANITY   IN   NORTHERN   EUROPE. 

Conversion  of  Northern  Nations— Mecklenburgians— Pomeranians— St.  Otho 
— Finns  —  St.  Henry  of  Upsala — Riigians  —  Livonian — Prussians — St. 
Bruno — Kniglits  of  Prussia — Conquest  by  the  Teutonic  Knights — Chris- 
tianity in  Denmark — In  Sweden — In  Norway. 

6.  The  great  work  of  evangelizing  the  heathen  was  continued 
throughout  this  epoch,  and  the  Church  received  vast  accessions,  es- 
pecially in  Northern  Europe.  These  conversions,  however,  owing  to 
the  invincible  pride  and  savage  character  of  the  Northern  nations, 
were  in  most  instances  mainly  accomplished  by  violence  and  the  force 
of  arms,  and  not,  as  in  preceding  ages,  by  the  power  of  persuasion. 
The  Pomeranians,  Prussians,  and  the  tribes  inhabiting  Finland,  Li- 
vonia, and  the  isle  of  Riigen,  embraced  the  faith,  because  neighbor- 
ing Christian  princes,  who  had  subjugated  them,  were,  in  self-defence, 
forced  to  offer  them  the  alternative  of  becoming  Christians  or  suffer- 
ing extermination. 

v.  The  conversion  of  the  Sclavonians  was  continued  in  this  epoch. 
The  Sclavonians  of  Mecklenburg  owe  their  conversion  principally  to 
their  prince  Gottschalk,  who,  after  becoming  a  Christian  himself,  in- 
duced his  subjects  also  to  embrace  the  faith,  about  the  year  1050. 
In  Pomerania  the  Gospel  had  been  preached  by  Polish  priests,  during 
the  eleventh  century,  but  with  little  fruit.  The  continuous  insurrec- 
tions of  the  stiff-necked  inhabitants  frustrated  every  effort  to  intro- 
duce Christianity  into  that  country.  The  episcopal  see  of  Kolberg 
ceased  with  the  death  of  its  first  bishop,  Reinbern,  in  1013.  Duke 
Boleslas  of  Poland  having  at  last  completely  subjugated  the  Pomera- 
nians, invited  St.  Otho,  bishop  of  Bamberg,  to  undertake  their  con- 
version.    Appointed  papal  legate  by  Pope  Calixtus  11.,  Otho,  in  1124,, 


CHRISTIANITY  IN  NORTHERN  EUROPE.  337 

entered  Pomerania  where  he  was  well  received,  and  vast  numbers 
were  baptized  in  the  cities  of  Camin,  Julin,  and  Stettin.  Adalbert,  the 
friend  and  companion  of  Otho,  was  appointed  bishop  of  Julin.  Otho 
returned  to  Bamberg,  where  he  died  in  1139. 

8.  The  Finns,  were  constrained  to  receive  baptism  by  St.  Erich 
IX.,  king  of  Sweden,  in  1157.  St.  Henrj,  bishop  of  Upsala,  became 
their  first  apostle,  but  was  murdered  by  them  in  1158.  The  conver- 
sion of  this  rude  and  warlike  people  was  not  finished  till  the  end  of 
the  following  century,  when  Thorkel  Knutson,  regent  of  Sweden, 
headed  a  crusade  against  them  and  completed  their  subjugation.  An 
episcopal  see  was  established  at  Radameki,  but  was  removed  to  Abo, 
in  1300.  The  inhabitants  of  the  isle  of  Eiigen,  in  the  Baltic  Sea,  were 
the  last  of  the  great  Sclavonic  family  to  embrace  the  Christian  faith. 
In  1168,  Arkona,  the  capital  of  the  island,  was  taken  by  Waldemar, 
king  of  Denmark,  and  the  monstrous  wooden  idol  with  four  heads, 
called  "Suantovit,"  a  corruption  of  "St.  Vitus,"  was  demolished; 
whereupon  the  Kiigians  consented  to  be  baptized. 

9.  In  1186,  Meinhard,  an  Augustinian  monk  of  the  monastery  of 
Siegberg,  preached  the  Gospel  in  Livonia  and  made  some  converts. 
He  built  a  church  at  Yxkiill,  and  of  this  place  he  was  appointed  and 

jonsecrated  bishop,  by  order  of  the  Holy  See,  in  1191.  His  successor, 
jBerthold,  led  a  crusade  against  the  Livonians,  but  fell  in  battle.  Al- 
^brecht,  third  bishop  of  Yxkiill,  headed  a  second  crusade  against  the 

>agan  inhabitants  and  put  an  end  to  their  ravages.  He  transferred 
le  episcopal  see  to  Riga,  a  city  founded  by  himself  on  the  Dwina. 
fFor  the  protection  of  the  Christians  and  their  churches,  Albrecht,  in 
1201,  founded  the  order  of  the  Sword-Bearers,  which  was  approved  by 
^the  Holy  See,  and,  in  1237,  affiliated  to  the  Teutonic  Order.  The  po- 
ipulation  of  Esthonia,  Courland,  and  Semgallen,  were  next  subjugated 
jiby  the  energetic  bishop,  Albrecht,  and  led  to  adopt  Christianity. 
IDorpat  became  the  episcopal  see  of  Esthonia;  Seelburg  of  Semgallen; 
["and  Wirland  and  Reval  of  Courland. 

10.  The  intractable  and  ferocious  Prussians,  on  the  Baltic  Sea, 
resisted  the  longest  of  all  the  introduction  of  Christianity  into  their 

^country.  Indeed,  as  late  as  the  thirteenth  century,  when  Christianity 
had  everywhere  else  triumphed  over  Paganism,  we  see  the  Prussians 
clinging  obstinately  to  idolatry.  St.  Adalbert,  bishop  of  Prague,  who 
first  attempted  the  conversion  of  these  fanatical  idolaters,  was  mur- 
dered in  997.  In  1008,  St.  Bruno,  a  Benedictine,  who  had  been  com- 
missioned by  Pope  Sylvester  II.  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  Prussia,  also 
suffered  martyrdom.  Christian,  a  Cistercian  monk  of  the  monastery 
of  Oliva,  near  Danzig,  was  more  successful ;  he  is  often  called  the 


388  HISTORY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

"Apostle  of  the  Prussians,"  and,  in  1214,  he  was  consecrated  their 
bishop. 

11.  The  continuous  ravages  by  the  heathen  Prussians  against  the 
Christian  population,  caused  Bishop  Christian  to  found  the  Order  of 
the  "  Knights  of  Prussia  "  and  to  lead  a  crusade  against  the  irrepres- 
sible Pagans.  A  bloody  war  ensued,  which  lasted  about  sixty  j^ears. 
The  "Knights  of  Prussia,"  having  met  with  a  disastrous  defeat,  the 
Teutonic  Knights,  at  the  instance  of  Christian,  undertook  the  con- 
quest of  Prussia,  and  under  the  lead  of  the  Grand  Master,  Herman  of 
Salza,  succeeded  in  reducing  the  ferocious  inhabitants  to  submission, 
in  1283.  Pope  Innocent  IV.,  in  1243,  established  the  three  bishoprics 
of  Culm,  Pomerania,  and  Ermeland,  to  which  afterwards  was  added  a. 
fourth,  at  Samland.  Besides  Christian,  Bishop  William  of  Modena, 
and  St.  Hyacinth,  one  of  the  first  members  of  the  Dominican  Order, 
were  zealous  apostles  of  the  Prussians.  The  last  country  in  Europe 
to  receive  the  Christian  religion,  was  Lithuania.  Jagellon,  duke  of 
Lithuania,  on  becoming  king  of  Poland,  in  1386,  accepted  the  Gospel 
and  persuaded  all  his  subjects  to  become  Christians. 

12.  In  Denmark,  Christianity  was,  from  its  first  planting,  in  a 
flourishing  condition.  In  the  reign  of  Canute  II.,  surnamed  the  Great, 
who  afterwards  succeeded  Edmund,  the  Ironside,  on  the  English 
throne,  many  of  his  Danish  followers  embraced  the  faith  in  England, 
while  many  of  the  English  ecclesiastics  labored  in  the  Danish  mission. 
Amongst  the  latter  was  St.  William,  who  conjointly  with  Swein,  son 
and  successor  of  Canute  in  his  Danish  dominions,  largely  aided  in  the 
propagation  of  the  faith.  About  two  centuries  later,  St.  Hyacinth  be- 
came a  zealous  apostle  of  this  nation. 

13.  The  progress  of  Christianity  in  Sweden  was  greatly  impaired 
and  retarded  by  repeated  civil  wars,  arising  chiefly  out  of  the  endless 
contests  between  rival  dynasties.  About  the  middle  of  the  twelfth 
century,  St.  Henry,  an  Englishman,  together  with  his  countryman. 
Cardinal  Nicholas  Breakspeare,  apostolic  legate  and  afterwards  Pope 
Adrian  IV.,  labored  strenuously  to  establish  and  confirm  the  faith  in 
Sweden.  Upsala  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  an  archbishopric;  and, 
in  1160,  Pope  Alexander  III,  created  the  archbishop  of  that  see,  metro- 
politan and  primate  of  the  Swedish  Church. 

14.  In  Norway,  King  Harald,  who  succeeded  his  brother,  St.  Olaf 
n.,  violently  arrested  the  spread  of  the  faith.  He  persecuted  the 
Christians  and  encouraged  the  Pagans.  Many  suffered  martyrdom 
under  him.  But  in  1035,  Magnus,  the  son  of  St.  Olaf,  was  called  to 
the  throne  of  Norway.  This  prince  did  much  for  the  preaching  of 
the  Gospel  in  his  kingdom.     He  rebuilt  the  cathedral  of  Drontheim, 


MISSIONS   TO   THE  HEATHEN.  339 

which  he  wished  should  be  dedicated  under  the  invocation  of  his 
sainted  father.  The  archbishopric  of  Drontheim  counted  nine  suffra- 
gan sees,  and  its  jurisdiction  extended  over  the  Faroe  Islands,  Iceland, 
and  Greenland.  About  the  year  1140,  Cardinal  Nicholas  Breakspeare, 
as  papal  legate,  had  official  duties  assigned  him  in  Norway,  of  which 
he  is  often  called  the  Apostle.  In  the  next  century  the  Polish  Domi- 
nican, St.  Hyacinth,  preached  in  that  country  with  consoling  results. 

SECTION   XXVm. MISSIONS   TO    THE   HEATHEN   AND   MOHAMMEDANS   IN 

ASIA   AND   APRICA. 

Christianity  among  the  Tartars — Prester-John — Christianity  among  the  Mon- 
gols— John  of  Monte  Corvino — Attempts  to  Convert  the  Mohammedans — 
Result — Congo  Mission. 

15.  In  Central  Asia,  the  Nestorians,  being  specially  favored  by  the 
Mohammedan  rulers,  had  made  considerable  headway:  their  sect  ex- 
tended from  China  to  Palestine,  all  over  Mesopotamia,  Persia,  Chaldea, 
Arabia,  Egypt,  and  even  India.  Among  their  converts  is  named 
Owang-Khan,  a  Tartar  king,  who  is  said  to  have  embraced  Christian- 
ity in  the  beginning  of  the  eleventh  century,  and  caused  his  subjects 
to  imitate  his  example.  He  was  at  once  ruler  and  priest  of  his  people, 
and  l^ecame  known  in  the  West,  by  the  name  of  Prester-John  (Priest- 
king).  The  Popes,  desirous  of  uniting  the  converted  nation  with  the 
Latin  Church,  sought  to  establish  relations  with  their  prince.  An  am- 
bassador from  one  of  the  successors  of  Prester-John  coming  to  Rome, 
in  1177,  was  consecreated  bishop  by  Alexander  HE.,  and  sent  back  to 
his  country  to  accomplish  the  union  of  the  Tartar  nation  with  the 
Koman  See. 

16.  But  this  Christian  kingdom  was  overthrown  by  the  Mongols, 
in  1202,  who  afterwards  subjugated  a  great  part  of  Asia,  and  overran 
Europe  as  far  as  Hungary  and  Poland.  Attempts  were  made  by  the 
Popes  and  by  St.  Louis  IX.  of  France,  to  convert  the  rude  Mongols  to 
Christianity.  The  Dominican  and  Franciscan  friars,  who  were  sent  to 
carry  the  light  of  faith  into  Tartary,  were  well  received;  but  they  met 
with  little  success. 

17.  The  mission  of  the  celebrated  Franciscan,  John  of  Monte  Cor- 
vino, among  the  Mongols  in  China  was  more  successful.  He  built 
two  churches  at  Kambalu  (now  Peking),  baptized  six  thousand  con- 
verts, and  translated  the  New  Testament  and  the  Psalms  into  the 
Mongolian  language.  On  hearing  these  happy  tidings,  Pope  Clement 
v.,  in  1307,  nominated  the  zealous  missionary  archbishop  of  Kambalu, 
and  sent  more  missionaries,  among  them  several  bishops,  to  Tartary 


340  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

and  China.     But  the  expulsion  of  the  Mongols  from  China,  in  1368, 
was  followed  by  the  suppression  of  Christianity  in  that  country. 

18.  In  this  epoch  also,  attempts  were  made  to  carry  the  faith 
among  the  Mohammedans  in  Asia  and  Africa.  During  the  siege  of 
Damietta,  by  the  Crusaders,  in  1219,  St.  Francis  of  Assisi  undertook 
to  preach  the  Gospel  to  the  Saracens;  but,  though  admired  as  "a  man 
of  God "  even  by  the  Sultan,  he  gained  no  disciples.  He  afterwards 
sent  six  friars  of  his  order  to  Morocco,  five  of  whom  suffered  death  by 
decapitation.  Many  other  fervent  preachers  of  the  mendicant  orders 
met  with  a  like  cruel  treatment.  In  the  single  year  1261,  more  than 
two  hundred  Franciscans  were  martyred  by  the  Mussulmans;  and  not 
long  after  one  hundred  and  ninety  Dominicans  received  from  the  same 
hands  the  stroke  of  death.  The  intrepid  Raymundus  LuUus,  after 
repeated  attempts  to  preach  Christianity  to  the  inhabitants  of  Tunis 
and  Brugia,  shared  a  similar  fate;  he  was  stoned  to  death  by  the  Mus- 
sulmans, in  1315. 

19.  All  these  efforts  to  convert  the  Mohammedans,  owing  to  their 
pride  and  invincible  prejudice,  were  quite  barren  of  expected  results. 
We  find,  however,  in  the  fourteenth  century,  bishops  of  the  Dominican 
order,  at  Morocco,  tanger,  and  Brugia.  Under  Portuguese  auspices, 
three  Dominican  friars  opened,  about  the  year  1491,  a  promising  mis- 
sion on  the  Congo,  in  Western  Africa.  The  Spaniards  and  Portuguese, 
while  extending  their  conquests,  were  full  of  zeal  for  the  propagation 
of  the  faith.  The  inhabitants  of  the  Canary  Islands  were  converted 
in  this  epoch,  and  the  settlement  of  the  Portuguese  in  India  was  dis- 
tinguished by  similar  blessings.  Immediately  upon  the  discovery  of 
America,  the  religious  orders,  especially  the  Dominicans,  Franciscans, 
Augustinians,  aud  Trinitarians,  vied  with  one  another  in  preaching 
the  Gospel  to  the  benighted  aborigines  of  the  New  Continent 


CRUtiADES.  341 

11.     THE   CRUSADES. 


■SECTION    XXIX.        THE   FIRST    CRUSADE    UNDER    GODFREY   OF    BOUILLON KINGDOM 

OF    JERUSALEM. 

« 

Pilgrimages — Capture  of  Jerusalem — Treatment  of  Christians — Scheme  of 
Sylvester  11.  and  Gregory  YII. — Peter  the  Hermit — Urban  II. — Council 
of  Clermont — First  Crusade — Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  King  of  Jerusalem — 
His  Successors. 

20.  Pilgrimages  to  Jerusalem,  and  the  places  consecrated  by  the 
presence  and  miracles  of  our  Divine  Saviour,  were  common  in  the 
earliest  ages  of  the  Church.  St.  Jerome  informs  us  that,  from  the 
Ascension  to  his  own  time,  a  ceaseless  stream  of  pilgrims  resorted  to 
Palestine,  to  visit  the  localities  that  had  been  hallowed  by  our  Blessed 
Lord's  life  and  sufferings.  Our  Saint's  example  itself  drew  many, 
among  whom  were  several  noble  matrons  of  Rome,  to  the  Holy  Land. 
The  discovery  of  our  Lord's  Sepulchre,  the  finding  of  the  true  Cross, 
and  the  building  of  magnificent  churches  over  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
and  other  shrines,  by  St.  Helena  and  Constantine  the  Great,  did  much 
to  encourage  the  practice.  These  pilgrimages  began  to  multiply  very 
rapidly  in  the  tenth  century,  in  consequence  of  an  opinion  very  gen- 
erally diffused,  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  at  hand.  Many  persons 
sold  their  estates,  and  emigrated  to  Palestine,  to  await  the  coming  of 
the  Lord. 

21.  The  capture  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Caliph  Omar,  in  the  sev- 
enth century,  did  not  interrupt  these  pious  journeys.  Omar,  and  his 
successors,  tolerating  Christian  worship,  protected  and  even  encour- 
aged pilgrims,  whose  arrival  brought  them  considerable  profit.  A 
change  took  place  in  the  treatment  of  the  Christians  in  Palestine, 
when,  in  969,  the  Fatimites,  or  Egyptian  Sultans,  became  masters  of 
Jerusalem.  In  1010,  there  was  a  fierce  persecution  of  the  Christians, 
by  the  fanatical  Sultan  Hakim.  The  church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
and  other  Christian  temples  in  Jerusalem  and  the  neighborhood,  were 
razed  to  the  ground,  and  pilgrims  Avere  subjected  to  every  extortion 
and  outrage  that  fanaticism  could  devise.  This  persecution,  after  a 
while,  relaxed,  and  pilgrims  were  permitted,  on  the  payment  of  a  heavy 
capitation-tax,  to  resume  their  devotions.  But,  when,  in  1072,  the 
Seljukian  Turks  under  Melek  Shah  conquered  Palestine,  the  native 
Christians,  as  well  as  the  pilgrims,  were  most  cruelly  oppressed  and 
treated  with  every  sort  of  contumely  and  indignity. 

22.  The  sufferings  of  the  Eastern  Christians,  and  the  oppression 
which  pilgrims  were  forced  to  endure,  at  the  hands  of  the  fanatical 


342  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Turks,  excited  universal  indignation  in  Europe.  At  the  close  of  the 
tenth  century,  Pope  Sylvester  II.  entreated  Christendom  to  succor 
the  suffering  Church  of  Jerusalem,  and  to  redeem  the  Holy  Sepulchre 
from  the  hands  of  the  infidels.  The  scheme  of  arming  Christendom 
for  the  deliverance  of  the  Holy  Land  from  Mohammedan  tyranny,  was 
fondly  cherished  also  by  Gregory  VII.,  who  was  prevented  from  plac- 
ing himself  at  the  head  of  a  crusade,  only  by  the  complicated  affairs  of 
the  "West.  The  plan  was  taken  up  again,  and  finally  carried  into  exe- 
cution, by  the  activity  of  Urban  II.,  and  the  eloquence  of  Peter  the 
Hermit. 

23.  About  the  year  1093,  Peter,  a  pious  and  holy  hermit  of  Amiens, 
in  France,  undertook  a  pilgrimage  to  Jerusalem.  The  desolation  of  the 
Holy  Places,  the  sufferings  and  despair  of  the  Christians,  and  the 
pitiable  complaints  and  entreaties  of  the  patriarch  Simeon,  filled  his 
soul  with  indignation  and  compassion.  Keturning  from  the  Holy 
Land,  the  pious  pilgrim  presented  himself  to  Pope  Urban  II.,  who 
warmly  approved  the  idea  of  organizing  a  crusade  for  the  deliverance 
of  Jerusalem,  and  charged  Peter  with  the  preaching  of  the  holy  war, 
which  he  did  with  wonderful  effect.  Wandering  from  land  to  land, 
Peter  everywhere  repeated  the  tale  of  woe  and  sufferings,  to  which 
the  Christians  in  the  East  were  subjected.  Most  far-reaching  was  the 
agitation  produced  by  the  preaching  of  the  eloquent  hermit.  Christen- 
dom, then,  felt  the  disgrace  involved  in  allowing  the  Holy  Places  to 
be  possessed  and  profaned  by  the  fanatical  Turks. 

24.  "While  the  zealous  indignation  that  the  insults  and  cruelties 
of  the  Turks  had  aroused  throughout  Europe,  was  at  its  height,  the 
Byzantine  emperor,  Alexius  Comnenus,  fearing  the  Turks  would  soon 
take  his  capital,  implored  the  succor  of  the  "West.  In  the  Councils  of 
Piacenza  and  Clermont,  Pope  Urban  eloquently  recommended  and 
urged  the  holy  enterprise  for  the  deliverance  of  Jerusalem.  Thou- 
sands of  clergymen  and  laymen,  congregated  in  the  open  air,  received 
the  proposals  with  acclamation  and  with  the  enthusiastic  cry:  "God 
wills  it!**  Multitudes  at  once  donned  the  badge  of  the  Cross,  as  the 
symbol  of  their  enlistment  for  the  holy  cause.  Pope  Urban  granted 
to  all  the  faithful  who  should  take  up  arms  against  the  infidels  in  the 
spirit  of  true  piety  and  penance,  full  remission  of  all  canonical  penal- 
ties laid  on  them  for  their  sins.  *     Bishop  Adhemar,  of  Puy,  who  had 

1.  "The  idea  of  encouraging  the  crusades  by  indulgences,"  observes  Archbishop  Kenrick, 
"has  afforded  abundant  niatrer  of  reproach.  These,  however,  were  intended  to  reward  tlie 
generous  devotedness  with  which  the  Crusaders  undertoolc  a  long  and  toilsome  journey,  and  ex- 
posed their  lives  in  a  just  war  connected  with  relijrion.  The  condition  of  true  penance  was 
always  prescribed  in  order  to  gain  tiiem;  and,  in  fact,  multitudes  of  most  abandoned  sinners  were 
won  to  Christ,  by  the  assurance  of  unqualified  lorgiveness  to  the  penitent  Crusader  .  .  .  Contri- 
tion of  heart,  with  the  humble  confession  of  sin.  is  invariably  required  in  the  Bulls  of  Eugene  III., 
Gregory  VIIL,  Innocent  III.,  and  the  other  Pontiflfe."    Primacy,  Ch.  VII.,  p.  333. 


CRUSADES.  343 

already  been  in  the  Holy  Land,  was  named  papal  legate  and  spiritual 
leader  of  this  First  Crusade. 

25.  A  mighty  enthusiasm  took  possession  of  all  hearts.  Every- 
where men  were  arming  themselves  with  assiduous  zeal,  and  a  new 
spirit  seemed  to  have  enlivened  the  nations.  Strife,  feud,  and  oppres- 
sion everywhere  ceased;  old  enemies  became  reconciled,  and  many  a 
criminal  presented  himself  to  begin  life  afresh,  and  atone  for  his  past 
misdeeds,  by  engaging  in  the  holy  campaign.  Thousands  were  too  im- 
patient to  await  formal  organization,  and  in  spring  1096,  a  disorderly 
and  half-armed  force  marched  through  Germany  and  Hungary  on 
their  way  to  Constaninople ;  but  for  want  of  equipment  and  discipline, 
they  perished  miserably.  Another  unruly  crowd  which,  after  a  bloody 
persecution  of  the  Jews,  set  out  unter  the  priest  Gottschalk  and  Count 
Emicho  of  Leiningen,  fared  no  better. 

26.  At  last  a  stately  army  numbering  over  a  half  a  million  valiant 
warriors,  such  as  Europe  and  Asia  had  not  seen  for  a  long  time,  set 
out  by  way  of  Constantinople,  for  Asia  Minor.  None  of  the  sovereigns 
of  Europe  took  active  part  in  the  First  Crusade;  but  many  of  their 
vassals  and  a  great  number  of  the  inferior  nobility  most  earnestly  and 
generously  engaged  in  the  undertaking.  The  most  distinguished 
among  these  were  the  brave  and  noble  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  Duke  of 
Lower  Lorraine;  Robert,  Duke  of  Normandy;  Hugh,  Count  of  Ver- 
mandois;  the  powerful  Count  Raymond  of  Toulouse;  Count  Robert 
of  Flanders;  Bohemund,  Prince  of  Tarentun,  and  his  brave  nephew, 
Tancred.  The  siege  and  capture  of  Nice  was  the  first  important  deed 
of  arms  achieved  by  the  crusaders.  A  great  victory  over  the  Sultan 
Soliman,  near  Dorylseum,  in  Phrygia,  opened  a  passage  into  Syria. 
Antioch  was  captured  after  a  siege  of  unparalleled  difficulty,  and  fin- 
ally, on  July  15,  1099,  Jerusalem  fell  into  the  hands  of  the  crusaders, 
and  became  the  capital  of  a  new  kingdom. 

27.  Godfrey  of  Bouillon  was  proclaimed  King  of  Jerusalem,  but 
the  pious  and  valiant  hero,  refusing  to  wear  a  crown  of  gold  where 
the  Saviour  had  borne  a  crown  of  thorns,  declined  the  title  of  King, 
and  styled  himself  simply  "Protector  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre."  After 
winning  a  glorious  victory  at  Ascalon,  over  the  far  superior  army  of 
the  Egyptian  Sultan,  Godfrey  died  in  the  course  of  the  following 
year.  Baldwin,  his  brother  and  successor,  assumed  the  title  of  King, 
and  transmitted  the  throne  to  his  cousin,  Baldwin  II.,  whose  posterity 
continued  to  reign  in  Palestine,  until  the  overthrow  of  the  kingdom 
by  Saladin,  in  1187.  For  the  maintenance  of  the  newly  founded  king- 
dom of  Jerusalem,  several  minor  states  were  established.  Edessa,  on 
the  Euphrates,  under  Baldwin,  brother  of  Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  de- 


344  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

fended  Jerusalem  on  the  East,  while  the  principality  of  Antioch,  which 
was  assigned  to  Prince  Bohemund  of  Tarentun,  and  Tripoli,  in  Syria, 
guarded  it  on  the  North. 

SECTION   XXX.       THE   CRUSADES, CONTINUEp. 

Fall  of  Edessa — St.  Bernard — Second  Crusade — Its  wretched  End — Fall  of 
Antioch — Sultan  Saladin — Fall  of  Jerusalem — Third  Crusade — Frederick 
Barbarossa — Fourth  Crusade — Latin  Empire — Fifth  Crusade — Sixth  Cru- 
sade— Treaty  of  Frederick  II. — Disasters  of  the  Christians  in  Palestine- 
Seventh  Crusade — St.  Louis  IX. — ^Eighth  Crusade — Results  and  Advant- 
ages of  the  Crusades. 

28.  Seven  distinct  Crusades — not  counting  the  "Children's  Cru- 
sade"— followed  the  first  grand  movement;  they  were  all  either  un- 
successful or  productive  of  only  transitory  advantages.  The  Christ- 
ians in  the  East  had  continually  to  sustain  severe  encounters  with  the 
infidels,  and  their  situation  became  extremely  precarious  when,  in 
1144,  Edessa,  justly  regarded  as  the  bulwark  of  the  Kingdom  of  Jeru- 
salem, was  taken  and  destroyed  by  the  powerful  Sultan  Zenki  of 
Mosul.  At  this  juncture,  Pope  Eugenius  III.  commissioned  St.  Ber- 
nard to  preach  the  Second  Crusade.  Conrad  in.,  of  Germany,  and 
Louis  VII.,  of  France,  assumed  the  Cross,  and,  in  1147,  they  set  out, 
each  with  an  imposing  army,  for  Palestine.  But  the  perfidy  of  the 
Greeks  and  the  temerity  and  licentiousness  of  the  crusaders  were  the 
chief  causes  of  the  disastrous  issue  of  this  promising  expedition.  The 
two  armies  were  almost  wholly  destroyed  by  the  Turks.  Both  mon- 
archs,  however,  reached  Palestine,  and,  with  their  shattered  forces, 
made  an  attempt  to  take  Damascus,  but  failed,  after  which  they  re- 
turned to  Europe. 

29.  This  disgraceful  termination  of  an  expedition,  from  which  so 
much  had  been  expected,  diffused  feelings  of  melancholy  and  surprise 
throughout  Christendom.  St.  Bernard,  the  prime  author  of  the  cru- 
sade, had  to  encounter  many  bitter  reproaches,  especially  from  the 
princes.  But  undaunted  by  these  accusations,  the  Saint  pointed  out 
the  follies  and  vices  of  the  crusaders,  as  the  true  causes  of  their  fail- 
ure. When,  in  1148,  Antioch  also  was  in  danger  of  being  conquered 
by  the  infidels,  the  old  enthusiasm  for  the  Holy  Land  seemed  to  flame 
forth  anew.  St.  Bernard  and  Abbot  Suger  formed  the  project  of  a 
new  expedition  to  the  Orient.  The  French  king  assented,  and  St. 
Bernard  was  designated  the  agitator  for  another  crusade.  Still,  the 
unwillingness  of  Emperor  Conrad  III.,  and  the  deaths  of  Suger,  his 
confidential  adviser,  and  of  Pope  Eugenius  III.,  served  to  restrain 


CRUSADES.  345 

the  ardor  of  the  West,  about  to  break  out  anew.  St.  Bernard  waa 
deeply  grieved  by  this  failure  in  setting  on  foot  a  new  expedition. 
Broken  down  by  disease  and  toil,  he  died,  in  1153. 

30.  Internal  discussions,  also,  greatly  paralyzed  the  strength  of 
the  Christians  in  the  East,  and  hastened  the  ruin  of  all  the  Latin  estab- 
lishments in  Palestine,  which  the  gallant  Templars,  and  the  Knights  of 
St.  John  labored  in  vain  to  avert.  The  kingdom  of  Jerusalem  was  in 
dire  distress,  when  the  celebrated  Saladin,  Sultan  of  Egypt,  resolved 
upon  the  conquest  of  Palestine.  The  battle  of  Tiberias  was  decided 
against  the  Christians.  King  Guy  and  the  Holy  Cross  fell  into  the 
hands  of  the  conqueror.  Following  up  his  victory,  Saladin,  in  rapid 
succession,  took  Acre,  Caesarea,  Joppa,  and,  finally,  Jerusalem  also, 

D.  1187. 

31.  The  news  of  the  fall  of  the  Holy  City  fired  the  nations  of 
Europe  and  gave  rise  to  the  Third  Crusade.  The  most  powerful  mon- 
archs  of  the  West,  Frederick  Barbarossa  of  Germany,  Philip  Augustus 
of  France,  Kichard  Coeur-de-Lion  of  England,  William  of  Sicily, 
rallied  under  the  standard  of  the  Cross.  The  emperor  Frederick,  tak- 
ing the  way  by  land  to  Asia  Minor,  defeated  the  Turks  in  several 
battles  and  took  the  city  of  Iconium.  But  in  the  midst  of  his  victor- 
ious career,  he  was  drowned  in  the  river  Calycadnus.  The  army  pro- 
ceeded to  Palestine  and  took  part  in  the  siege  of  Acre,  which,  after 
the  arrival  of  the  French  and  English  forces,  was  forced  to  surrender, 
in  1191.  Yet,  owing  to  the  quarrels  between  the  kings  of  France  and 
England,  and  the  dissensions  among  the  crusaders,  nothing  more  was 
effected.  Philip  returned  at  once  to  France.  The  English  king,  after 
concluding  a  treaty  which  secured  to  the  Christians,  besides  Antioch 
and  Tripolis,  the  sea-coast  from  Tyre  to  Joppa,  and  undisturbed  access 
to  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  hastened  homewards. 

32.  The  Fourth  Crusade,  which  was  undertaken  in  1202,  at  the 
instance  of  Pope  Innocent  HI.,  was  headed  by  no  great  sovereigns. 
Baldwin  of  Flanders,  and  Boniface,  count  of  Montferrat,  were  its 
principal  leaders.  But  this  Crusade  was  diverted  from  its  original 
design,  to  the  siege  and  conquest  of  Constantinople  which  became 
the  seat  of  the  new  Latin  Empire,  with  Baldwin  of  Flanders  as 
emperor;  while  Boniface  of  Montferrat  was  proclaimed  king  of  Thes- 
saly  and  Morea.  The  Latin  Empire  under  five  emperors,  lasted  little 
more  than  half  a  century,  or  till  the  year  1261,  when  Cons  tan  tino^^le 
was  recovered  by  the  Greeks,  and  the  hopes  of  uniting  the  Latin  and 
Greek  Churches,  which  the  possession  of  the  Byzantine  capital  had  in- 
spired, were  again  doomed  to  be  blighted.  During  the  pontificate  of 
Innocent  IH.,  occurred  the  singular  expedition,  known  as  the  "Child- 


346  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

ren's  Crusade."  In  1212,  several  thousand  boys — by  some  estim- 
ated as  high  as  twenty  thousand — left  their  paternal  homes,  for  the 
purpose  of  making  a  pilgrimage  to  the  Holy  Sepulchre;  but  the 
greater  part  perished  by  hunger  and  exhaustion,  and  the  rest  were 
sold  into  slavery  to  the  Mohammedans. 

33.  In  1217,  Pope  Honorius  III.  inaugurated  the  Fifth  Crusade, 
which  was  conducted  by  King  Andrew  II.  of  Hungary,  and  Duke 
Leopold  of  Austria.  After  a  short  campaign  in  Palestine,  Andrew, 
disgusted  at  the  dissensions  among  the  Eastern  Christians,  returned 
home.  Duke  Leopold  remained,  and,  having  received  reinforcements 
from  France,  England,  and  Italy,  undertook,  in  connection  with  John 
of  Brienne,  titular  king  of  Jerusalem,  an  expedition  against  Egypt, 
where  several  important  successes,  including  the  taking  of  Damietta, 
the  key  to  Egypt,  were  obtained.  Yet  the  hopes  of  Christendom  were 
dashed  through  the  treacherous  neglect  of  Frederick  II.,  to  support 
the  cause  of  the  crusaders,  in  repeatedly  postponing  his  promised  ex- 
pedition to  Palestine. 

34.  It  was  not  till  1228,  that  Frederick  11.,  who  was  then  under  the 
ban  of  excommunication,  entered  upon  his  long  delayed  crusade, 
which  is  ranked  as  the  Sixth,  although  having  little  of  a  religious  ob- 
ject. In  sheer  mockery  of  the  papal  excommunication  he  set  out  with 
a  small  force  for  the  Levant,  where  he  engaged  in  a  mimic  warfare 
against  the  Saracens.  His  conduct  in  the  Holy  Land,  and  his  secret 
negotiations  with  the  Saracens  were  not  conducive  toward  placing  him 
in  a  favorable  light  before  Christendom.  Frederick  concluded  a  treaty 
with  the  Sultan  Camel,  by  which  free  access  to  Jerusalem  and  other 
holy  places  was  guaranteed  to  the  Christians,  and  a  truce  of  ten  years 
accorded.  He  visited  the  church  of  the  Holy  Sepulchre,  and,  because 
no  ecclesiastic  would  perform  the  ceremony,  with  his  own  hands 
placed  the  crown  on  his  head. 

35.  The  treaty  of  Frederick  was  injurious  to  the  Christian  cause, 
and  its  evil  consequences  soon  manifested  themselves.  Even  in  1230, 
Jerusalem  was  stormed  by  a  horde  of  Saracen  fanatics  who  killed 
many  Christians,  and  ravaged  the  Holy  City.  The  Christians  suffered 
many  reverses  also  in  other  places.  Their  condition  became  still 
worse  when,  in  1244,  the  savage  Khorasmians,  flying  before  the  Mon- 
gols, threw  themselves  upon  Palestine,  and  scaled  the  walls  of  Jeru- 
salem, where  they  destroyed  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  perpetrated  un- 
speakable horrors  upon  the  inhabitants.  The  flower  of  Christian 
chivalry  fell  at  Gaza,  beneath  the  blows  of  the  infidel.  Jerusalem  fell 
permanently  into  their  possessions,  while  Acre,  and  a  few  other  towns 
on  the  coast,  were  all  that  remained  to  the  Christians. 

r  : 


CRUSADES.  347 

36.  These  disasters  caused  Innocent  IV.  at  the  Council  of  Lyons, 
A.  D.  1245,  to  proclaim  the  Seventh  Crusade.  Si  Louis  IX.  of  France 
was  the  only  prince  in  Europe  that  responded  to  the  appeal.  He  un- 
dertook the  two  last  crusades.  In  the  first,  he  landed,  in  1249,  at 
Damietta  in  Egypt,  and  easily  made  himself  master  of  the  city.  But 
the  rash  behavior  of  the  Count  of  Artois,  the  king's  brother,  caused 
the  ruin  of  this  crusade.  The  army,  already  thinned  by  sickness  and 
famine,  was  utterly  routed  and  the  king  himself  made  a  prisoner  and 
forced  to  purchase  his  freedom  by  the  payment  of  a  large  ransom. 
After  his  release,  the  pious  king  spent  four  years  more  in  Palestine, 
visiting  the  Holy  Places,  and  strenuously  exerting  himself  in  behalf 
of  the  Christian  cause.  The  death  of  his  pious  mother,  Blanche, 
the  queen-regent,  compelled  him  to  return  to  France. 

37.  Twenty  years  later,  Louis  IX.  placed  himself  at  the  head  of 
the  Eighth  Crusade,  which  he  directed  against  Tunis  in  Northern 
Africa,  whence  the  Egyptian  Sultans  were  receiving  great  support 
against  the  Christians.  A  pestilential  disease  raged  in  the  crusading 
army,  and,  after  numbers  of  brave  soldiers  had  fallen,  the  king  him- 
self was  carried  off  in  1270.  His  son,  Philip  III.,  concluded  an  honor- 
able peace,  and,  with  the  remnants  of  the  army,  returned  home.  The 
fate  of  Palestine  was  for  a  time  deferred  by  the  valor  of  King  Ed- 
ward I.  of  England,  who  extorted  a  ten  years'  truce  from  the  Sultan. 
The  subsequent  efforts  of  Gregory  X.  and  other  Pontiffs,  to  arouse  the 
energy  of  the  Christian  princes  to  the  rescue  of  the  Holy  Land,  were 
fruitless.  Acre,  or  Ptolemais,  the  last  stronghold  of  the  Christians, 
after  an  heroic  defence,  was  captured  by  the  infidels,  in  1291. 

38.  Although  the  crusades  did  not  fuUy  attain  their  immediate 
object,  the  entire  recovery  and  preservation  of  the  Holy  Land,  yet 
great  and  invaluable  were  the  advantages  to  religion  and  society 
which  they  produced. — 1.  The  crusades  re-awakened  the  Faith,  slum- 
bering in  mam^,  and  secured  its  triumph  over  the  rising  rationalism 
of  the  age.  These  popular  expeditions,  undertaken  in  the  name  of 
religion  and  humanity,  aroused,  by  the  memories  they  recalled,  the 
religious  feelings  of  the  Middle  Ages,  as  nothing  else  could  have 
aroused  them. — 2.  They  were  no  less  profitable  to  society,  not  only  by 
the  encouragement  they  afforded  to  science  and  art,  and  the  impetus 
they  imparted  to  commerce,  but  also  in  re-establishing  and  preserving 
peace  and  concord  among  Christian  nations.  Contemporary  writers 
tell  us  that  the  preaching  of  a  crusade  produced  everywhere  a  marvel- 
ous change:  dissensions  were  healed;  wars,  with  their  horrors  and 
crimes,  were  suddenly  brought  to  an  end;  strifes  among  petty  princes 
and  chieftains,  who  were  ever  quarrelling  among  themselves,  or  with 


348  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CHURCH. 

their  sovereigns,  and  whose  restlessness  had,  until  then,  brought  so 
many  evils  on  the  fairest  portions  of  Europe,  gradually  disappeared, 
and  other  public  disorders  ceased. — 3.  The  crusades  were  of  the  great- 
est importance  in  preserving  the  safety  of  Europe.  They  were  from 
their  commencement  virtually  defensive  wars,  waged  to  repel  Turkish 
aggression,  and  preserve  the  Catholic  nations  from  the  Mohammedan 
yoke.  They  preserved  Europe  for  centuries  from  her  hereditary  foe. 
— 4.  Through  the  crusades  the  institution  of  chivalry  attained  its  full 
development,  as  they  gave  occasion  for  the  establishment  of  new 
orders  which  presented  a  model  of  chivalry,  and  combined  all  the 
knightly  virtues. — 5.  That  the  clergy  derived  an  increase  of  power 
and  wealth  from  the  crusades,  is  historically  untrue.  On  the  contrary, 
the  clergy,  from  the  Pope  down  to  the  lowest  ecclesiastic,  contributed 
the  greater  part  of  the  subsidies  levied  for  the  recovery  and  defence 
of  the  Holy  Land.  From  those  wars,  the  Popes  sought  no  accession  of 
power  or  augmentation  of  territory;  they  cheerfully  left  to  the  cru- 
saders the  conquered  country,  with  the  spoils  and  honors  of  war.  The 
crusades  did  not,  and  could  not,  add  to  the  papal  power;  but  the 
pre-eminence  and  influence  of  the  Pope,  which  result  from  his  office 
and  dignity  as  Head  of  Christendom,  were  mainly  and  essentially  in- 
strumental in  setting  on  foot  these  vast  movements  of  the  European 
powers,  for  the  reconquest  of  the  Holy  Land. 


STATE  OF  THE  CHURCH.  349 


CHAPTER  n. 


EELATION  OF  THE   PAPACY   TO  THE  EMPIRE. 


SECTION    XXXI. STATE    OF    THE    CHT?KCH    IN    THE    ELEVENTH    CENTURY. 

Dominant  Evils — Simony — Abuses  consequent  to  Simony — Clerical  Incoiitin> 
ence— St.  Paul  on  Holy  Celibacy — Its  Advantages — Neglect  of  Celibacy — 
Eminent  Bishops — Lay  Investiture — How  Introduced — Its  Prevalence — 
Vassalage  of  Bishops — Homagium — Political  Influence  of  Churchmen — 
Disadvantages  and  evil  Consequences. 

39.  Before  resuming  the  history  of  the  Papacy,  it  may  be  well  to 
take  a  glance  at  the  condition  in  which  the  Church  found  herself  at 
the  beginning  of  this  epoch.  The  dominant  evils  of  the  time,  as  then 
deplored  by  all  zealous  churchmen,  were  simony,  or  the  sale  of  eccle- 
siastical benefices;  incontinence,  or  the  marriage  of  the  clergy,  and 
lay  investiture  of  prelatial  dignities  and  insignia.  Simony  and  incon- 
tinence had  struck  deep  roots  among  the  clergy  of  almost  every 
country  in  Europe.  These  evils  began  during  the  enslavement  of  the 
Papacy  in  the  tenth  century;  the  scandal  spread,  and  had  now  con- 
tinued so  long  that  the  inferior  clergy  pleaded  custom  for  their  ir- 
regularities. These  crying  abuses  were  the  cause  of  much  bitter  grief 
to  the  Church,  and  subsequently  became  the  occasion  of  a  fierce  strife, 
which  continued  for  half  a  century,  between  the  Papacy  and  the  sec- 
ular power. 

40.  To  guard  the  sacred  ministry  against  the  intrusion  of  un- 
worthy persons,  the  Church,  adopting  the  maxim  of  the  Prince  of  the 
Apostles,  St.  Peter,  enacted  stringent  laws  against  simoniacal  prefer- 
ments to  spiritual  offices.  But  simony  w^as  the  common  reproach  of 
the  clergy  of  Italy,  France,  and  Germany,  in  the  eleventh  century. 
St.  Abbo,  abbot  of  Fleury,  who  flourished  in  the  beginning  of  the  ele- 
venth century,  in  his  Apologeticus,  tells  us  that  ecclesiastical  positions, 
from  the  episcopate  down  to  the  lowest  parochial  cure,  were  often 
venal,  and  hence  fell  into  the  hands  of  ignorant  and  immoral  persons. 
Kings  and  princes  usurped  the  right  of  naming  bishops,  abbots,  and 
others  to  ecclesiastical  offices,  which  often  were  sold  to  the  highest 
bidder.  Every  spiritual  dignity  and  function  became  an  object  of 
barter  and  sale.     The  evil  worked  downwards.     The  bishop,  who  had 


350  HISTOBY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

obtained  his  see  by  purchase,  indemnified  himself  by  selling  the  in- 
ferior prebends,  or  cures. 

41.  The  evil  of  simony  was  the  fruitful  source  of  great  abuses  and 
scandals  in  the  Church;  it  trampled  down  every  barrier  of  ecclesiasti- 
cal discipline.  The  sacred  ministry  was  frequently  disgraced  by  men 
who  assumed  its  functions  and  obligations,  not  from  pure  and  holy 
motives,  but  from  mercenary  inducements.  It  undermined  the  power 
and  authority  of  the  clergy.  The  priest  or  bishop  laboring  under  the 
imputation  of  simony,  which  from  its  odious  name  was  acknowledged 
to  be  a  crime,  almost  heresy,  was  naturally  held  up,  by  the  decrees  of 
Popes  and  Councils,  as  a  hireling,  and  as  an  object  of  horror  and  con- 
tempt, rather  than  of  respect.  Against  the  vice  of  simony,  especially 
Gregory  VII.,  St.  Peter  Damiani,  and  other  holy  prelates  inveighed 
with  such  great  earnestness,  employing  all  their  power  and  influence 
for  its  extirpation. 

42.  "With  this  widespread  simony  was,  as  might  be  expected,  clo- 
sely connected  the  other  great  vice  of  the  age,  incontinence,  or  mar- 
riage of  the  clergy.  The  doctrine  and  example  of  Christ  taught  his 
first  disciples  to  hold  the  virtue  of  perfect  chastity  in  the  highest 
esteem.  The  Apostle  of  the  Gentiles  proclaimed  to  the  faithful  the 
paramount  advantage  that  belongs  to  the  state  of  celibacy.  While 
the  married  man  was,  according  to  St.  Paul,  solicitous  for  the  things 
of  this  world,  the  unmarried  person,  on  the  contrary,  was  concerned 
only  for  those  things  that  belong  to  the  Lord,  how  he  may  please 
God.  1.  Cor.  vii.  32-33.  The  lesson  contained  in  these  inspired 
maxims  had  induced  the  Church,  from  the  beginning,  to  enjoin  cel- 
ibacy as  an  obligation  on  the  clergy  in  higher  orders.  To  seciue 
their  entire  affection  and  service  to  her  cause,  she  ever  persevered  in 
rigidly  excluding  her  priests  from  the  married  state. 

43.  The  rule  of  celibacy,  however,  was  openly  violated  during  the 
ninth  and  tenth  centuries,  especially  in  Italy,  Germany,  France,  and 
England;  the  abuse  made  incessant  progress  till  the  middle  of  the 
eleventh  century.  The  writings  of  St.  Peter  Damian  exhibit  a  gloomy 
picture  of  the  extent  of  clerical  incontinence,  in  his  days.  The  Church 
had  many  unworthy  ministers,  because  the  princes  of  the  world  had 
thrust  them  upon  her;  she  had  to  weep  over  rampant  immorality, 
which  in  her  bondage  she  was  unable  to  check. 

44.  But  while  many  among  the  clergy  grieved  the  Church  by 
their  vicious  and  wanton  life,  others,  not  a  few,  consoled  and  edified 
her  by  their  many  illustrious  virtues  as  well  as  by  their  zeal  in  en- 
forcing ecclesiastical  discipline.  There  were  many  illustrious  exam- 
ples of  purity  and  perfection  in  the  sanctuary  and  in  the  cloister,  and 


STATE  OF  THE  CHURCH.  351 

many  worthy  prelates  who  employed  every  means  to  insist  on  the 
canonical  observance  of  celibacy  among  their  clergy.  The  most  emin- 
ent of  the  bishops  who  thus  labored  to  reform  abuses  in  Germany 
were  Meingaz  und  Poppo  of  Treves;  Heribert  und  Piligrinus  of  Co- 
logne; Willigis  and  Aribo  of  Mentz;  Burchard  of  Worms;  Thietmar 
of  Osnabruck;  Bemward  and  Godehard  of  Hildesheim;  Sibert  and 
Bruno  of  Minden;  Meinhard  and  Bruno  of  Wiirzburg;  and  Unuman 
of  Bremen. 

45.  The  Church  never  relaxed  in  her  work  of  reforming  ecclesias- 
tical abuses  and  in  exacting  clerical  celibacy.  Witness  the  great 
number  of  Synods  that  were  held  in  the  eleventh  century,  in  which 
reformatory  statutes  were  enacted  and  simoniacal  bishops  and  incon- 
tinent priests  were  deposed  and  excommunicated.  The  Synod  of 
Kheims,  in  1049,  enacted,  that  no  one  should  presume  to  receive  epis- 
copal consecration,  who  had  not  first  been  elected  by  the  clergy  and 
the  people.  When  papal  elections  ceased  to  be  under  the  restraints 
of  secular  interference,  the  Popes,  especially  Gregory  VII.,  began  at 
once  the  difficult  but  needed  task  of  elevating  the  delinquent  portion 
of  the  clergy  from  its  degraded  condition. 

46.  The  right  of  investiture,  as  claimed  by  the  German  emperors 
and  other  princes,  was  viewed  by  all  zealous  churchmen  of  the  time  as 
the  real  and  chief  cause  of  these  evils  in  the  Church.  The  humble 
condition  of  the  Church  in  the  early  ages,  made  the  secular  rulers  but 
little  solicitous  about  the  appointment  of  bishops  or  other  spiritual 
functionaries.  But,  when  kings  themselves  embraced  the  Christian 
religion,  the  importance  of  exercising  a  certain  control  over  ecclesias- 
tical elections,  naturally  attracted  their  attention,  and  they  soon  be- 
gan to  demand  that  such  clergymen  only,  as  found  favor  with  them, 
should  be  promoted  to  the  episcopal  digjiity.  By  this  means,  they 
hoped  to  strengthen  the  stability  of  their  throne,  and  to  secure  the 
support  and  influence  of  the  clergy  against  powerful  vassals. 

4Y.  Such,  especially,  became  the  rule  in  the  kingdoms^  founded  on 
the  ruins  of  the  Roman  Empire — Italy,  France,  Germany — and  in  Eng- 
land. Piety  or  policy  had  led  many  of  the  Western  princes  to  endow 
the  Church  generously,  and  clothe  her  ministers  with  power  and 
honors.  In  many  countries  churchmen  obtained  extensive  landed 
estates,  including  even  castles  and  cities;  kings  and  emperors,  partic- 
ularly Otho  I.,  conferred  a  large  portion  of  the  crown-lands,  which  had 
formerly  belonged  to  vassals,  upon  bishops  and  abbots,  who  in  this 
manner  acquired  seigniorial  rights,  and  thus,  virtually,  became  them- 
selves the  vassals  of  their  sovereign. 


iSi  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUBCIL 

48.  Furtliermore,  the  tenure  of  Church  property,  in  those  times,  was 
likened  to  that  of  lay  fiefs;  bishops  and  abbots,  like  lay  vassals,  had  to 
take  the  oath  of  personal  and  feudal  fidelity  (vassalagium,  or  homagium) 
to  their  liege  lord,  by  which  they  bound  themselves  to  serve  the  king  in 
war,  to  appear  at  his  call  at  court,  and  to  remain  subject  to  his  juris- 
diction. The  taking  of  the  oath  was  followed  by  the  investiture  of 
the  temporalities  of  the  see,  which  the  feudal  lord  conferred  by  put- 
ting the  ring  and  crosier  into  the  hands  of  the  newly-elected,  or  even 
the  merely  nominated  prelate.  This  custom  led  to  the  worst  of  con- 
fusions; for  the  ring  and  the  crosier  being  in  themselves  the  sym- 
bols of  spiritual  dignity  and  jurisdiction,  the  idea  gradually  arose 
that  princes  possessed  the  right  and  power  of  conferring,  not  the  tem- 
poral possessions  only,  but  the  spiritual  office  as  well.  This  explains 
the  opposition  of  the  Popes  to  the  practice  of  investiture  by  the  deliv- 
ery of  the  ring  and  the  crosier,  which  arose  partly  from  the  simoniacal 
traffic  in  ecclesiastical  benefices,  and  partly  from  the  seeming  com- 
munication of  spiritual  power  by  these  symbols. 

49.  The  great  political  power,  which  churchmen  acquired  under 
the  feudal  system,  and  the  close  union  existing  between  the  priesthood 
and  the  secular  power  added,  indeed,  great  outward  splendor  and 
authority  to  the  Church;  but  they,  also,  opened  the  way  to  great 
abuses  and  scandals.  By  degrees,  secular  princes  not  only  laid  claims 
to  confer  the  temporalities  attached  to  a  see,  but,  also,  usurped  the 
right  of  nominating  to  bishoprics  and  abbacies,  even  without  the  con- 
sent and  concurrence  of  the  Holy  See.  The  liege  lords,  believing  that, 
with  the  fiefs,  they  had  also  the  disposal  of  the  ecclesiastical  dignities 
attached  to  them,  generally  enforced  them,  without  regard  to  other 
qualifications,  and  often  in  defiance  of  all  ecclesiastical  laws,  upon 
persons  of  whose  personal  fealty  they  were  assured,  or  who  were 
nearly  allied  to  them  by  ties  of  blood.  Thus  it  happened  that  boys 
of  five  years,  and  ignorant  and  wicked  favorites  of  kings  and  power- 
ful nobles,  were  intruded  into  bishoprics  and  abbacies.  Piety,  learn- 
ing, virtue,  and  even  celibacy,  in  many  instances,  were  not  considered 
necessary  qualifications  for  the  episcopacy.  Ecclesiastical  offices  and 
benefices  became  filled  by  unworthy  clerics  who,  instead  of  edifying 
the  faithful,  caused  grievous  scandal.  Such  were  the  evils  result- 
ing from  lay  investiture,  by  means  of  which  the  Church  was  held  in 
bondage,  and  her  children  deprived  of  her  motherly  care  and  protec- 
tion, were  committed  to  faithless  hirelings. 


n 


PREDECESSORS  OF  GREGORY  VIL  353 


SECTION    XXXII.       PREDECESSORS    OF    GREGORY   VII. 

Leo  IX. — His  Zeal  for  Reform — Peter  Damian — Hildebrand — Victor  II. — 
Council  at  Florence — Godfrey  ofLorraine — Stephen  IX. — Nicholas  11. — 
Benedict  X. ,  Antipope — Lateran  Council — Papal  Elections  transferred  to 
the  Cardinals — Norman  Alliance — Robert  Guiscard — Alexander  II. — Pa- 
taria— Honorius  II. ,  Antipope. 

50.  To  reform  the  abuses  and  scandals  which  simony  and  lay  in- 
terference caused  in  the  Church,  required  the  zeal  and  energy  of  an 
Apostle  in  the  chief  pastor.  Such  a  Pontiff  was  Leo  IX.  With  his 
accession,  a  better  and  brighter  era  commenced  for  the  Church.  He, 
immediately,  inaugurated  the  necessary  work  of  reforming  irregular- 
ities among  the  clergy;  throughout  Italy,  he  enforced  vigorous  meas- 
ures against  simony  and  incontinence.  Nor  did  he  confine  his  zeal 
for  reformation  to  the  city  of  Rome  or  Italy;  it  comprehended  the 
whole  of  Latin  Christendom.  St.  Peter  Damian,  and  Hildebrand,  the 
greatest  churchman,  perhaps,  of  all  ages,  whom  Leo  appointed  sub- 
deacon  and  treasurer  of  the  Roman  Church,  nobly  aided  the  Pope  in 
his  reformatory  endeavors.  With  an  energy,  which  foreshadowed  his 
future  greatness,  Hildebrand  soon  improved  the  impoverished  con- 
dition, to  which  the  Holy  See  had  been  reduced  in  consequence  of  the 
arbitrary  disposal  of  its  estates  by  Emperor  Henry  m.  of  Germany.  ' 

51.  On  the  death  of  Leo  IX.,  the  clergy  and  people  thought  of 
electing  Hildebrand  as  his  successor.  When  he  declined  the  dignity, 
it  was  determined  to  send  an  embassy  to  Germany,  at  the  head  of 
which  was  Hildebrand  himself,  to  request  the  emperor  to  name  a  can- 
didate for  the  Papacy.  Gebhard,  bishop  of  Eichstadt,  and  counselor 
of  the  emperor,  a  man  of  consummate  abilities,  was  designated  as  the 
one  to  be  chosen  by  the  Romans.  Yielding  to  the  pressing  entreaties 
of  Hildebrand  and  the  emperor,  Gebhard  accepted  the  nomination,  on 
the  express  condition,  that  the  emperor  would  restore  to  the  Holy  See 
the  rights  and  possessions  which  had  been  withheld.  Having  been 
elected  at  Rome,  he  was  installed  as  "Victor  H.  A.  D.  1054 — 1057.  He 
was  the  fifth  German  Pope. 

52.  Victor  II.  continued  the  reforms  begun  by  his  predecessors. 
He  held  a  Council  in  the  presence  of  the  emperor  at  Florence,  in  which 
decrees  were  enacted  against  the  alienation  of  church  property,  and 
the  prevailing  vices.  Hildebrand  was  sent  into  France  as  legate,  to 
complete  the  ecclesiastical  reform  commenced  by  the  preceding  Pope. 
Henry  III.  restored  to  the  Roman  See,  as  he  had  promised,  the  Duchy 
of  Spoleto  and  the  County  of  Camerino,  and,  when  dying,  A.  D.  1056, 


164  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

♦ 

appointed  the  Pope  regent  of  the  Empire,  and  guardian  of  his  infant 
son,  Henry  IV.  Pope  Victor  did  not  long  survive  his  imperial  friend; 
he  died  the  following  year  at  Arezzo  in  Tuscany. 

53.  On  the  death  of  Henry  m.,  Godfrey,  Duke  of  Lorraine,  who 
was  married  to  Beatrice,  the  widow  of  Boniface,  margrave  of  Tuscany, 
was  created  "Patricius  of  Rome."  "When  the  unexpected  intelligence 
of  Pope  Victor's  death  arrived  at  Rome,  the  Cardinal  Frederic,  brother 
of  Godfrey,  was,  much  against  his  will,  elected,  and  at  once  conse- 
crated under  the  name  of  Stephen  IX.,  A.  D.  1057 — 1058.  The  new 
Pontiff  was  a  man  of  the  loftiest  and  most  determined  spirit.  As  legate 
of  Leo  IX.,  at  Constantinople,  he  had  asserted  the  Roman  supremacy 
in  the  strongest  terms  against  the  haughty  patriarch  Michael  Cerula- 
rius.  Stephen  continued  the  measures  of  reform  adopted  by  his  pre- 
decessors against  ecclesiastical  abuses;  only  men  of  merit  were  raised 
to  ecclesiastical  dignities,  among  whom  Peter  Damian  was  created  by 
him  bishop  of  Ostia  and  cardinal. 

54.  Before  his  death,  which  occured  after  a  useful  pontificate  of 
only  nine  months.  Pope  Stephen  had  commanded  the  Romans,  under 
pain  of  excommunication,  not  to  proceed  to  the  election  of  a  Pontiff 
until  the  return  of  Hildebrand,  who  was  then  on  a  mission  to  the  Ger- 
man court.  But  the  Roman  nobility  and  the  inferior  orders  among 
the  clergy  disregarded  this  prohibition,  and,  with  the  support  of  the 
Tusculan  party,  set  up  John,  bishop  of  Velletri,  as  Benedict  X.  The 
cardinals,  protesting  against  this  intrusion,  were  compelled  to  leave 
IRome.  On  learning  the  appointment  of  an  antipope,  Hildebrand 
summoned  the  exiled  cardinals  to  Sienna,  and  there,  Gerard,  bishop 
of  Florence,  a  man  of  great  learning  and  ability,  was  chosen  under  the 
jiame  of  Nicholas  11.,  A.  D.  1059 — 1061.  The  antipope  Benedict  at 
once  submitted  to  the  lawful  Pontiff,  and  received  absolution. 

55.  The  brief,  but  useful,  pontificate  of  Nicholas  11.  is  marked  by 
two  events  of  great  importance — the  decree  for  the  election  of  the 
pope  by  the  cardinals,  and  the  alliance  with  the  Normans.  To  rescue 
papal  elections  from  the  partisan  influence  of  the  Romans,  and  from 
all  undue  interference  of  secular  princes,  Nicholas  in  a  Synod  held,  in 
1059,  in  the  Lateran  palace,  passed  a  law  to  the  following  effect: 
1. — The  election  of  a  Pope  is  reserved  exclusively  to  the  cardinals ;  2. — 
To  the  emperor,  who  personally  attained  this  privilege  from  the  Holy 
See,  is  allowed  only  the  prerogative  of  ratifying  the  election;  3. — If  a^ 
worthy  person  can  be  found  among  the  Roman  clergy,  he  is  to  be  pre- 
ferred; otherwise  a  foreigner  shall  be  elected;  4. — If  a  proper  election 
eannot  take  place  in  Rome,  it  may  be  held  anywhere  else. 


PBEDECJESSOBS  OF  GREGORY  VII.  355 

56.  By  this  decree  Nicholas  laid  the  foundation  of  that  celebrated 
mode  of  papal  election  in  a  conclave,  and,  as  far  as  possible,  prepared 
the  way  for  an  absolute  emancipation  of  the  Papacy  from  the  imperial 
control,  as  also  removed  from  the  Romans,  and,  later  on,  from  Italians 
generally,  any  grounds,  under  the  pretext  of  the  spirit  of  nationality, 
for  rebelling  against  the  Temporal  Power  of  the  Popes.  Nicholas,  in 
1061,  added  another  decree,  by  which  it  was  distinctly  stated,  that  the 
election  conducted  in  the  foregoing  manner,  at  once  placed  the  Pope- 
elect  in  pbssession  of  plenary  apostolic  authority,  and,  consequently, 
the  emperor's  confirmation  was  not  necessary  to  render  the  election 
valid. 

5Y.  The  second  important  event  of  the  pontificate  of  Nicholas  11. 
was  the  conversion  of  the  hostile  Normans  into  the  faithful  allies  and 
protectors  of  the  Roman  See.  By  the  famous  treaty  of  Melfi,  which 
he  concluded,  in  1061,  with  the  Norman  chiefs,  Richard  and  Robert 
Guiscard,  Nicholas  invested  the  former  in  the  principality  of  Capua, 
and  the  latter  in  the  dukedom  of  Apulia  and  Calabria,  and  in  the  is- 
land of  Sicily,  which  Robert  was  to  reconquer  from  the  Saracens.  The 
Norman  princes  took  the  oath  of  fealty  to  the  Pope,  and  promised  to 
protect  the  Roman  Church  against  its  enemies  and  secure  the  freedom 
of  papal  elections.  The  Norman  dominion  in  Lower  Italy  was  destined 
to  become  the  bulwark  of  the  Holy  See  against  the  Italian  factions 
and  tyrants,  and  against  the  German  emperors  themselves. 

58.  After  a  vacancy  of  about  three  months,  Anselm,  bishop  of 
Lucca,  was  elected,  chiefly  through  the  influence  of  Hildebrand;  he 
took  the  name  of  Alexander  11.,  A.  D.  1061 — 1073.  He  had  given  proof 
of  his  virtue,  and  of  his  zeal  for  clerical  celibacy,  while  yet  only  a  priest 
at  Milan,  where  the  practice  of  simony  and  marriage  was  quite  gen- 
eral among  the  clergy,  and  countenanced  even  by  the  simoniacal  arch- 
bishop Guido.  He  boldly  denounced  clerical  corruptions,  especially 
against  the  anomaly  of  a  married  clergy.  "With  the  two  Milanese 
priests,  Ariold  and  Landulf,  he  bound  himself  in  a  holy  league,  called 
"Pataria,"  for  the  extirpation  of  simony  and  the  enforcement  of  clerical 
celibacy.  To  rid  himself  of  the  disagreeable  monitor,  Guido  had  An- 
selm promoted  to  the  see  of  Lucca. 

59.  The  election  of  Alexander  IL,  having  been  made  without  the 
consent  of  Henry  JJV.,  gave  great  offense  to  the  court  of  Germany. 
Under  the  auspices  of  the  Empress  Agnes,  mother  of  the  young  mon- 
arch, a  diet  met  at  Basle,  composed  of  German  and  Italian  nobles, 
which  annulled  the  election  of  Alexander  11.,  and  set  up  an  antipope, 
Cadalous,  bishop  of  Parma,  who  took  the  name  of  Honorius  11.  His 
intrusion  at  once  aroused  the  indignation  of  all  the  well-disposed,  and 


356  HISTOBY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

was  the  cause  of  great  confusion  and  much  bloodshed  in  Italy.  Fin- 
ally, the  diet  of  Augsburg,  in  1062,  and  the  Council  of  Mantua,  in 
1064,  ended  the  schism  by  declaring  in  favor  of  the  lawful  Pontiff. 
This  happy  result  was  mainly  due  to  Archbishop  Hanno  of  Cologne, 
tutor  of  Henry  IV.  and  administrator  of  the  Empire.  Cadalous,  never- 
theless, though  abandoned  by  his  abettors,  never  renounced  the  title 
of  Pope;  he  died,  almost  forgotten  by  the  world,  about  A.  D.  10 T 2. 

60.  Pope  Alexander  with  vigor  and  ability  prosecuted  the  work 
of  reformation;  by  legates,  as  well  as  by  numerous  synods,  held  in 
Italy,  France,  Germany,  and  Spain,  he  labored  effectually  for  the  cor- 
rection of  existing  abuses,  and  the  restoration  of  ecclesiastical  dis- 
cipline; he  fearlessly  resisted  the  intrusion  of  unworthy  bishops  into 
episcopal  sees  through  the  influence  of  princes  and  nobles.  The 
contest  at  Milan  and  in  other  parts  of  Upper  Italy  against  the  simon- 
iacal  and  married  clergy,  was  continued  by  the  "  Patarines  "  with  much 
success.  After  the  death  of  Ariold,  who  was  assassinated  at  the  in- 
stigation of  the  Simonists,  in  1066,  Herlembald,  brother  of  Landulf, 
assumed  the  lead  of  the  "Pataria."  Pope  Alexander  bestowed  upon 
him  the  consecrated  banner  of  St.  Peter,  and  appointed  him  standard- 
bearer  of  the  Roman  Church  in  her  holy  warfare  against  the  Simon- 
ists, and  against  the  Nicolaitans,  as  the  advocates  of  clerical  marriage 
were  called.  The  petition  of  the  licentious  Henry  TV.  for  a  divorce  of 
his  marriage  with  Bertha,  Alexander  11.  rejected,  and  severely  reproved 
the  royal  libertine  for  his  excesses  and  crimes.  Shortly  before  his 
death,  the  resolute  Pontiff  excommunicated  Henry's  counselors,  who 
were  addicted  to  the  practice  of  simony,  and  summoned  the  king  him- 
self to  Rome. 

SECTION    XXXni.       PONTIFICATE    OF    GREGORY   VU. 

Election  of  Gregory  YII.— His  Antecedents— Confirmation  of  Gregory's  Elec- 
tion by  Henry  lY.— Chief  Object  of  Gregory's  Pontificate — His  Views  and 
Principles — Decrees  against  Simony  and  Incontinence — Opposition  of  the 
Married  Clergy — Suspension  of  Bishops — Synod  of  Rome— Decree  against 
Lay  Investiture. 

61.  The  funeral  obseqmes  of  Alexander  IE.  had  scarcely  been 
terminated,  when  the  unanimous  voice,  both  of  the  clergy  and  the 
people,  called  the  archdeacon  Hildebrand  to  the  Papacy,  and  the  car- 
dinals hastened  to  confirm  the  choice.  With  reluctance,  Hildebrand 
finally  accepted  the  proffered  dignity,  which  he  had  sought  in  vain  to 
avert.  In  memory  of  his  former  friend,  Gregory  VI.,  whom  he 
highly  revered,  he  took  the  name  of  Gregory  YIT<,  A.  D.  1073 — 1085. 


PONTIFICATE  OF  QREOOBY  VII.  357 

Gregory,  then  sixty  years  of  age,  for  the  previous  twenty-foiir  years 
had  wielded  a  paramount  influence  in  the  affairs  and  government  of 
the  Church.  As  confidential  adviser  of  the  five  preceding  Popes,  he 
had  aided  in  planning  and  carrying  out  the  much  needed  reforms; 
and  as  papal  legate  in  Italy,  France,  and  Germany,  he  had  displayed 
great  prudence  and  vigor  in  correcting  abuses,  and  restoring  eccle- 
siastical discipline ;  but  he  had  also  learned  the  many  difficulties  that 
would  beset  a  Pope  who  endeavored  to  govern  the  Church  as  became 
the  spiritual  head  of  Christendom. 

62.  Gregory  commenced  his  reign  with  calmness  and  prudence. 
To  comply  with  the  decree  of  Nicholas  11.  requiring  the  imperial 
assent,  he  despatched  messengers  to  Henry  IV.  to  inform  him  of  his 
elevation,  and  receive  his  consent.  It  is  said  that,  at  the  same  time 
he  warned  Henry  not  to  sanction  his  election,  adding  that,  if  he  were 
recognized  as  Pope,  he  would  no  longer  patiently  endure  that  mon- 
arch's odious  and  flagrant  excesses.  Gregory,  bishop  of  Vercelli,  the 
chancellor  of  Italy,  was  sent  to  Kome  to  signify  the  imperial  assent. 
This  is  the  last  instance  of  a  papal  election  being  ratified  by  an  em- 
peror. 

63.  The  avowed  object  of  Gregory's  pontificate  was  to  secure  the 
freedom  of  the  Church  and  purify  the  sanctuary  from  the  evils  which 
had  been  injected  into  it  by  feudalism  and  the  interference  of  the  sec- 
ular power.  For  this  end,  he  at  once  set  himself  to  reform  the  abuses 
and  scandals,  the  existence  of  which  he  constantly  deplored  in  his 
letters.  "The  Eastern  Church,"  he  writes,  "has  lost  the  true  faith, 
and  is  now  assailed  on  every  side  by  infidels.  In  whatever  direction 
one  turns  his  eyes — to  the  West,  to  the  North,  or  to  the  South — every- 
where are  to  be  found  bishops  who  have  obtained  the  episcopal  office 
in  an  irregular  way,  whose  lives  and  conversation  are  out  of  harmony 
with  their  sacred  calling,  and  who  perform  their  duties,  not  from  love 
of  Christ,  but  from  motives  of  wordly  ambition.  There  are  no  longer 
princes  now  who  set  God's  honor  before  their  own  selfish  ends,  or 
who  allow  justice  to  stand  in  the  way  of  their  ambition."  ^ 


1.  Gregory  frequently  expressed  his  guiding  principles  in  Ms  letters  and  encyclicals.  "  Our 
one  wish,"  he  says,  "is  that  the  wicked  may  be  enlightened  and  return  to  their  Creator.  Our 
one  longing  is  to  see  Holy  Church,  now  trodden  under  foot,  in  confusion,  and  divided  into  vari- 
ous parties,  restored  to  her  ancient  beauty  and  strength.  Our  one  endeavor  and  aim  is  that  God 
may  reign  in  us,  and  that  we  with  our  brethren,  and  tliose  who  persecute  us,  may  become  worthy 
to  enter  into  eternal  life."  Again  he  writes:  '-The  princes  of  the  people  and  the  princes  of  the 
priests  come  out  with  great  multitudes  against  Christ,  the  Son  of  the  Almighty  God,  and  against 
His  Apostle  Peter,  to  destroy  the  Christian  religion,  and  spread  the  perversion  of  heresy.  But, 
by  the  grace  of  God,  neither  threats,  nor  persuasion,  nor  promises  of  earthly  honor,  will  avail  to 
withdraw  from  Him  to  their  impiety  those  who  trust  in  the  Lord.  They  have  entered  into  a  league 
against  us,  because  we  cannot  be  silent  when  the  Church  is  in  danger,  and  because  we  resist 
those  who  feel  no  shame  in  reducing  the  Bride  of  Christ  to  slavery.  A  woman,  how  poor  soever, 
may  lawfully  take  a  husband  according  to  the  laws  of  her  country  and  her  own  Avish;  but  the  will 
of  wicked  men  and  their  horrid  devices  would  prevent  Holy  Church,  the  Bride  of  God  and  our 


358  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

64.  Gregory  boldly  commenced  his  work  of  reform  with  the  clergy. 
With  great  vigor  and  circumspection  he  proceeded  against  such 
bishops  and  abbots,  as  had  obtained  their  appointments  uncanonically 
from  temporal  princes,  and  against  simonists  and  married  priests.  In 
a  Synod  at  Rome,  A.  D.  1074,  he  revived  all  the  old  decrees  against 
simony  and  incontinency,  and,  moreover,  ordained  that  all  ecclesiastics 
who  had  obtained  their  benefices  or  dignities  by  purchase,  should  be 
deprived  of  all  their  powers  and  rights,  and  that  all  married  priests 
should  be  deposed  at  once.  In  order  to  give  effect  to  this  decree,  he 
prohibited  the  faithful  to  assist  at  the  mass  of  such  priests,  or  to 
receive  the  sacraments  at  their  hands,  thus  making  the  people  the 
executors  of  his  energetic  measures.  These  enactments  were  nothing 
new,  as  they  were  based  upon  similar  decrees  of  previous  Popes,  and 
enforced  only  what  was  law  in  the  Church  from  the  beginning. 

65.  The  efforts  of  Gregory  to  enforce  the  observance  of  celibacy, 
met  with  a  decided  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  married  priests,  es- 
pecially in  Upper  Italy,  France,  and  Germany.  All  manner  of  objec- 
tions were  urged  against  the  obligation  of  the  rule  of  celibacy.  Many 
of  the  married  priests  who  cited  passages  of  our  Lord's  teachings 
(Math.  xix.  11),  and  of  St.  Paul's  (1.  Cor.  vii.  2.  9;  1.  Tim.  iii.  2)  in  sup- 
port of  their  position  and  against  the  Pope,  went  so  far  as  to  declare 
that  they  would  rather  renounce  the  priesthood  than  their  marriage 
contract;  and  that  "the  Pope,  if  men  were  not  good  enough  for  him, 
might  go  seek  angels  to  preside  over  the  people !"  Bishops  who  undertook 
to  enforce  the  papal  decrees  were  resisted,  sometimes  even  assaulted. 
John,  archbishop  of  Rouen,  daring  in  a  public  synod  to  prohibit  under 
anathema  the  priests  to  retain  those  whom  he  called  their  concubines, 
was  overwhelmed  with  a  shower  of  stones,  and  driven  out  of  the 
church.  When  the  abbot  of  Pont-Isere,  at  a  Council  at  Paris,  dared 
to  say  that  the  papal  decree  must  be  obeyed,  he  was  dragged  out  of 
the  assembly,  struck  in  the  face  by  the  king's  servants,  and  hardly 
rescued  alive.  Prominent  among  those  opposing  the  papal  decree  re- 
garding the  rule  of  celibacy,  was  Otho,  bishop  of  Constance,  who  even 
encouraged  his  priests  to  marry. 

66.  Pope  Gregory,  however,  by  no  means  intimitated  by  this  op- 
position, refused  to  depart  in  the  least  from  what  he  rightly  deemed 
the  true  ideal  of  the  priesthood.  Hence,  in  a  second  Synod,  held  at 
Rome,  the  following  year,  he  renewed  the  decrees  against  simony  an< 


Mother,  from  adhering  lawfully,  according  to  God's  laws  and  her  own  desire,  to  her  Bridegroom 
upon  earth  We  cannot  suffer  that  heretics,  adulterers,  and  usurpers  should  stand  in  the  place 
or  fathers  to  the  children  of  the  Church,  and  should  brand  them  with  the  dishonor  ol  adultery." 


CONFLICT  WITH  HENBY  IV.  359 

clerical  incontinence.  The  bishops  Sicmar  of  Bremen,  Werner  of 
Strassburg,  Henry  of  Spires,  Herman  of  Bamberg,  William  of  Pavia, 
Cunibert  of  Turin,  and  Dionysius  of  Piacenza,  who  were  guilty  of  sim- 
ony, or  of  opposition  to  the  Holy  See  enforcing  ecclesiastical  reforms, 
were  interdicted  from  the  performance  of  their  functions. 

67.  To  strike  the  evil  at  its  root,  Gregory  in  the  same  synod  pro- 
hibited under  pain  of  excommunication  the  practice  of  lay  investiture, 
withdrawing  from  the  laity  once  and  for  all,  the  power  of  appointing 
to  spiritual  offices.  He  enacted  that,  "if  any  person  should  accept  a 
bishopric  or  an  abbacy  from  the  hands  of  a  layman,  such  one  should 
not  be  regarded  as  a  bishop  or  an  abbot,  nor  should  he  enter  a  church 
until  he  had  given  up  the  benefice  thus  illegally  obtained.  And,  if  any 
person,  even  though  he  were  king  or  emperor,  should  confer  the  in- 
vestiture of  an  ecclesiastical  office,  such  one  should  be  cut  off  from 
the  communion  of  the  Church."  ^  Finally,  he  excommunicated  the 
counselors  of  the  German  monarch,  who  were  addicted  to  the  shameful 
practice  of  selling  ecclesiastical  benefices  to  the  highest  bidder.  These 
sweeping  enactments  produced  a  great  excitement,  especially  in  Ger- 
many; they  were  the  unavoidable  cause  of  that  bitter  strife  betw^een 
the  Church  and  the  Empire,  known  in  history  as  the  "Contest  of  In- 
vestiture ;"  but  they  also  served  to  purify  the  sanctuary  from  the  evils 
which  had  been  introduced  into  it  by  the  barbarism  of  the  age;  and 
they  finally  secured  the  freedom  of  ecclesiastical  elections  and  the 
emancipation  of  the  hierarchy  from  the  thraldom  of  secular  au- 
thority. 

SECTION  xxxiv.     Gregory's  vn.  contlict  with  henry  tv. 

Gregory's  Admonition — Henry's  Reply — Saxon  Revolt — Breach  between  Em- 
peror and  Pope — Henrj-  Summoned  to  Rome — Gregorj^  seized  by  Cen- 
clus — Proceedings  of  Henry — Conventicle  of  Worms — Declaration  against 
the  Pope — Synod  of  Piacenza — Henry's  Insulting  Letter  to  Gregory — 
Synod  at  Rome — Excommunication  and  Release  from  the  Oath  of  Alle- 
giance— Gregory's  Object — Diet  at  Tribur. 

68.  Pope  Gregory  could  not  hope  to  carry  out  his  plan  for  reform- 
ing the  Church,  without  the  co-operation  of  the  temporal  princes. 
From  some  of  them,  at  least,  he  had  every  reason  to  expect  the  most 
determined  opposition.     Hence,  he  sought,  from  the  very  commence- 


1.  These  provisions  were  neither  arbitrary  nor  innovative;  they  were  supported  by  a  series  of 
previous  canons,  and  Gregory  only  revived  what  had  been  made  law  by  preceding  Councils;  as 
for  instance,  by  the  Seventh  General  Council  under  Hadrian  I.,  which  ordained  that  "  every  ap- 
pointment of  a  bishop,  priest,  or  deacon,  made  by  secular  princes,  should  be  considered  void, 
according  to  the  canon  which  enacts  that:  "If  a  bishop  has  obtained  the  charge  of  a  church 
through  the  influence  of  secular  princes,  he  shall  be  deposed  and  cut  off,  together  with  all  those 
who  hold  communion  with  him." 


360  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

ment  of  his  pontificate,  to  secure  for  the  grand  object  he  had  in  view, 
the  favor  and  support  of  the  sovereigns  of  Europe,  especially  of  Henry 
rV.  of  Germany.  His  first  overt  act  relating  to  the  German  monarch 
was  a  kind  admonition  to  him  to  become  reconciled  to  the  Church;  to 
abstain  from  simoniacal  presentations  to  ecclesiastical  benefices,  and 
to  render  due  allegiance  to  the  Holy  See.  He  expressed  a  desire  to 
negotiate  with  the  prince  upon  some  agreement  for  the  regulation  of 
ecclesiastical  affairs,  particularly  appointments  to  ecclesiastical  bene- 
fices, in  Germany.  The  admonition  reached  Henry  in  the  most  peril- 
ous time  of  his  war  with  the  Saxons,  who  had  taken  up  arms  against 
his  tyrannical  rule.  He  wrote  to  the  Pope  a  submissive  letter,  in 
which  he  called  him  father,  acknowledged  that  he  had  invaded  the 
territory  of  the  Church,  and  preferred  unworthy  persons  to  ecclesias- 
tical dignities.  He  testified  repentance  for  his  misdeeds,  and  prom- 
ised amendment  and  obedience,  beseeching  counsel  and  assistance  from 
the  Pope. 

69.  But  no  sooner  had  Henry  put  down  the  Saxon  insurrection, 
than  he  broke  through  all  restraints;  his  insolence  caused  him  to  dis- 
regard all  former  promises,  and  set  the  admonition  of  the  Poj)e,  and 
the  laws  of  the  Church  at  defiance.  He  reinstated  the  excommuni- 
cated counselors,  oppressed  the  Saxons  with  increased  severity,  and 
continued  the  practice  of  investiture,  selling  bishoprics,  and  even  rob- 
bing churches  of  their  precious  stones  to  bestow  them  upon  his  con- 
cubines. Pope  Gregory,  who  had  been  appealed  to  by  the  Germans, 
could  not  be  indifferent  to  these  scandals,  to  these  flagrant  violations 
of  all  human  and  divine  rights.  He  kindly  warned  the  German  sov- 
ereign, both  by  letter  and  private  embassy,  to  change  his  conduct  and 
repair  whatever  evil  he  had  done;  but  in  vain. 

70.  Without  fear  or  shame,  Henry  ill-treated  the  papal  legates, 
and  insultingly  dismissed  them,  who,  thereupon,  were  compelled  to 
summon  him  to  Rome,  to  answer  before  a  synod  the  charges  of  the 
grave  crimes  imputed  to  him.  Contemporary  writers  specify  those 
crimes,  namely,  utter  disregard  of  the  public  interests,  the  cruel  op- 
pression of  his  subjects,  the  arbitrary  and  disgraceful  proceedings 
with  regard  to  bishoprics,  the  dishonor  of  the  wives  and  daughters  of 
the  princes,  the  banishment  of  guiltless  prelates  and  nobles,  and  the 
butchery  of  many  innocent  persons. 

71.  In  the  meantime,  a  conspiracy  was  formed  against  the  Pope, 
in  Rome  itself,  by  some  of  the  nobility,  whose  extortions  and  j)illages 
he  had  stopped.  Cencius,  the  leader  of  the  conspirators,  seized  upon 
the  person  of  the  Pontiff  while  celebrating  Mass  on  Christmasday,  and 
threw  him  into  prison.     But  the  indignant  Romans  soon  rescued  the 


CONFLICT   WITH  HENRY  IV.  861 

Pope;  Cencius  would  have  been  torn  to  pieces  but  for  Gregory's  inter- 
vention. In  all  probability,  Henry,  and  Guibert,  archbishop  of  Ra- 
venna, were  the  secret  instigators  of  this  outrage  against  the  Pope. 

72.  Henry,  dreading  excommunication,  sought  to  forestall  it  by 
the  sacrilegious  attempt  to  depose  the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  In  the  be- 
ginning of  the  year  1076,  he  hastily  convened  at  Worms  the  princes 
and  prelates  devoted  to  his  cause,  and  procured  a  sentence  of  deposi- 
tion against  Gregory.  Of  the  bishops  present  only  two,  Adelbert  of 
Wurzburg,  and  Herman  of  Metz  hesitated  to  sign  the  sentence;  but 
being  offered  the  alternative  of  either  signing  or  disclaiming  their 
allegiance  to  the  monarch,  they,  also  subscribed.  "This  shows," 
says  the  Protestant  Neander,  "to  what  extent  these  bishops  and 
abbots  were  willing  to  be  employed  as  the  blind  tools  of  power,  and 
how  much  they  needed  a  severe  regent  at  the  head  of  the  Church." 
The  simoniacal  bishops  of  Lombardy,  at  Henry's  bidding,  hastened  to 
approve,  at  the  Synod  of  Piacenza,  the  disgraceful  action  of  the  assem- 
bly at  Worms.  Thus  the  unhappy  conflict  which  produced  so  much 
injury  to  the  Empire,  began  with  a  crime  that  threatened  to  plunge  the 
whole  Church  into  the  direst  confusion. 

73.  The  mock  sentence  of  the  conventicle  of  Worms  was  an- 
nounced to  the  Pope  in  a  letter  addressed  in  the  following  arrogant 
and  insulting  terms:  "Henry,  not  by  usurpation,  but  by  God's  ordi- 
nance. King,  to  Hildebrand,  no  longer  Pope,  but  a  false  monk."  It 
accused  Gregory  of  having  usurped  the  Papacy,  and  of  tyrannyzing 
the  Church,  and  commanded  him  to  leave  at  once  St.  Peter's  chair 
and  the  government  of  the  Roman  Church !  In  another  letter,  Henry 
announced  to  the  Romans  that,  as  Patrician,  he  had  deposed  the  Pope, 
and  called  upon  them  to  compel  Gregory  to  surrender  the  Apostolic 
Chair  and  make  way  for  one  whom  he  himself  would  choose. 

74.  Meanwhile  Gregory  had  summoned  a  Council  to  meet  in  Rome 
the  following  month.  Just  as  he  was  opening  the  Synod,  the  Pope 
received  the  sentence  of  deposition  which  Henry  had  the  audacity 
to  send  him.  Thereupon,  at  the  instance  of  one  hundred  and  ten 
bishops,  and  in  the  presence  of  the  Empress-mother  Agnes,  he  solemn- 
ly excommunicated  Henry,  released  his  subjects  from  their  oath  of 
allegiance^  forbade  him  to  exercise  his  right  of  government,^  and  de- 
posed and  excommunicated  the  prelates  who  had  concurred  in  the 


1.  "This,"  savs  Cardinal  Hergenroether,  "was  neither  a  deposition  nor  a  deprivation;  it  was 
merely  a  suspension,  and  was,  according  to  the  usage  of  the  lime,  a  necessary  consequence  of  the 
excommunication;  for  none  of  the  faithful  could  hold  intercourse  with  an  excommunicated 
person,  and  no  one  being  excommunicated  was  capable  ol  governing,  as  long  as  he  remained 
under  the  ban.  It  was  not  an  irrevocable  sentence,  but  a  measure  to  endure  until  the  required 
satislaction  should  be  performed;  if,  however,  the  obstinacy  continued  for  a  year,  the  sentence 
was  definitive. 


362  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

proceedings  at  Worms.  Those  prelates  who  had  assented  from  com- 
pulsion, were  allowed  time  to  make  their  peace  with  the  Holy  See.  He 
reserved  it  to  himself  to  absolve  from  this  excommunication;  other- 
wise, time-serving,  or  unfaithful,  bishops  might  have  absolved  the 
monarch  without  requiring  due  satisfaction.  It  was  Gregory's  object 
to  move  Henry  to  repentance,  not  to  deprive  him  of  his  crown.  Hence, 
he  warned  the  German  Princes  not  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  election 
of  a  new  sovereign,  but  to  urge  Henry  to  repentance,  granting  him 
time  to  make  peace  with  the  Church  and  thus  save  his  throne. 

75.  Henry,  at  first,  affected  to  treat  the  sentence  of  the  Pope  with 
contempt,  and  determined  to  revenge  himself.  But  the  excommunica- 
tion of  the  German  Sovereign  created  a  great  sensation  among  his 
subjects,  who  began  gradually  to  avoid  his  company.  His  party  was 
daily  decreasing  in  numbers.  In  October,  1076,  the  German  princes, 
headed  by  Rudolph  of  Swabia,  Henry's  brother-in-law,  met  at  Tribur, 
near  Darmstadt,  to  consider  the  election  of  a  new  ruler,  which  was 
prevented  only  by  the  interposition  of  the  Pope  and  his  legates.  The 
princes,  weary  of  Henry's  misgovernment,  agreed  that  his  case  should 
be  decided  at  a  diet  to  be  held,  under  the  direction  of  the  Pope,  at 
Augsburg,  in  February,  1077:  that,  in  the  meantime,  Henry  should 
give  up  the  administration  of  public  affairs,  perform  no  act  of  supreme 
authority,  and  hold  no  intercourse  with  his  excommunicated  coun- 
selors; and,  if  not  reconciled  to  the  Church  within  a  year,  he  was,  "by 
an  ancient  law  of  the  Empire,"  to  be  considered  deposed  from  the 
throne. 

SECTION   XXXV.       THE    CONFLICT   WITH    HENRY   IV, CONTINUED. 

Henry  lY.  at  Canossa — Reconciliation — Faithlessness  of  Henry — Election  of 
Henry — Election  of  Rudolph  of  Swabia — Gregory  Unconnected  with  this 
Election — Guibert  of  Ravenna,  Antipope — Death  of  Rudolph — Henry  in 
Italy — Siege  of  Rome — Election  of  Hermann  of  Luxemburg — Occupation 
of  Rome — Succors  from  the  Normans — Retirement  and  Death  of  Gregory. 

76.  To  escape  the  loss  of  his  throne,  Henry  submitted  to  the  con- 
ditions prescribed  by  the  assembly  of  Tribur;  but  as  he  had  to  fear 
the  worst  from  the  coming  diet,  he  sent  word  to  the  Pope  that  he  pre- 
ferred to  have  his  case  tried  before  his  Holiness  in  Rome,  rather  than 
to  risk  a  trial  at  Augsburg.  Gregory,  however,  who  did  not  wish  to 
forestall  the  action  of  the  diet,  declined  to  accede  to  the  request.  To 
secure  absolution  before  the  meeting  of  the  much  dreaded  diet,  Henry 
resolved  to  anticipate  the  journey  of  the  Pope  to  Germany.  He  set 
out  for  Italy  in  the  exceptionally  cold  winter  of  1076-77,  and  unex- 


CONFLICT  WITH  HENRY  IV.  363 

pectedly  appeared  at  Canossa,  whither  Gregory,  who  was  then  on  his 
way  to  Germany,  had  withdrawn  on  hearing  of  Henry's  arrival  in  Italy. 
Clad  in  a  penitential  garb,  the  excommunicated  monarch  remained  for 
three  days  before  the  gates  of  the  castle  occupied  by  the  Pope,  beg- 
ging absolution  from  excommunication/ 

77.  Henry's  sudden  appearance  somewhat  perplexed  the  Pope, 
ior,  by  taking  this  journey,  the  German  monarch  had  broken  the 
condition  imposed  on  him,  of  awaiting  the  Pope  at  Augsburg;  and 
Gregory  neither  wished  nor  dared  to  pass  judgment  on  the  accused 
sovereign  at  a  distance  from  his  accusers.  As  Henry,  seeing  that  the 
possession  of  his  crown  depended  on  his  immediate  absolution,  now 
declared  himself  ready  to  make  all  necessary  promises,  Gregory  could 
resist  no  longer;  he  granted  him  absolution,  with  reservations,  how- 
ever, in  case  of  relapse.  The  Pope  immediately  sent  a  messenger  to 
inform  the  German  princes  of  that  absolution,  at  the  same  time  ac- 
quainting them  with  the  reasons  of  his  own  action,  as  well  as  with  the 
terms  which  Henry  had  accepted.  One  of  the  conditions  most  insisted 
upon  by  the  Pope,  was  that  Henry  should  appear  before  a  diet  to  an- 
swer the  charges  brought  against  him  by  the  princes. 

78.  Henry's  repentance  was  of  short  duration.  The  barons  and 
evil-doing  bishops  of  Lombardy  being  much  displeased  with  the 
reforms  of  Gregory,  induced  Henry  to  disregard  the  obligation  of  the 
covenant  at  Canossa.  They  openly  spoke  of  deposing  the  Pope,  and 
an  attempt  was  made  to  seize  his  person,  which,  however,  happily 
failed.  Gregory  being  prevented  from  going  to  Germany,  the  pro- 
posed diet  at  Augsburg  could  not  take  place.  But,  already  in  March, 
1077,  the  German  princes,  contrary  to  Gregory's  wish,  had  elected 
Duke  Eudolph  of  Swabia  king  in  Henry's  place.  This  plunged  Ger- 
many at  once  into  a  civil  war.''  Gregory  remained  neutral  in  this  civil 
strife,  but  made  every  effort  to  effect  a  compromise  between  the  con- 
testants. The  consequence  was,  that  both  parties  were  displeased  with 
the  Pope. 


1.  The  affair  of  Canossa  was  not  so  dreadful  as  is  represented  by  some  writers.  Henry  dia  not 
remain  Jjarefoot  in  tlie  snow  before  the  gates  of  the  castle  for  three  successive  days  and  nights; 
he  returned  to  his  lodgings  at  nightfall;  neither  was  he  destitute  of  all  clothing;  he  wore  ''the 
garb  of  penance,"  or  hair-cloth  shirt  over  his  ordinary  dress.  The  penance  which  Henry  per- 
formed at  Canossa,  was  in  no  way  imposed  upon  him  by  the  Pope,  but  was  freely  undertaken  as 
a  proof  of  amended  dispositions;  it  was  a  punishment  not  uncommon  in  those  days,  and  was  not 
considered  degrading.  The  apparent  severity  of  Gregory  was  fully  justified  by  the  speady  and 
aggravating  relapse  of  Henry  into  his  usual  excesses. 

2.  "This  civil  war,"  writes  Cardinal  Hergenraether,  "can  no  more  be  laid  to  Gregory's 
charge  than  the  one  before  it,  which  was  occasioned  by  Henry's  oppression  of  the  Saxons.  He 
had  no  part  in  Rudolph's  election,  and  the  flame  of  civil  strife  was  kindled  by  Henry's  faithless 
violation  of  treaties.  Nay,  Gregory  was  bitterly  reproached  by  Rudolph's  followers  for  not  de- 
claring himself  positively  against  Henry,  and  for  still  clinging  to  the  hope  of  his  conversion  .  .  . 
In  reply  to  this  reproach,  Gregory,  on  the  1st  of  October,  1079,  declared  to  the  followers  of  Rudolph 
that  it  was  the  more  unjustificable  in  them,  to  accuse  him  of  an  inconsiderate  policy,  since  no 
one  more  than  he  had  to  suffer  from  Henry.'' 


364  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

79.  Henry,  in  the  meantime,  made  himself  guilty  of  fresh  crimes. 
He  employed  every  means  to  hinder  the  meeting  of  the  diet  which 
was  to  settle  the  dispute  between  him  and  his  rival.  He  recommenced 
the  practice  of  investiture,  and  even  appointed  bishops  to  sees  already 
filled.  Thus  it  occured  that  many  bishoj)rics  had  two  claimants,  the 
one  belonging  to  the  party  of  Henry,  the  other  to  that  of  Rudolph. 
;The  whole  policy  and  conduct  of  Henr}^  made  it  evident  that  he  was 
only  trifling  with  Gregory,  and  awaiting  an  opportunity  to  set  him  at 
defiance  altogether.  The  Pope,  at  last,  after  all  his  endeavors  to 
bring  Henry  to  a  better  mind,  and  effect  a  reconciliation,  had  been 
unavailing,  renewed  on  him  the  sentence  of  excommunication,  at  a 
Synod  held  in  Rome,  A.  D.  1080,  and  at  the  same  time  acknowledged 
Rudolph  as  king.^ 

80.  Henry  met  the  papal  sentence  by  assembling  the  rebellious 
bishops  of  Germany  and  Italy  at  Mentz  and  Brixen;  they  declared 
Gregory  deposed  f  rom  the  Papacy,  and  elected  as  antipope,  under 
the  name  of  Clement  III.,  the  excommunicated  Archbishop  Guibert 
of  Ravenna.  After  the  death  of  Rudolph,  who  fell  in  battle  the  same 
year,  Henry  proceeded  to  Italy  to  install  his  antipope.  He  ravaged 
the  possessions  of  the  Pope's  faithful  ally,  the  countess  Mathilda,  and 
prevented  her  from  rendering  support  to  the  Holy  See.  Gregory's 
distress  was  at  this  moment  extreme:  he  was  without  all  hope  of 
earthly  assistance.  Still,  he  remained  firm  and  declared  that  he  would 
rather  sacrifice  his  life  than  foresake  the  path  of  justice. 

81.  For  three  successive  years,  Henry  encamped  under  the  walls 
of  Rome,  but  the  Romans  maintained  their  fidelity  to  the  Pope.  Fin- 
ally, in  1083,  by  surprise  he  got  possession  of  the  Leonine  city  and  St. 
Peter's  church;  he,  then,  asked  Gregory  who  had  retreated  to  the 
castle  of  St.  Angelo,  to  crown  him  Emperor,  promising  to  abandon  the 
antipope.  But  the  Pope  rejecting  the  offer,  replied  that  the  excom- 
municated monarch  must  first  of  all  perform  satisfactory  penance,  and 
thus  obtain  absolution.  This  Henry  refused  to  do;  but  he  agreed  to 
leave  the  decision  of  the  contest  to  a  council  which  the  Pope  convoked 
in  November,  1083.     Notwithstanding  his  sworn  promise  to  allow  free 


1.  It  Is  an  unfounded  assertion  that  Gregory  treated  all  princes  as  vassals  of  the  Holy  See. 
His  letters  speak  only  of  a  religious  obedience  in  matters  purely  ecclesiastical.  The  principle  he 
wished  to  enforce  was,  that  all  princes  should  acknowledge  the  supremacy  of  God's  law,  and  rec- 
ognize Him  as  the  source  of  their  own  jurisdiction  and  power,  and,  consequently,  they  should  not 
make  their  own  will  the  supreme  law,  but  be  guided  by  the  law  of  God,  as  announced  to  them  by 
the  Church.  To  enforce  this  was  not  merely  his  right,  but  his  most  solemn  duty.  "If,"  wrote 
Gregory,  "we  should  suffer  princes  to  rule  as  they  please,  and  to  trample  God's  justice  under 
foot;  if  we  should  silently  consent  to  this,  we  should  receive  their  friendship,  gifts,  works  of  sub- 
mission, praise,  and  much  honor.  But  as  to  do  this  does  not  accord  with  our  office  and  our 
duty,  there  is  nothing  which,  by  the  Grace  of  Christ,  can  separate  us  fi-om  His  love;  it  is  safer  for 
us  to  die  than  to  abandon  His  law. 


r 


I 


CONFLICT  WITH  HENRY  IV.  365 


passage  to  all  wishing  to  attend  the  council,  the  treacherous  prince 
prevented  the  bishops  under  his  dominion  from  going  to  Rome. 

82.  During  Henry's  absence  in  Italy,  Count  Hermann  of  Luxem- 
burg was  elected  king  by  the  German  princes;  but  he  lacked  the 
2:)(3wer  and  foresight  to  profit  by  the  weakness  which,  at  that  time, 
existed  among  the  partisans  of  the  excommunicated  sovereign.  In 
1084,  Henry  came  a  fourth  time  to  Rome,  and  succeeded  in  forcing  an 
entrance  into  the  city.  He  called  a  synod,  which  renewed  the  sentence 
of  deposition  on  Gregory,  had  his  antipope  enthroned  and  himself 
crowned  Emperor  by  him.  But  he  was  obliged  to  retreat  before  the 
advancing  force  of  Duke  Robert  Guiscard,  who  came  to  the  assistance 
of  the  Pope,  besieged  in  the  castle  of  St.  Angelo.  The  Normans,  after 
taking  the  city  by  storm,  committed  great  excesses  which  the  Poj)e 
was  unable  to  prevent.  Gregory  moved  to  Monte  Cassino,  and  thence 
to  Salerno,  where,  after  renewing  the  excommunication  of  Henry  and 
the  antipope,  he  died  on  the  25th  of  May,  1085.  The  last  words  of 
the  dying  Pontiff  were:  "I  have  loved  justice  and  hated  iniquity,  and 
therefore  do  I  die  in  exile." 

83.  Gregory  VII.  did  not  live  to  see  the  cause  he  so  nobly  and 
courageously  defended,  victorious.  But  it  cannot  be  said  with  truth 
that  he  failed  in  obtaining  the  aim  he  had  in  view.  "  He  succeeded," 
to  repeat  the  words  of  Cardinal  Hergenroether,  "in  his  principal  ob- 
ject of  putting  an  end  to  investiture  as  practised  under  Henry  TV., 
and  of  establishing  the  free  election  to  church  offices,  which  had  be- 
come a  vital  question.  His  idea  of  delivering  bishops  and  abbots  from 
all  feudal  service  was  followed  up  by  Urban  II.  and  Paschal  11.,  and 
again,  more  emphatically  at  the  treaty  of  Sutri,  in  1111,  though  this 
latter  had  been  only  a  secondary,  not  a  primary,  object  with  Gregory. 
That  the  faith  of  the  nations  was  strengthened,  and  the  dignity  of  the 
priesthood  publicly  recognized;  that  greater  purity  was  assured 
among  the  clergy,  and  more  firmness  among  the  bishops;  that  the 
Church  was  preserved  from  the  danger  of  her  offices  becoming  hered- 
itary, and  from  the  formation  of  a  priestly  caste;  and  that  new  religious 
societies,  full  of  true  zeal,  arose — these  were  some  results  of  Gregory's 
conflict,  and  truly  they  were  not  insignificant" 


Zm  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

SECTION    XXXVI.       SUCCESSORS    OF    GREGORY   VII CONTEST    OF    INVESTITURES. 

prolonged  Vacancy  in  the  Holy  See— Victor  III.— Council  of  Beneventum— 
Urban  II. — His  Activity — Council  of  Clermont — Homagium— Extraordi- 
nary Grant  to  Roger  I.  of  Sicily  —  Charges  against  Henry  IV.  by  the 
Empress — Paschal  II. — Lateran  Synod — Death  of  the  Antipope — Revolt 
of  the  Younger  Henrj' — Henry  IV.  a  Prisoner — His  Death — Hostility  of 
Henry  V.  against  the  Church— Paschal  II.  in  France— Henry  V.  in  Italy 
— Treaty  of  Sutri — Paschal  II.  a  Prisoner — ^'Privilegium,"  or -Treaty 
between  Pope  and  Emperor  —  Lateran  Synod — Gelasius  II.  —  Flies  to 
Gaeta — ^^Burdinus  Antipope — Calixtus  II. — Excommunication  of  the  Em- 
peror—Concordat of  Worms— Ninth  Ecumenical  Council. 

84.  Gregory  VII.  had  died  in  exile,  overpowered,  but  not  subdued. 
His  mantle  descended  upon  his  successors,  who  strenuously  persev- 
ered in  the  great  contest  for  ecclesiastical  independence,  and,  finally, 
after  a  fierce  and  prolonged  struggle,  achieved  the  freedom  of  the 
Church  from  the  thraldom  of  the  secular  power.  When  dying,  Gre- 
gory VII.  recommended  Desiderius,  abbot  of  Monte  Cassino;  Otho, 
cardinal-bishop  of  Ostia;  Hugo,  archbishop  of  Lyons;  and  Anselm, 
bishop  of  Lucca,  as  worthy  of  the  Papacy.  Of  these,  Desiderius,  the 
esteemed  friend  of  the  late  Pontiff,  was,  even  in  Salerno,  chosen  and 
urged  to  accept  the  pontificate.  But  on  account  of  the  desolate  con- 
dition of  the  Church  and  his  infirm  health,  he  steadily  resisted  for  a 
whole  year.  Being  again  chosen  at  a  second  election,  held  at  Rome 
in  May,  1086,  he  once  more  shrank  from  the  dignity,  but,  after  a  fruit- 
less resistance  of  nearly  two  years,  finally  yielded  to  the  urgent 
prayers  of  the  Synod  of  Capua,  and  consented  to  assume  the  burden 
of  the  Papacy. 

85.  Escorted  by  the  Normans  and  the  princes  of  Salerno  and  Ca- 
pua, Desiderius  entered  Rome,  w^hich  was  then  in  the  possession  of 
the  antipope  Guibert,  and  was  enthroned  in  St.  Peter's  church  as 
Victor  in.,  A.  D.  1086-1087.  Owing  to  the  machinations  of  the  im- 
perialists, the  new  Pontiff  dared  not  remain  long  in  Rome;  he  retired 
again  to  Lower  Italy.  Although  laboring  under  the  infirmities  of  age 
and  sickness,  and  surrounded  by  almost  insurmountable  difficulties, 
Victor  succeeded  in  collecting  a  large  army  against  the  African  Sara- 
cens, who  had  invaded  Italy,  and  gained  a  complete  victory  over  them. 
In  August,  he  held  a  Council  at  Beneventum,  which  renewed  the  ex- 
communication of  the  antipope,  and  the  condemnation  of  simony  and 
lay  investiture.  To  this  was  subjoined  the  prohibition  of  receiving 
the  sacraments  at  the  hands  of  the  "  Henricians,"  as  the  imperialist 
clergy  were  called.  A  month  later,  Victor  died  at  Monte  Cassino,  after 
recommending  Cardinal  Otho,  bishop  of  Ostia,  for  the  Papacy. 


r 


SUCCESSORS  OF  GREG  OUT  VII.  367 

86.  Rome  being  held,  at  the  time,  by  the  antipope,  the  election 
of  a  new  Pope  could  not  take  place  till  six  months  after  the  death  of 
Victor  IIL,  when  the  cardinals  met  at  Terracina,  and  there  unanimous- 
ly chose  Otho  of  Ostia  Pope,  under  the  name  of  Urban  11.,  A.  D.  1088- 
1099.  He  was  a  most  active  and  influential  Pontiff.  He  celebrated 
no  less  than  twelve  Councils.  The  excommunication  against  the  anti- 
pope  and  his  adherents  was  renewed  by  him,  and  stringent  laws  were 
passed,  especially  at  the  Council  of  Melfi,  in  1089,  against  simony, 
clerical  marriage  and  lay  investiture.  He  further  pronounced  three 
distinct  excommunications:  the  first,  against  Henry  IV.  and  the  anti- 
pope  Guibert;  the  second,  against  their  counselors  and  adherents, 
and  against  the  simoniacal  ecclesiastics;  the  third,  against  all  those 
communicating  with  persons  under  the  solemn  ban. 

87.  To  liberate  the  priesthood  from  the  shackles  of  feudal  servi- 
tude. Urban,  in  the  celebrated  Council  of  Clermont,  A.  D.  1095,  passed 
a  canon  which  prohibited  bishops  and  priests  to  take  the  oath  of  fealty 
(homagium)  to  either  king  or  other  layman.  The  feudal  oath,  in  those 
days,  was  interpreted  by  some  princes  to  signify  on  the  part  of  the 
vassals  absolute  obedience  to  his  liege  lord,  and  the  obligation  to 
render  him  service  under  all  circumstances.  A  refusal  of  the  feudal 
duties,  even  from  religious  motives,  was  regarded  as  a  violation  of  the 
homagium  and  as  felony.  By  virtue  of  this  oath,  which  placed  ec- 
clesiastics in  absolute  dependence  on  their  feudal  lord,  princes  pre- 
sumed to  prohibit  bishops  to  attend  synods,  and  even  to  obey  the  sum- 
mons of  the  Pope. 

88.  Meanwhile,  Henry  IV.  persevered  in  his  evil  course,  waging 
war  against  the  Church  and  its  lawful  Pontiff.  He  continued  to  dis- 
pose arbitrarily  of  ecclesiastical  benefices,  conferring  them  upon  un- 
worthy partisans.  Henry's  tyranny  and  obstinacy  in  schism  kept  up 
a  strong  opposition  to  his  rule  among  the  German  princes,  and  the 
civil  war  raged  with  varied  success  till  A.  D.  1090,  when  Egbert  of 
Thuringia,  sucessor  of  Herman,  was  assassinated.  Being  rid  of  his 
rival,  Henry  marched  again  into  Italy,  with  the  intention  of  deposing 
the  legitimate  Pontiff.  Urban  was  compelled  to  flee;  of  all  the  princes, 
the  magnanimous  Countess  Mathilda  alone  remained  loyal  to  the  Holy 
See.  To  strengthen  the  power  of  the  church  party,  the  Pope  had 
effected  a  matrimonial  union  between  the  countess  and  Guelf,  the  son 
of  the  powerful  duke  of  Bavaria,  whose  family  was  most  equal  to  cope 
with  the  imperial  power.  However,  on  learning  that  she  had  long 
since  (A.  D.  1077)  willed  her  extensive  possessions  to  the  Holy  See, 
Guelf  at  once  deserted  her. 


368  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUHCH. 

89.  Yet,  the  star  of  Henry  IV.  was  actually  on  the  decline.  Many 
of  his  adherents  would  no  longer  recognize  the  authority  of  his  anti- 
pope.  His  eldest  son,  Conrad,  who  was  crowned  king  in  1087,  deserted 
the  cause  of  his  excommunicated  father,  while  Henry's  second  wife, 
Praxedis,  publicly  confessed  before  two  synods  the  shameful  excesses 
of  her  libertine  husband.  In  1093,  Pope  Urban  was  permitted  to  re- 
turn to  Rome,  while  the  antipope  Clement  was  compelled  to  seek  the 
protection  of  Henry.  It  was  at  the  Council  of  Clermont  that  Urban 
proclaimed  the  First  Crusade.  He  lived  long  enough  to  learn  the 
first  success  of  the  crusaders  in  the  capture  of  Edessa  and  Antioch,  in 
1099.     Jerusalem,  too,  was  taken  a  fortnight  before  his  death. 

90.  In  recognition  of  the  services  rendered  by  Roger  I.  of  Sicily, 
who  freed  that  island  from  the  Saracen  yoke.  Urban  is  said  to  have 
granted  that  prince  an  unwarranted  power  in  even  purely  spiritual 
matters,  creating  him  and  his  successors  "Perpetual  Legates  of  the 
Apostolic  See "  in  that  country.  The  legatine  powers  and  privileges 
claimed  by  the  rulers  of  Sicily,  in  virtue  of  the  pretended  grant  of 
Urban,  constituted  what  is  called  the  "  Monarchia  Siciliae  Ecclesiastica," 
which  gave  rise  to  many  sharp  controversies  in  subsequent  centuries 
between  the  Holy  See  and  the  Kings  of  Naples. 

91.  Urban  11.  was  succeeded  by  Cardinal  Rainer,  a  monk  of 
Clugny,  as  Paschal  II.,  A.  D.  1099-1118.  The  new  Pontiff  pursued, 
indeed,  the  same  policy  as  Gregory  YTI.,  but  did  not  possess  the  same 
firmness  of  character  and  knowledge  of  the  world.  In  the  Lateran 
Synod  of  the  year  1102,  he  renewed  the  prohibition  of  lay  investiture 
and  the  ban  against  Henry  IV.  For  a  time,  Henry  expressed  a  desire 
of  being  reconciled  with  the  Holy  See,  but  was  restrained  by  his  par- 
tisans, who,  after  the  death  of  Clement,  in  1100,  continued  to  appoint 
successors  to  that  antipope.  In  1104,  Henry's  ^  younger  son,  Henry  V., 
rose  in  arms  against  his  father,  whom  he  took  prisoner  and  compelled 
to  abdicate.  The  aged  ex-monarch  escaped  from  confinement,  and 
sought  refuge  at  Liege,  where,  bowed  down  by  misery  and  misfortune, 
he  ended  his  days  in  1106.  Having  died  under  the  ban  of  the  Church, 
his  corpse  was  denied  Christian  burial  till  five  years  later,  when  it 
was  allowed  to  be  interred  in  the  imperial  vault  at  Spire. 

92.  The  Church  gained  nothing  by  the  accession  of  Henry  V., 
who  imitated  his  father  in  encroaching  on  ecclesiastical  authority 


1.  "  It  is  by  no  means  proved  that  Rome  procured  Henry  V.'s  desertion  of  liis  father,  obstinate 
and  excommunicated  though  he  was.  This  much  we  know,  that  Henry  V.  pretended  that  he  re- 
quired nothing  of  his  father  but  the  restoration  of  the  peace  of  ihe  Church  and  his  reconciliation 
with  the  See  of  Rome;  and  sent  deputies  to  Paschal  II..  received  absolution  from  censures,  and 
dispensation  from  the  oath  he  had  taken,  not  to  seize  the  government  during  the  lifetime  of  his 
father.  This  the  Pope  could  all  the  better  grant,  as  he  had  long  ceased  to  consider  Henry  IV.  the 
lawful  sovereign."— Cardinal  Hergenraether. 


S  UCCESS OBS  OF  G  REG  OR  Y  VIL  369- 

He  continued  to  invest  bishops,  claimed  even  the  right  of  appointing 
them,  and  proved  himself  a  bitter,  but  cunning,  enemy  of  the  Papacy. 
On  learning  the  dispositions  of  the  new  king,  Paschal  11.,  instead  of 
going  to  Germany,  as  he  was  invited,  passed  into  France,  where  he 
called  upon  Philip  I.  and  his  son  Louis  VI.,  to  lend  their  aid  against 
Henry  and  the  enemies  of  the  Church.  When  the  Pope  refused  to 
accede  to  the  demands  of  Henry's  ambassadors  insisting  upon  the 
restoration  of  the  right  of  investiture,  they  uttered  the  threat  that 
their  master  would  decide  the  question  by  the  sword,  in  Eome !  This 
was  no  idle  threat. 

93.  In  1111,  Hemy  crossed  the  Alps,  at  the  head  of  a  powerful 
army.  Before  entering  Rome,  he  concluded  a  treaty  with  Paschal  at 
Sutri,  by  which  the  king  pledged  himself  that,  on  the  day  of  his  coro- 
nation, he  would  solemnly  renounce  investiture,  and  the  Pope,  in  re- 
turn, agreed  to  surrender  all  royal  fiefs  held  by  the  Church,  and  to 
command  the  bishops  to  resign  to  the  king  such  feudal  dependencies. 
But  the  Pope  was  soon  disappointed  by  Henry's  pertinacity  in  assert- 
ing that  obnoxious  prerogative,  which  had  occasioned  so  much  of  his 
father's  misery.  The  king  persistently  refused  to  part  with  the  right 
of  investiture;  and,  when  Paschal  thereupon  refused  to  crown  him,  the 
tyrannical  prince  cast  the  Pope  and  a  number  of  his  cardinals  into 
jDrison.  A  furious  conflict  ensued  between  the  Romans  and  the 
German  soldiery,  in  which  the  king's  life  was  with  difficulty  saved. 
For  two  months.  Paschal  repelled  every  threat  of  the  perjured  king. 
At  length,  overcome  by  the  entreaties  of  many  bishops,  and  fear- 
ing a  fresh  schism,  he  yielded,  and  signed  a  new  treaty,  by  which 
he  conceded  to  Henry  the  right  of  investing  bishops,  by  ring  and  cro- 
sier, and  added  the  promise  not  to  excommunicate  either  the  insti- 
gator or  the  perpetrators  of  the  outrages  to  which  he  and  his  cardi- 
nals had  been  subjected.  Henry  was,  then,  crowned  emperor  by  the 
Pope. 

94.  The  "Privilegium,"  as  the  treaty  between  Pope  Paschal  and  King 
Henry  was  called,  became  the  subject  of  much  controversy.  A  num- 
ber of  bishops  denounced  lay  investiture  even  as  heretical,  and  vari- 
ous synods  in  France  and  Germany  pronounced  sentence  of  excom- 
munication against  Henry,  for  having  used  violence  against  the  Head 
of  the  Church.  The  Lateran  Synod  of  1112,  at  which  Paschal  declared 
himself  ready  to  abdicate  the  papal  dignity,  condemned  the  "Privile- 
gium "  as  null  and  void,  and  demanded  of  Henry  to  resign  all  preten- 
sions to  investiture;  but  out  of  regard  for  the  Pope's  oath,  the  Fathers 
abstained  from  passing  any  censure  on  the  emperor.  In  1116,  Henry 
again  crossed  the  Alps,  for  the  purpose  of  enforcing  the  observance 


370  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

of  the  "Privilegium."  Paschal  left  Rome,  but  upon  the  Emperor's  with- 
drawal, returned  and  died  after  a  few  days. 

95.  To  obviate  any  interference  by  the  emperor,  the  Cardinals, 
with  little  delay,  elected  Cardinal  John  of  Gaeta,  as  Gelasius  11.,  A.  D. 
1118-1119.  The  unexpected  appearance  of  Henry  before  Rome  ob- 
liged the  newly-elected  Pope  to  seek  refuge  in  Gaeta,  where  he  was 
consecrated.  When  the  new  Pontiff  refused  to  confirm  the  treaty  of 
Paschal  II.,  Henry  ventured  to  set  up  an  antipope — the  excommuni- 
cated Archbishop  Burdinus  of  Braga  as  Gregory  VIII.  Gelasius  excom- 
municated both  the  emperor  and  his  antipope.  Being  unable  to  maintain 
himself  in  Rome,  Gelasius  sought  refuge  in  France,  where,  after  hold- 
ing a  synod  at  Vienne,  he  died  in  the  monastery  of  Clugny. 

96.  On  the  recommendation  of  Cardinal  Cuno,  who  had  declined 
the  Tiara,  Guido,  archbishop  of  Yienne,  was  chosen  Pope  under  the 
name  of  Calixtus  11.,  A.  D.  1119-1124.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  the 
new  Pontiff  was  to  convoke  a  Council  at  Rheims,  which,  after  fruitless 
attempts  on  the  part  of  the  Pope,  to  induce  Henry  Y.  to  abandon  his. 
claims,  solemnly  excommunicated  the  emperor  and  his  antipope,  and 
released  the  Germans  from  their  oath  of  allegiance,  until  their  sover- 
eign should  adopt  better  sentiments.  After  the  Council,  Calixtus  has- 
tened to  Rome.  The  antipope,  who  had  fled,  was  overtaken  and  con- 
signed to  the  monastery  of  Cava,  where  he  died  without  having  ab- 
dicated the  usurped  dignity. 

97.  At  length,  the  charitable  admonitions  and  prayers  of  Pope 
Calixtus  prevailed  on  Henry  Y.,  to  come  to  an  agreement  with  the 
Holy  See.  Dreading  the  fate  of  his  unhappy  father,  the  emperor  saw 
the  necessity  of  relinquishing  his  claims,  and  subscribed  the  famous 
Concordat  of  Worms,  A.  D.  1122,  which  put  an  end,  after  a  period  of 
more  than  fifty  years,  to  the  contest  of  ecclesiastical  investitures.  By 
this  compact  the  emperor  resigned  forever  all  pretence  to  invest 
bishops  by  ring  and  crosier,  and  recognized  the  libertj^  of  ecclesias- 
tical elections.  In  return,  the  Pope  conceded  that  elections  should 
be  made  in  the  presence  of  imperial  officers,  without  violence  or 
simony,  and  that  the  new  bishop  should  receive  investiture  of  their 
fiefs  from  the  emperor  %j  the  sceptre. 

98.  The  Concordat  of  Worms,  or  Calixti^n  Treaty,  as  it  also  waa 
called,  was  solemnly  ratified  by  the  First  Council  of  Lateran,  or  Ninth 
Ecumenical  Council,  which  Calixtus  had  convoked  for  that  purpose,  in 
1123.  The  same  Council,  which  was  attended  by  more  than  three 
hundred  bishops,  renewed,  in  twenty- three  canons,  the  censures 
against  simony  and  clerical  marriages.  The  Treaty  of  Worms  was 
hailed   with    great  joy  by  all   Christendom,   and   the   remainder 


r 


r  of  I 

m 


FROM  HONORIUS  11.   TO  HADRIAN  IV.  371 

Henry's  reign  was  passed  in  peace  with  the  Church.  At  his  death,  in 
1125,  the  male  line  of  the  Franconian  Emperors  was  at  an  end.  It  is 
thus  that  God  often  cuts  off  the  race  of  sovereigns  who  abuse  their 
authority,  to  the  prejudice  of  the  Church. 

SECTION   XXXVn.       FROM    THE   ACCESSION    OF   HONOEIUS   II.    TO   THE    ELECTION   OF 

HADRIAN   IV. 

The  Frangipani  and  Leoni — Honorius  II. — Affairs  in  Germany — Lothaire  XL 
—Innocent  II. — Schism  of  Peter  de  Leone — Influence  of  St.  Bernard — 
Innocent  II.  in  France — Acknowledged  by  France,  England  and  the  Em- 
pire— End  of  the  Schism — Tenth  Ecumenical  Council — Its  Canons — Inno- 
cent Prisoner  of  the  Normans — Itahan  RepubUcanism — Arnold  of  Brescia 
— Celestine  II. — Lucius  II. — Eugenius  III. — Anastasius  lY. 

99.  Upon  the  death  of  Calixtus  11.  and  Henry  Y.,  both  the  papal 
tiara  and  the  imperial  crown  became  objects  of  contention.  The 
Frangipani  and  Leoni,  wealthy  and  influential  Roman  families,  both 
aspired  to  dictate  concerning  the  papal  dignity.  The  cardinals 
first  elected  Cardinal  Theobald  as  Celestine  11. ;  but  when  the  power- 
ful Robert  Frangipani  designated  Cardinal  Lambert  of  Ostia  for  the 
Papacy,  Theobald  resigned  his  claims,  whereupon  Lambert  was  form- 
ally elected  as  Honorius  IL,  A.  D.  1124-1130.  In  Germany,  Duke 
Frederic  of  Swabia,  grandson  of  Henry  lY.,  contended  with  Leopold 
of  Austria  and  Lothaire  of  Saxony  for  the  royal  dignity.  The  diet  of 
Mentz,  A.  D.  1125,  voted  the  crown  to  Lothaire  11.  The  new  King  of 
the  Romans^  was  well  affected  towards  the  Church;  he  confirmed  the 
Concordat  of  Worms,  abolished  the  practice  of  conducting  the  election 
of  bishops  in  the  presence  of  the  emperor  or  his  representatives,  and 
was  satisfied  with  the  oath  of  fidelity,  instead  of  the  homagium,  from 
the  bishops. 

100.  On  the  death  of  Honorius  IL,  a  dangerous  schism  began. 
'Those  of  the  cardinals  who  had  the  welfare  of  the  Church  at  heart, 

elected  the  pious  and  learned  Cardinal  Gregory  Papareschi,  who  re- 
luctantly assumed  the  papal  dignity  under  the  name  of  Innocent  11., 
A.  D.  1130-1143.  A  party  of  wordly-minded  cardinals  set  up  as  anti- 
pope  Peter  de  Leone,  son  of  a  recently  converted  Jewish  family,  whose 
wealth  commanded  great  influence  at  Rome.     He  was  crowned  with 


1.  This  title  was  given  to  the  elected  King  of  Germany  before  his  coronation  by  the  Pope.  Only 
a  prince  crowned  by  the  Pope  could  possess  the  full  imperial  dignity.  Speaking  of  the  right  over 
Italy  acquired  by  the  emperor-elect,  Hallam  says:  "It  was  an  equally  fundamental  rule,  that  the 
elected  King  of  Germany  could  not  assume  the  title  of 'Roman  Emperor'  until  his  consecration 
by  the  Pope.  The  middle  appellation  of '  King  of  the  Romans '  was  invented  as  a  sort  of  approxi- 
mation to  the  imperial  dignity." 


372  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  title  of  Anacletus  II.  The  Romans  who  had  been  gained  over  by  a  • 
lavish  distribution  of  money,  declared  in  favor  of  the  antipope.  Inno- 
cent was  obliged  to  flee  into  France.  Chiefly  through  the  influence 
of  St.  Bernard,  the  famous  abbot  of  Clairvaux,  to  whom  the  decision 
had  been  referred,  Innocent  was  acknowledged  as  the  rightful  Pontift' 
in  France,  and,  shortly  after,  also  in  Germany,  Spain,  England,  Castile, 
and  Arragon.  Of  all  the  princes  of  Europe,  Duke  Roger  of  Sicily 
alone,  bribed  by  the  grant  of  the  royal  title,  adhered  to  Anacletus. 

101.  In  1131,  Innocent  had  a  meeting  with  the  French  King 
Louis  VI.,  at  Orleans;  with  Henry  I.  of  England,  at  Chartres;  and  at 
Liittich,  with  Lothaire  of  Germany,  who  promised  to  reinstate  the 
Pope  in  the  possession  of  Rome.  Accordingly,  Innocent  set  out  for 
Italy  and,  in  1133,  entered  Rome  with  Lothaire  and  crowned  him  em- 
peror, in  the  Lateran  Basilica.  In  1136,  Lothaire  marched  a  second 
time  to  Rome  to  defend  the  cause  of  Innocent  against  the  antipope 
and  Roger  of  Sicily.  Lothaire  died  in  1137;  the  following  year  also 
the  antipope  departed  this  life.  The  partisans  of  Anacletus  elected, 
indeed,  a  successor  in  Victor  IV.,  but  he  was  persuaded  by  St.  Bernard 
to  submit  to  the  authority  of  Pope  Innocent.  This  closed  the  schism, 
after  it  had  lasted  about  eight  years. 

102.  To  repair  the  evils  and  disorders  caused  by  the  late  schism, 
Innocent,  in  1139,  convened  the  Second  Lateran,  or  Tenth  General  Council. 
Never  had  Rome  or  any  other  city  of  Christendom  beheld  so  numerous 
a  Council  as  this,  which  was  attended  by  a  thousand  bishops,  countless 
abbots  and  ecclesiastical  dignitaries.  Innocent,  presiding  in  person, 
opened  the  first  session  with  an  eloquent  address  to  the  assembled 
Fathers.  The  Council  passed  thirty  canons,  renewing,  for  the  most 
part,  the  censures  of  former  synods  against  simony,  clerical  incon- 
tinence, and  lay  investiture.  Besides,  it  condemned  the  errors  of  Peter 
Bruis  and  Arnold  of  Brescia,  deposed  all  those  who  had  been  raised 
to  ecclesiastical  dignities  by  the  antijiope,  and  excommunicated  Roger 
of  Sicily,  who  still  refused  submission  to  Innocent. 

103.  To  recover  the  possessions  which  Roger  of  Sicily  had  unjust- 
ly seized.  Innocent  marched  in  person  at  the  head  of  an  army  against 
that  prince.  But  the  expedition  failed;  the  Pope  himself  was  taken 
prisoner  and  was  obliged  to  sign  a  treaty  by  which  he  granted  Roger 
absolution  from  excommunication,  the  freehold  of  Apulia  and  Capua, 
and  confirmation  in  the  possession  of  Sicily  with  the  title  of  King.  In 
the  latter  years  of  his  pontificate.  Innocent  had  to  witness  the  out- 
break of  revolution  in  Italy.  Memories  of  the  ancient  Roman  Repub- 
lic began  to  disturb  the  popular  mind,  which  was  aroused  especially 
by  the  fanatical  preaching  of  Arnold  of  Brescia.     Rome,  following  the 


FROM  HONOEIUS  II.    TO  HADRIAN  IV.  373 

example  of  other  Italian  cities,  renounced  the  temporal  authority  of 
the  Pope,  and  began  to  form  itself  into  a  republic,  by  restoring,  in 
spite  of  the  protests  of  Innocent,  the  Constitution  and  Senate  of  an- 
cient Kome.  The  new  republicans  professed  to  the  Pope  their  sub- 
mission to  his  spiritual  authority,  to  which  he  should  now  confine  him- 
self, and  that  the  clergy  must  content  themselves,  from  that  time,  with 
the  tithes  and  the  voluntary  offerings  from  the  people. 

104.  Under  Celestine  II.,  who  reigned  a  little  over  five  months, 
Arnold  of  Brescia  returned  to  Kome,  to  assist  in  firmly  establishing 
the  Republic.  Under  Pope  Lucius  11.,  A.  D.  1144-1145,  the  Romans 
elected  a  patrician,  to  represent  the  ancient  Consuls.  In  an  attempt 
to  quell  an  insurrection  of  the  republican  rebels,  Lucius  was  mortally 
wounded  with  a  stone.  Two  days  after  his  death,  the  pious  Cistercian 
Bernard  of  Pisa,  and  abbot  of  St.  Anastasius,  a  monastery  founded  at 
Rome  by  St.  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  ascended  the  papal  throne  as  Eu- 
genius  III.,  A.  D.  1145-1153.  Owing  to  the  disturbed  state  of  Rome, 
the  new  Pontiff  was  consecrated  in  the  monastery  of  Farfa,  and  took 
up  his  temporary  abode  at  Viterbo.  "The  Senate  and  Roman  People" 
sent  pompous  letters  to  Conrad  ni.  of  Germany,  inviting  him  to  take 
up  his  residence  in  Rome.  Eugenius  also  invited  the  German  king  to 
come  to  his  assistance  and  restore  the  papal  sovereignty  over  Rome. 
Conrad,  however,  either  would  not,  or,  owing  to  the  disturbed  affairs 
of  Germany,  could  not,  come  to  Italy  and,  consequently,  he  never 
received  the  imperial  crown.  Eugenius  excommunicated  the  Patrician 
Jordanes,  and  finally  succeeded  in  re-establishing  at  Rome  his  own 
authority. 

105.  The  outbreak  of  fresh  disturbances  at  Rome,  and  the  alarm- 
ing news  of  the  fall  of  Edessa,  in  1144,  and  other  defeats  and  disasters 
of  the  Christians  in  Palestine,  caused  Eugenius  to  proceed  to  France 
and  Germany,  where  he  inaugurated  the  Second  Crusade,  the  preach- 
ing of  which  he  commissioned  to  St.  Bernard.  He  held .  councils  in 
Paris,  Treves,  and  Rheims,  and  visited  Clairvaux,  where  he  had  been 
a  monk.  In  1149,  Eugenius  returned  to  Italy,  and,  aided  by  King 
Roger  of  Sicily,  re-entered  Rotne.  The  Romans  who,  during  his  ab- 
sence, had  again  established  the  Republic,  were  forced  to  submit  to 
his  authority.  But  Eugenius  was  compelled  to  leave  Rome  a  third 
time,  and  retired  into  Campania;  he  w^as  called  back,  however,  by  the 
Romans,  the  year  before  his  death.  His  successor,  the  aged  Anasta- 
sius IV.,  noted  for  his  charities  during  a  desolating  famine,  reigned 
only  sixteen  months,  A.  D.  1153-1154. 


374  -     .  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUBCH. 


SECTION   XXXVin.       CONFLICT    OF    FREDEBICK   I.    WITH    THE    CHURCH HADRIAN  IV. 

AND    ALEXANDER    III. 

Antecedents  and  Election  of  Hadrian  TV. — Fall  of  the  Roman  Republic— Deatli 
of  Arnold  of  Brescia — Frederick  Barbarossa — Schemes  of  the  Holien- 
staufens— Coronation  of  Frederick— His  Conduct  towards  the  Church— 
The  Pope's  Letter  to  Frederick — Decrees  of  Roncaglia — Guelfs  and  GWi- 
bellines — Alexander  III. — Schism — Antipope  Victor  IV. — Alexander  in 
France — Frederick  in  Italy — Peace  of  Venice  —  Eleventh  Ecumenical 
Council— Lucius  III. — Urban  III. — Gregory  VIIL— Clement  III.— Cele- 
stine  III. 

106.  Nicholas  Breakspeare,  the  only  Englishman  that  ever  sat  on 
the  papal  Chair,  was  elected  to  succeed  Anastasius  IV.  The  son*of 
poor  parents,  he  left  his  native  country  in  search  of  learning,  became 
n,  monk,  and  afterward  abbot  of  St.  Rufus,  at  Aries.  Coming  to  Rome, 
he  so  won  the  favor  of  Eugenius  III.,  that  he  was  detained,  raised  to 
the  cardinalate  and  sent  on  a  mission  as  Apostolic  Legate  to  the  North- 
ern kingdoms  of  Sweden  and  Norway.  On  his  return  to  Rome,  he 
was  raised  to  the  Papacy  as  Hadrian  IV.,  A.  D.  1154-1159.  He  was  a  man 
of  great  virtue,  high  fame  for  learning,  and  remarkable  eloquence. 
To  bring  rebellious  Rome  back  to  obedience,  Hadrian  placed  the 
city  under  an  interdict  and  banished  Arnold  of  Brescia,  who  was  sub- 
sequently arrested,  and,  by  order  of  the  prefect  of  the  city,  tried  and 
executed  at  Rome. 

107.  But  the  Papacy  was  menaced  with  a  more  serious  danger, 
arising  from  the  unbounded  ambition  of  the  Hohenstaufen  emperors. 
On  the  recommendation  of  the  late  king,  Conrad  III.,  his  nephew,  the 
great  Hohenstaufen  prince,  Frederick  Barbarossa,  was  raised  to  the 
German  throne,  in  1152.  With  him  commences  the  great  struggle 
between  the  Papacy  and  the  House  of  Hohenstaufen,  which  continued 
for*a  whole  century.  Disregarding  the  whole  historical  development 
of  the  Christian  Roman  Empire,  the  Hohenstaufens  sought  to  estab- 
lish an  absolute,  universal  monarchy,  restore  the  rights  and  i3rerog- 
atives  of  the  Roman  Emperors  of  old,  and  reduce  everything  to  sub- 
mission, even  the  Pope,  whom  they  hoped  would  subserve  their  am- 
bitious designs  of  universal  dominion. 

108.  In  1155,  Frederick  crossed  the  Alps  at  the  head  of  a  formid- 
able army.  After  receiving  the  Iron  Crown  at  Pavia,  he  proceeded 
on  his  way  to  Rome,  to  receive  the  Imperial  Crown  at  the  hands 
of  the  Pope.  In  his  first  interview  with  Hadrian  at  Sutri,  Frederick 
at  first  refused  to  conform  to  the  usual  etiquette  observed  at  such 


CONFLICT  WITH  FBEDERICK  I.  375 

meetings  by  former  emperors  and  prescribed  even  by  German  law:  he 
would  not  hold  the  stirrup,  while  the  Pope  dismounted.  The  Pontiff, 
in  turn,  denied  him  the  usual  courtesy  of  the  kiss  of  peace.  Frederick^ 
finally,  submitted,  was  solemnly  conducted  to  Rome,  and  there  crowned 
emperor  by  the  Pope. 

109.  But  the  good  understanding  between  the  Pope  and  the  em- 
peror was  of  short  duration.  The  treaty  which  Hadrian  had  con- 
cluded with  "William  of  Sicily,  whom  he  invested  with  Apulia  and 
acknowledged  king  of  Sicily,  greatly  irritated  Frederick.  By  this 
treaty,  Frederick  was  deprived  of  a  pretext  of  making  war  on  William, 
and  thus  of  conquering  and  becoming  master  of  all  Italy.  Frederick, 
by  his  arbitrary  appointments  to  bishoprics,  also  violated  the  Concor- 
dat of  Worms,  and  did  nothing  for  the  release  of  the  archbishop  of 
Lund,  who  had  been  robbed  and  taken  prisoner  in  his  dominions,  al- 
though the  Pope  urged  him  to  this  duty. 

110.  Hadrian,  by  letter  expostulated  with  Frederick  on  these 
grievances,  reminded  him  of  the  imperial  crowm,  w^hich  he  had  con- 
ferred, and  declared  his  willingness  to  bestow,  if  possible,  still  greater 
benefits.  The  phrase,  ''heneficia  majoi^a,"  employed  in  the  papal  letter, 
was  wdllfuUy  misinterpreted  and  made  a  pretext  of  complaint  and 
bitter  invective  against  the  Holy  See.  Frederick,  in  a  public  mani- 
festo, appealed  to  the  Empire  against  what  he  called  the  insolent  pre- 
tensions of  the  Pope;  accused  Hadrian  of  wantonly  stirring  up  hostil- 
ity between  the  Church  and  the  Empire ;  prohibited  the  clergy  from 
going  to  Rome,  and,  at  the  same  time,  endeavored  to  win  over  the 
bishops  of  Germany  to  his  side.  The  difficulty  was,  for  the  present, 
adjusted  by  the  prudence  of  Hadrian,  who,  in  a  second  letter,  gave 
an  explanation  of  the  matter,  with  which  Frederick  expressed  himself 
satisfied. 

111.  However,  the  reconciliation  of  Frederick  with  the  Pope  waa 
not  complete,  and  Hadrian  soon  had  further  cause  to  complain  of  the 
emperor,  for  his  arbitrary  appointments  to  ecclesiastical  benefices,  and 
his  encroachments  on  the  rights  and  prerogatives  of  the  See  of  Rome. 
In  1158,  Frederick  descended  for  a  second  time  into  Italy,  and  in  the 
decrees  of  Roncaglia  had  his  pretended  imperial  rights  determined 
according  to  the  code  of  Justinian.  Under  pretense  of  restoring 
things  to  what  they  had  been  in  ancient  times,  the  emperor  had  him- 
self invested  with  rights  and  prerogatives  which  did  not  at  all  belong 
to  him.  Princes  and  cities  were  obliged  to  give  up  their  sovereign 
rights  and  special  privileges,  and  the  Church,  especially,  was  deprived 
of  many  immunities  and  revenues.  Notwithstanding  his  solemn  oath, 
to  secure  to  the  Holy  See  all  its  rights  and  possessions,  Frederick 


376  IIISTOKY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

seized  the  whole  domains  of  the  countess  Mathilda,  laid  a  tax  upon 
the  possessions  of  the  Roman  Church,  and,  in  open  violation  of  the 
Concordat  of  Worms,  arbitrarily  appointed  bishops  to  the  sees  of  Co- 
logne and  Ravenna.  Hadrian  sent  him  a  solemn  admonition;  death 
alone  prevented  the  Pope  from  excommunicating  the  presumptuous 
emperor.* 

112.  Even  during  the  lifetime  of  Hadrian  IV.,  the  Ghibellines,"  or 
imperialists,  were  preparing,  in  the  event  of  the  Pope's  demise,  to  pro- 
mote an  avowed  adherent  of  the  emperor  to  the  papal  dignity.  But, 
with  the  exception  of  three,  all  the  cardinals  agreed  in  the  choice  of 
Cardinal  Roland  of  Siena,  chancellor  of  the  Roman  Church,  who  was 
reluctantly  inducted  into  the  sublime  office  under  the  title  of  Alex- 
ander HI.,  A.  D.  1159-1181.  He  was  opposed  by  Octavian,  as  antipope 
under  the  name  of  Victor  IV.,  who  had  received  the  votes  of  only  two 
cardinals.  Frederick  espoused  the  pretensions  of  the  antipope  in 
whom  he  hoped  to  find  a  willing  instrument  to  his  ambitious  designs. 
In  vain  did  Alexander's  electors,  whose  right  he  thus  violated,  remind 
the  emperor  of  his  duty  of  protecting  the  Church.  To  keep  up  an  ap- 
pearance, at  least,  of  neutrality,  Frederick  assembled  a  council  at 
Pavia,  which  was  to  settle  the  dispute;  but  he  gave  his  decision  be- 
forehand, by  addressing  Victor  as  Pontiff,  and  Alexander  only  as  Car- 


1.  The  supposed  Bull  of  Pope  Hadrian  IV.,  purporting  to  grant  the  Investiture  of  Ireland  to 
Henry  II.  of  England,  irom  the  latest  researches  on  the  subject,  must  be  pronounced  a  forgery. 
We  subjoin  here  a  summary  of  an  article  in  which  the  learned  Dr.  P.  H.  Moran.  now  Cardinal  Arch- 
bishop of  Sidney,  answers  the  arguments  in  favor  ol  the  genuiness  of  the  so-called  Bull  of  Had- 
rian. I.— As  Cardinal  Moran  observes,  even  the  lorged  Bull  prescinds  from  all  title  of  conquest;  it 
makes  no  gift  or  transfer  of  dominion  to  Henry  II.,  who  was  only  authorized  to  visit  Ireland  as  a 
friendly  monarch  and  help  in  restoring  religion  in  that  island  which  was  then  falsely  said  to  be 
on  the  decline.  2.— The  supposed  Bull  had  no  part  whatever  in  the  submission  of  the  Irish  to 
English  rule.  The  document  was  not  published  til)  the  year  1175;  no  mention  of  it  was  made  in 
Ireland,  till  long  after  the  conquest  of  the  island  by  Henry,  which  must  be  ascribed  to  the  irapos- 
mg  and  powerful  force  at  the  command  of  the  English  king  3.— The  supposed  grant  was  Icept  a 
strict  secret  for  twenty  years,  that  is  from  1155  to  1175.  It  was  not  referred  to  by  Henry  when  he 
invaded  Ireland,  nor  even  by  the  Council  of  Cashel  in  1172,  at  which  a  papal  legate  presided.  4.— 
The  statement  of  John  of  Salisbury  in  his  "  Metalogicus,"  that  as  envoy  of  tJie  king  to  the  papal 
court,  in  1155,  he  secured  from  Hadrian  the  supposed  grant  of  Ireland  to  Henry,  is  evidently  an 
interpolation,  which  probably  was  not  inserted  till  many  years  after  the  invasion  of  Ireland  by 
the  English.  5.— The  three  Bulls  of  Alexander  111.,  who  succeeded  Hadrian  IV..  which  are  quoted 
in  Henry's  favor,  do  not  at  all  corroborate  the  genuiness  of  the  l^ull  in  question;  on  the  contrary, 
they  furnish  an  unanswerable  argument  against  it,  since  they  wholly  ignore  any  bull  of  Hadrian, 
and  any  grantor  investiture  from  the  Holy  See.  6.— The  statement  that  the  liulls  of  Popes  Ha<l- 
rian  and  Alexander  were  published  in  the  Synod  of  Waterford.  in  1175,  must  be  rejected,  because 
the  existing  circumstances  of  the  country  rendered  a  Synod  at  such  a  time  impossible.  7.— The 
Irish  nation  at  all  limes,  as  if  instinctively,  shrunk  from  accepting  the  supposed  Bull  as  genuine, 
and  unhesitatingly  pronounced  it  an  Anglo-Norman  forgery.  In  a  letter  forwarded  by  the  Lord 
Judiciary  of  Ireland  to  Rome,  in  13^5.  the  Irish  are  accused,  among  other  crimes,  of  rejecting  the 
Bull  of  Hadrian,  and  of  asserting  that  the  English  monarch,  under  false  pretenses  and  by  false 
bulls  obtained  the  dominion  of  Ireland.  8.— To  this  may  be  added  the  utter  silence  of  Peter  de 
Blois,  secretary  of  Henry  II.,  though  chronicling  the  chief  events  of  his  sovereign's  reign,  and  the 
silence  of  all  Irish  annalists,  not  one  of  whom  ever  mentions  tlie  tiull  of  Hadrian.  9.— The  con- 
cluding formula  of  the  bull:  "Datum  Romae,"  "Given  at  Rome,"  suflloes  to  prove  the  whole 
do^.ument  to  be  epurious.  For,  before  the  news  of  the  election  of  Pope  Hadrian  could  have 
reached  England,  that  Pontilf  was  obliged  to  fly  from  Rome,  on  account  of  a  revolt  excited  by 
Arnold  of  Brescia.  Besides,  John  of  Salisbury  sittests  that  he  presented  to  the  new  Pontiff  the 
congratulationsof  Henry  II.,  not  at  Rome,  hut  at  Beneventum,  where  the  papal  court  was  then 
held. 

2.  Waibling  (Ghlbelline)  was  the  name  of  one  of  the  hereditary  possessions  of  the  Hohen- 
staufens.  The  names  "Guelfs'"  and  "Ghibellines,"  which  were  used  for  the  first  time  at  the 
battle  of  Weinsberg,  in  Swabia,  (A.  I).  1140).  designated  the  two  great  political  parties  that  divided 
public  sentiment  both  in  Italy  and  in  Germany,  during  the  Middle  Ages;  the  former  adhering  to 
the  Pope,  the  latter  to  the  emperor. 


CONFLICT  WITH  FREDERICK  I.  377 

dinal  Koiand.  The  false  synod,  as  Frederick  instructed,  decided  in 
favor  of  the  antipope,  and  presumed  to  excommunicate  the  lawfully 
elected  Alexander ! 

113.  Alexander  did  not  shrink  from  the  contest.  At  Anagni,  he 
pronounced  excommunication  against  the  emperor,  the  antipope,  and 
his  adherents.  Frederick  vainly  sought  to  secure  the  recognition  of 
his  antipope  by. the  other  Christian  nations.  Chiefly  through  the 
wisely  directed  influence  of  the  Carthusian  and  Cistercian  orders, 
France  and  England  declared  for  Alexander.  Spain,  Ireland,  Hun- 
gary, Sicily,  Jerusalem,  and  the  Northern  Kingdoms  soon  foUoweli 
the  example.  Even  many  German  bishops,  under  the  lead  of  the 
courageous  Archbishop  Eberhard  of  Salzburg,  who  was  the  em- 
peror's uncle,  recognized  Alexander.  Frederick,  however,  continued 
to  uphold  the  schism  and  persecuted  the  Pope  in  Italy  so  much,  as  to 
oblige  him  to  take  refuge  in  France,  where  he  was  received  with  demon- 
strations of  the  utmost  respect.  A  great  Council  at  Tours,  attended 
by  seventeen  cardinals,  one  hundred  and  twenty-four  bishops,  and 
over  four  hundred  abbots  from  France,  Spain  and  England,  renewed 
the  excommunication  of  Victor  and  his  adherents.  Strict  Catholics  no 
longer  regarded  Frederick  Barbarossa  as  emperor,  and  looked  upon 
Alexander  III.  as  the  only  secure  asylum  of  the  liberties  of  the 
Church. 

114.  The  courageous  firmness  of  Alexander  conquered  at  last. 
After  the  death  of  the  antipope,  in  1164,  he  returned  to  Italy,  where 
he  continued  to  reside.  Frederick,  though  inclined  to  acknowledge 
Alexander,  w^as  dissuaded  by  the  schismatical  bishops  who  hastened 
the  election  of  Paschal  III.  In  1176,  Frederick  again  marched  into 
Italy,  took  Kome,  and  had  the  new  antipope  enthroned.  Alexander 
escaped  in  disguise  to  Beneventum.  But  a  terrible  pestilence,  which 
destroyed  nearly  his  whole  army,  enforced  Frederick's  hasty  return  to 
Germany.  In  the  meanwhile,  the  Lombard  cities  had  united  in  a 
formal  league  against  the  emperor  and  founded  a  strong  fortress  and 
city  whidh,  in  honor  of  the  Pope,  they  called  Alexandria.  In  1176,  the 
pride  of  Barbarossa  was  humbled  by  his  total  defeat  at  Legnano.  He 
renounced  the  schism,  and,  in  the  peace  of  Venice,  A.  D.  1177,  con- 
sented to  acknowledge  Alexander  III.  as  the  rightful  Pope.  The  anti- 
pope  Calixtus  m.,  who  had  been  set  up  on  the  death  of  Paschal  III., 
also  submitted  to  the  authority  of  Alexander. 

115.  To  remedy  the  evils  produced  by  the  late  schism.  Pope 
Alexander  convoked,  in  1179,  the  Third  Loieran,  or  Eleventh  Ecumen- 
ical Council.  It  was  attended  by  over  three  hundred  bishops,  and  passed, 
in  all,  twenty-seven  canons.     Its  most  famous  decree  confirms  the  ex- 


378  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

elusive  right  of  the  cardinals  to  elect  the  Pope,  and  requires  a  major- 
ity of  two-thirds  of  their  votes,  for  a  valid  election.  The  Council  also 
issued  sentence  of  excommunication  against  the  Cathari,  Patarini,  and 
other  heretics. 

116.  New  discords  arose  between  Frederick  and  the  successors  of 
the  great  Alexander,  owing  to  the  continual  encroachments  of  the  em- 
peror upon  the  rights  of  the  Church,  and  to  his  many  outrages  com- 
mitted against  the  Papal  States.  Lucius  III.,  A.  D.  1181-1185,  held 
the  Council  of  Verona,  which  the  emperor  likewise  attended.  By  the 
'freaty  of  Constance,  A.  D.  1183,  Frederick  resigned  the  exorbitant 
pretensions  as  expressed  in  the  enactments  of  Roncaglia,  aud  recog- 
nized the  Concordat  of  Worms.  Urban  HE.,  A.  D.  1185-1187,  in  vain 
protested  against  the  union  of  Sicily,  a  papal  fief,  with  the  Empire. 
The  annexation  of  that  kingdom  by  the  Hohenstaufens  placed  the 
Church  in  a  very  dangerous  situation. 

117.  Popes  Gregory  Ym.,  who  reigned  less  than  a  month,  and 
Clement  HE.,  A.  D.  1187-1191,  labored  earnestly  in  the  interest 
of  peace  and  in  organizing  a  new  crusade  in  which  all  the 
great  monarchs  of  Europe  united.  Upon  the  death  of  Frederick 
Barbarossa,  his  son,  Henry  VI.,  was  elected  king  of  Germany. 
Pope  Celestine  III.,  A.  D.  1191-1198,  who,  in  1191,  crowned  him 
emperor,  soon  had  ground  for  complaints  against  Henry.  The 
V  hole  policy  of  the  new  emperor,  a  cruel  and  vindictive  prince,  seemed 
to  forebode  ill  to  the  peace  of  the  Church.  Henry's  tyranny  and  the 
oppressions  of  his  officials  exasperated  all  parties.  Pope  Celestine 
threatened  to  excommunicate  him,  if  he  did  not  release  Eichard  Coeur 
de  Lion,  of  England,  who,  when  returning  from  Palestine,  had  been 
barbarously  seized  and  who,  in  further  violation  of  the  Law  of  nations, 
was  imprisoned  by  the  emperor. 

SECTION    XXXIX.       PONTiriCATE    OF   INNOCENT    III. 

Antecedents  and  Election  of  Innocent  III. — Restores  Pontifical  Power  in  Italy. 
— Becomes  Guardian  of  Young  Frederick  II.  —  Interposes  in  Germany 
— Papal  Authority  ever^^where  Respected — Innocent. the  Champion  of 
Morality  and  Justice — Twelfth  Ecumenical  Council — Its  Enactments. 

118.  The  influence  of  the  Papacy  in  the  Middle  Ages  culminates 
in  the  name  and  period  of  Innocent  IH.,  under  whom  the  papal  power 
rose  to  its  utmost  height.  Innocent  III.,  who  in  baptism  received  the 
name  of  Lothaire,  was  a  member  of  the  illustrious  House  of  Conti, 
which  gave  to  the  Church  four  Popes.     His  early  education  at  Rome 


r 


PONTIFICATE  OF  INNOCENT  III  379 

was  completed  by  some  years  of  study  at  Paris,  the  great  school  of 
theology;  and  at  Bologna,  that  of  law.  He  was  an  eminent  theologian, 
and  well- versed  in  civil  and  canon  law.  Endowed  with  all  the  qual- 
ities of  a  truly  great  man,  he  was  evidently  destined  by  God  to  rule 
His  Church.  He  was  elevated  to  the  cardinalate  by  his  uncle,  Cle- 
ment m.,  and  was  ranked  among  the  ablest  and  most  judicious  coun- 
selors of  the  Supreme  Pontiff.  Under  the  pontificate  of  Celestine  III., 
Cardinal  Lothaire  retired  for  a  time  from  ecclesiastical  affairs.  In  his 
retirement,  he  wrote  his  treatises  "  On  the  Contempt  of  the  World,"  and 
"On  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass."  At  the  death  of  Celestine  m.,  the 
<jardinals  unanimously  proclaimed  Lothaire  Pope,  though  he  was  then 
only  thirty-seven  years  old,  and,  in  testimony  of  his  blameless  life, 
saluted  him  by  the  name  of  Innocent  III. 

119.  Innocent  III.,  A.  D.  1198-1216,  began  his  pontificate  by  re- 
forming the  papal  court,  and  restoring  the  Pope's  supremacy  in  the 
Ecclesiastical  States.  He  recovered  the  possessions  which  had  been 
wrested  from  the  Church  by  Henry  YI.,  and  regained  Ancona,  Ka- 
venna,  and  the  counties  of  Assisi  and  Spoleto.  He  entered  into  an 
alliance  with  the  Lombard  League  and  the  Tuscan  cities,  and  thus 
provided  for  the  freedom  of  Upper  Italy,  and  the  defense  of  the 
Church  against  the  agressions  of  the  Emperor.  Innocent  was  master 
again  of  the  Papal  States,  and,  as  ally  and  protector  of  the  great  Re- 
publican Leagues,  was  also  the  dominant  jDower  in  Italy. 

120.  Constantia,  widow  of  Henry  VI.,  now  queen-regent  of  Sicily, 
solicited  from  Innocent  the  investiture  of  that  kingdom  for  her  son 
Frederick,  as  a  fief  from  the  Holy  See.  Innocent  granted  her  petition, 
on  the  condition  of  her  surrendering  the  exorbitant  privileges  which 
had  been  wrung  from  the  Holy  See  by  former  Sicilian  Kings.  To 
secure  to  her  son  the  protection  of  the  Holy  See,  Queen  Constantia, 
shortly  before  her  death,  bequeathed  him,  together  with  the  regency 
of  the  kingdom,  to  the  guardianship  of  the  Pope.  Innocent  accepted, 
and  faithfully  executed  the  charge.  When  young  Frederick  attained 
his  majority,  the  Pope,  his  guardian,  delivered  up  to  him  his  inherit- 
ance in  a  prosperous  condition. 

121.  Innocent  was  soon  called  upon  to  interpose  in  the  political 
affairs  of  Germany.  On  the  death  of  Henry  VI.,  the  majority  of  the  Ger- 
man princes  elected  his  brother,  Duke  Fhilip  of  Swabia,  passing  over 
young  Frederick  on  the  plea  that  in  those  difficult  times  the  government 
of  the  kingdom  required  a  man  mature  in  years.  The  minority  of  the 
princes  proclaimed  Otho  of  Brunswick,  son  of  Henry  the  Lion,  king  of 
Germany.  Innocent,  after  trying  in  vain  to  bring  about  an  amicable 
arrangement  between  the  rival  kings,  acknowledged  Otho  as  emperor 


380  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

of  the  Holy  Eoman  Empire.  When  the  princes  of  Philip's  party  com- 
plained of  this  decision  as  interfering  with  their  electoral  right,  Inno- 
cent replied  that  he  fully  acknowledged  the  right  of  the  German 
princes  to  elect  their  king,  but  that  if  the  elected  king  were  to  become 
Boman  emperor,  it  was  the  right  of  the  Pope  to  examine  his  fitness 
for  the  office. 

122.  Otho,  however,  unable  to  maintain  himself,  was  obliged  to 
take  refuge  in  England.  After  Philip's  assassination,  Otho  was  ac- 
knowledged by  all  the  German  princes,  and,  in  1209,  crowned  em- 
peror by  the  Pope.  But  the  new  emperor  proved  ungrateful  to  the 
Pope,  to  whom  principally  he  owed  his  elevation.  He  violated  his 
oath,  by  which  he  had  promised  to  respect  the  freedom  of  episcopal 
elections  and  secure  the  Roman  Church  in  all  her  possessions,  and 
endeavored  to  subjugate  the  whole  of  Italy,  even  including  Sicily  and 
the  States  of  the  Church.  He  was  excommunicated  by  Innocent,  and 
finally  deposed  by  the  German  princes,  who,  in  1212,  offered  the  crown 
of  Germany  to  Frederick,  king  of  Naples  and  Sicily. 

123.  The  authority  which  Innocent  wielded  was  felt  and  respected 
in  every  country  of  Europe.  He  united  the  kings  of  Castile,  Arragon, 
and  Navarre  in  a  crusade  against  the  Moors,  which  resulted  in  the 
glorious  victory  near  Toledo,  A.  D.  1212.  He  made  Sancho  I.,  of  Por- 
tugal, respect  the  freedom  of  the  Church;  he  received  the  submission  of 
Vulcan,  prince  of  Dalmatia,  conferred  the  royal  title  on  Leo  of  Ar- 
menia, Duke  Premislas  of  Bohemia,  and  Johannicus,  prince  of  the  Bul- 
garians and  Walachians;  and  acted  as  arbitrator  in  Hungary,  between 
the  tvvo  brothers,  Emmeric  and  Andrew;  in  Poland,  between  Leszek 
the  White  and  Ladislaus  Laskonagi;  and  in  Norway  between  Philip 
and  Inge: — all  contending  for  the  crown  in  their  respective  countries. 

124.  Wliile  exercising  a  paramount  influence  in  political  affairs. 
Innocent  displayed  his  zeal  in  maintaining  the  sanctity  of  marriage  in 
the  case  of  Philip  Augustus  of  France,  and  Alphonso  IX.  of  Leon.  As 
both  princes  refused  to  listen  to  his  remonstrances,  he  excommunicated 
them  and  laid  their  kingdoms  under  interdict  until  they  submitted  to 
the  judgment  of  the  Church.  The  tyrannical  King  John  of  England 
he  forced  into  submission;  and  afterwards  supported  that  sovereign 
in  his  contest  against  his  revolted  subjects  and  the  king  of  France. 
Lastly,  he  conferred  the  pallium  on  the  "Catholicos"  of  the  Armen- 
ians, and  thus  effected  the  reunion  of  the  Armenian  with  the  Roman 
Church. 

125.  Innocent  III.  crowned  his  eventful  pontificate  by  the  con- 
vocation of  the  Twelfth  Ecumenical  {Fourth  Lateran)  Council,  which  was 
one  of  the  most  numerous  and  brilliant  ecclesiastical  assemblies  ever 


CONFLICT  WITH  FREDERICK  II.  381 

held  in  Christendom.  There  were  present  the  patriarchs  of  Jerusalem 
and  Constantinople,  seventy-one  primates  and  archbishops,  four  hun- 
dred and  twelve  bishops,  eight  hundred  abbots  and  priors,  besides 
ambassadors  representing  the  emperors  of  Germany  and  Constantin- 
(•Mle,  the  kings  of  France^  England,  Arragon,  Hungary,  Cyprus,  Jeru- 
.salem,  and  other  Christian  princes.  The  Pope  presided  in  person.  In 
defining  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Holy  Eucharist  against  the  heresy 
of  Berengarius,  the  Council  adopted  the  term  ^'  Transubstantiation.^^ 
It  condemned  the  heresies  of  the  Albigenses  and  of  other  sectaries, 
and  issued  seventy  canons  regulating  ecclesiastical  discipline.  By  the 
twenty-first  canon,  yearly  confession  and  paschal  communion  were 
commanded. — After  being  the  ruling  spirit  of  his  time  for  eighteen 
years,  Innocent  III.,  one  of  the  greatest  Pontiffs  that  had  occupied 
the  Chair  of  St.  Peter,  died  at  Perugia,  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  his  age. 

SECTION   XL.       SUCCESSORS  OF  INNOCENT   III — CONFLICT   OF   FREDERICK   II.  WITK 

THE    CHURCH. 

Honorius  HI. — Protects  Henry  IH.  of  England — Faithlessness  of  Frederick  H. 
— Gregory  IX. — Excommunication  of  Frederick  II.  —His  Pretended  Cru- 
sade— His  Reconciliation— Violation  of  Treaties  and  Conduct  in  Italy — 
Frederick  again  Excommunicated — Fresh  attacks  on  the  Holy  See — Death  of 
Gregory  IX. 

126.  Honorius  III.,  A.  H.  1216-1227,  pursued,  though  with  less 
energy,  the  policy  of  his  illustrious  predecessor.  His  first  cares  were 
to  enforce  the  decrees  of  the  last  General  Council,  and  to  protect 
Henry  III.  of  England,  then  but  nine  years  old,  against  Louis  VIII.  of 
France,  whom  he  compelled  to  acknowledge  the  succession  right  of 
the  young  prince  after  the  death  of  King  John,  in  1216.  But  the 
primary  object  of  Honorius'  pontificate  was  the  organization  of  a  cru- 
sade, for  the  relief  of  Palestine.  On  the  day  after  his  enthronization, 
he  addressed  a  circular  to  the  principal  sovereigns  of  Europe,  urging 
them  to  succor  the  threatened  kingdom  of  Jerusalem.  He  relied 
chiefly  on  Frederick  II.,  who,  since  his  accession  to  the  German 
throne,  in  1215,  had  repeatedly  vowed  to  undertake  a  crusade.  But 
the  deceitful  prince  had  no  intention  of  executing  his  promise,  and 
constantly  sought  new  reasons  of  excuse. 

127.  Frederick  was  far  from  realizing  the  hopes  Innocent  III., 
his  guardian,  and  Honorius,  his  former  tutor,  had  entertained  of  him. 
When  crowned  king  of  Germany,  he  solemnly  promised  that  he  would 
make  over  Sicily  to  his  son  as  a  kingdom  separate  from  the  kingdom 
of  Germany.     This  was  a  matter  of  great  importance  for  the  material 


382  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

safety  of  the  Holy  See.  But  Frederick  showed  himself  as  false  and 
hostile  to  the  Church  as  his  predecessor  Otho.  He  treated  the  sub- 
jects of  the  Papal  States  as  his  own,  oppressed  the  clergy,  even  de- 
posed and  invested  bishops,  and  thus  revived  the  old  quarrel  between 
the  Papacy  and  the  Empire.  In  1220,  when  crowned  emperor  by  the 
Pope,  he  took  the  Cross  once  more  and  vowed  to  set  out  shortly  for 
Palestine,  but  again  failed  to  fulfill  his  promise. 

128.  Under  the  successors  of  Honorius,  the  strife  of  Frederick 
with  the  Church  grew  fiercer.  Pope  Gregory  IX.,  a  nephew  of  Inno- 
cent HI.,  A.  D.  1227-1241,  after  vainly  urging  the  German  sovereign 
to  start  on  his  long  delayed  crusade,  finally  pronounced  sentence  of 
excommunication  against  him,  in  1227.  For,  Frederick's  tyranny  in 
Sicily,  his  secret  negotiations  with  the  Saracens,  as  well  as  his  immoral 
nnd  scandalous  life  for  which  he  had  repeatedly  been  rebuked  by  the 
Pope,  having  made  him  an  object  of  general  mistrust,  finally  drew 
upon  him  the  censures  of  the  Church. 

129.  As  Frederick  persisted  in  his  obstinacy,  and  committed 
new  crimes,  Gregory,  in  a  Synod  held  at  Rome,  renewed  his  excom- 
munication, and  laid  the  places  at  which  he  sojourned  under  interdict. 
Frederick  now  gave  full  vent  to  his  anger  and  hatred  against  the 
Papacy.  In  a  manifesto  addressed  to  the  princes  of  Europe,  he-  called 
upon  them  to  unite  with  him  in  an  effort  to  crush  ^^  papal  tyranny  I " 
He  made  war  on  the  Papal  States,  and  excited  an  insurrection  in  Rome, 
which  obliged  the  Pope  to  flee.  Frederick,  whilst  yet  under  excom- 
munication, at  last  entered  upon  the  Third  Crusade.  Having  con- 
cluded a  treaty  with  the  Sultan,  Camel,  of  Egypt,  which  secured  to  the 
Christians  their  possessions  and  free  access  to  the  Holy  places  in  Jeru- 
salem, he  returned  to  Italy.  In  1230,  peace  was  concluded  at  San 
Germane  between  the  emperor  and  the  Pope.  By  this  compact,  Fred- 
erick submitted  to  the  Church  on  all  those  points  which  had  led  to 
his  excommunication,  promised  to  recall  all  exiled  bishops,  and  con- 
sented to  restore  all  the  places  he  occupied  in  the  papal  dominions,  as 
well  as  all  the  estates  which  he  had  seized  from  the  churches  and 
monasteries. 

130.  But  the  perfidious  prince  broke  this  treaty,  like  so  many 
others,  and  soon  resumed  his  implacable  warfare  against  the  much 
hated  Papacy.  In  spite  of  all  remonstrances  on  the  part  of  the  Pope 
and  Italian  Republics,  Frederick  would  not  abandon  his  scheme  of  | 
subjugating  the  whole  of  Italy.  In  1231,  he  issued  a  new  code  of  laws 
for  Sicily  and  Naples,  which  encroached  in  many  particulars  on  the 
rights  of  the  Church.  He  incited  the  Romans  to  rebellion  against  the 
Pope,  ill-treated  and  banished  faithful  bishops,  hindered  appointments 


INNOCENT  IV.  383 

for  vacant  sees,  and  allowed,  and  even  employed,  Saracens  to  destroy 
Christian  churches.  These  violations,  as  well  as  his  many  cruelties 
against  the  Lombards,  in  1239,  drew  upon  Frederick,  who  was,  be- 
sides, accused  of  heresy  and  unbelief,^  a  new  sentence  of  excommuni- 
cation. 

131.  The  animosity  of  Frederick  against  the  Pope  now  knew  no 
bounds.  Treating  the  papal  sentence  with  the  utmost  contempt,  he 
asserted  that  the  Pope  had  no  power  to  excommunicate  him.  His 
first  act  was  to  address  letters  replete  with  bitter  invectives  against 
the  Head  of  the  Church,  to  the  Christian  rulers,  calling  upon  them  to 
to  make  common  cause  with  him  against  their  common  adversary,  the 
Papacy;  and  to  write  to  the  Komans  inciting  them  to  insult  and  assail 
the  Sovereign  Pontiff.  He  outlawed  Italian  nobles  who  had  joined 
the  cause  of  the  Church,  persecuted  religious  orders  and  all  followers 
of  the  Pope  with  the  utmost  cruelty,  and,  with  the  aid  of  the  Saracens, 
ravaged  the  States  of  the  Church  and  those  of  the  Pope's  allies.  Thus 
at  the  very  time  when  the  German  Empire  was  being  assailed  by  the 
Tartars,  Frederick  waged  a  furious  war  against  the  Head  of  the 
Church,  and  rejected  all  overtures  of  peace  which  were  offered  by  the 
Pope. 

132.  In  these  extremities  Pope  Gregory,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining 
peace,  summoned  a  General  Council  to  meet  at  Rome,  in  1241.  But 
Frederick  who  had  personally  nothing  to  hope  from  the  Council,  by  a 
gross  outrage  hindered  its  assembling.  He  had  the  Genoese  fleet,  con- 
veying the  prelates  to  Rome,  intercepted  through  his  son  Enzio,  and  in 
defiance  of  all  international  law,  condemned  three  cardinals  and  more 
than  a  hundred  bishops  and  delegates  to  imprisonment.  Gregory  did 
not  long  survive  the  news  of  this  terrible  outrage;  he  died  of  a  broken 
heart,  at  the  age  of  one  hundred  years. 


1.  Frederick  was  charged  by  Gregory  himself  with  the  blasphemous  utterances:— "That  the 
world  has  been  deceived  by  three  impostors:  Jesus  Christ,  Moses,  and  Mohammed;  that  two  of 
these  died  in  honor;  the  third,  Jesus  Christ,  was  hanged  on  a  tree:  that  those  are  fools  who  aver 
that  God,  the  omnipotent  Creator  of  the  world,  was  born  of  a  Virgin;  and  that  man  ought  to  be- 
lieve nothing  but  what  he  can  understand  and  prove  by  reason  ! " 


384  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUBGE. 

SECTION  XLI.      INNOCENT  IV.  AND  HIS  SUCCESSORS THIRTEENTH  GENERAL  COUNCIL. 

FALL    OF    THE    HOHENSTAUFENS. 

Accession  of  Innocent  IV.— His  Proposals  to  Frederick  II.— His  Flight  to 
France  —  Thirteenth  Ecumenical  Council  —  Frederick  Deposed  —  His 
Death— Kingdom  of  Naples— Alexander  lY.— Crusade  against  Manfred 
—Urban  IV.— Clement  lY.— Charles  of  Anjou,  King  of  Sicily— The  Last 
Hohenstaufen. 

133.  The  short  reign  of  Celestine  IV.  of  only  eighteen  days,  was 
followed  by  an  interregnum  of  nearly  two  years,  caused  by  the  hostile 
attitude  of  the  emperor  Frederick,  who  by  his  intrigues  prevented  the 
papal  election.  At  last,  Cardinal  Sinibald  Fiesco  was  chosen,  under 
the  title  of  Innocent  IV.,  A.  D.  1243-1254.  The  new  Pope  immediately 
made  the  fairest  proposals  to  Frederick,  with  whom  he  had  formerly 
been  on  terms  of  friendship.^  The  Pope  demanded  the  release  of  all 
the  captive  prelates  and  ecclesiastics,  declared  himself  ready  to  redress 
any  wrong  that  Frederick  would  prove  he  had  suffered  from  the 
Church,  and  left  it  to  the  emperor  to  arrange,  what  satisfaction  he 
was  disposed  to  offer,  on  his  release  from  excommunication.  But 
Frederick  would  not  accede  to  any  conditions;  being  refused  absolu- 
tion, he  continued  hostilities  against  the  Holy  See,  and  even  made  an 
attempt  to  secure  the  seizure  of  the  Pope's  person.  Innocent  evaded 
capture,  only  by  his  hasty  flight  to  Lyons,  where,  in  1245,  he  convoked 
The  Thirteenth  General  Council  {First  of  Lyons),  which  was  to  quiet, 
among  other  affairs,  the  dispute  between  Frederick  and  the  Church. 

134.  There  were  present  at  this  Council,  which  was  presided  over 
by  the  Pope  in  person,  the  patriarchs  of  Constantinople,  Antioch,  and 
Aquileja,  with  archbishops  and  bishops  to  the  number  of  one  hundred 
and  forty,  and  the  emperor  of  Constantinople,  with  several  represen- 
tatives of  the  civil  powers.  The  chief  questions  submitted  to  the 
Council  for  discussion  affected:  1. — The  relations  of  the  Greek  Church 
to  the  Latin;  2. — The  condition  of  the  Holy  Land;  3. — The  invasion 
of  Hungary  by  the  Tartars;  4. — The  distressful  situation  of  the  Latin 
Empire  of  Constantinople;  and,  5. — The  persecution  of  the  Church  by 
the  emperor.  Frederick,  whose  crimes,  his  chancellor  and  advocate, 
Thaddeus  of  Suessa,  was  unable  to  argue  away,  was,  on  account  of  his  | 
many  perjuries  against  the  Holy  See,  his  sacrileges,  especially  with 
regard  to  the  imprisoned  prelates,  his  unbelief  and  immorality,  and 
his  tyranny  and  oppressions,  again  excommunicated  and  deposed. 


1.  Frederick  was  congratulated  on  the  accession  of  his  former  friend  to  the  papal  throne;  li&^ 
answered  coldly,  and  in  words  foreboding  the  impending  storm:  "In  the  Cardinal  I  have  had  a 
IViend;  in  the  Pope  I  shall  find  an  enemy.    No  Pope  can  be  a  Ghibelline!" 


INNOCENT  IV.  385 

135.  After  his  excommunication  by  the  Council,  the  affairs  of 
Frederick  went  rapidly  downward :  he  found  himself  deserted  by  many 
of  his  allies  and  by  the  good  fortune  which  had  thus  far  sustained 
him.  The  Germans  chose  a  new  king  in  the  person  of  Henry  Raspe.- 
of  rhuringia,  by  whom  Conrad,  Frederick's  son,  had  been  worsted  in  a 
great  battle  near  Frankfort.  When,  in  1247,  William  of  Holland  was 
elected  king  of  Germany,  the  fortunes  of  war  deserted  the  excommu- 
nicated em  per  or  in  Italy  also;  he  suffered  a  disastrous  defeat  at  Parma, 
and  his  natural  son  Enzio  was  vanquished  and  taken  prisoner  by  the 
Bolognese.  While  on  his  way  to  rescue  Enzio,  Frederick  died,  A.  D. 
1250,  as  some  assert,  reconciled  to  the  Chui'ch,  the  archbishop  of  Pa- 
lermo absolving  him  from  the  ban.  Frederick  11.  was  a  man  of  valor 
and  learning,  but  a  proud,  licentious,  and  cruel  prince. 

136.  On  account  of  his  many  crimes  and  the  long  war  which  he 
had  waged  against  the  Church,  Frederick  II.  was  adjudged  to  have 
forfeited  for  himself  and  his  House  all  the  lands  which  he  held  of  the 
Holy  See.  He  had  left  a  son,  named  Conrad  lY.,  king  of  Germany, 
and  an  illegitimate  son,  Manfred,  prince  of  Tarentum.  But  upon 
neither  of  these  would  Innocent,  who  after  the  death  of  Frederick  had 
returned  to  Italy,  bestow  the  kingdom  of  Sicily.  He  offered  it  first  to 
Charles  of  Anjou,  brother  of  Louis  IX.,  of  France;  then  to  Eichard  of 
Cornwall,  brother  of  King  Henry  HE.,  of  England;  and  lastly,  to  Ed- 
mund, son  of  the  English  king.  All  these  princes  declined  the  prof- 
fered royalty.  In  the  meantime,  Conrad,  unable  to  maintain  himself 
in  Germany,  hastened  to  seize  for  himself  at  least  the  Sicilian  king- 
dom. He  died  excommunicated  in  1254,  leaving  an  infant  son,  Con- 
radin,  then  only  two  years  old. 

137.  After  the  death  of  William  of  Holland,  in  1256,  the  German 
princes  again  split  into  two  parties,  who  respectively  elected  Prince 
Richard  of  Cornwall  and  Alphonso  X.  of  Castile.  Their  power,  how- 
ever, remained  a  mere  shadow  in  Germany.  Pope  Alexander  TV.,  A.  D. 
1254-1261,  positively  forbade  the  proposed  election  of  the  boy  Conra- 
din,  because,  the  Hohenstaufens  being  the  traditional  enemies  of  the 
Church,  his  election  would  but  increase  the  existing  temper  of  rebel- 
lion against  all  law  and  order.  Alexander  was  obliged  also  to  inter* 
fere  against  Manfred,  who,  having  usurped  the  Crown  of  Sicily,  with 
the  assistance  of  the  Saracens,  was  ravaging  the  States  of  the  Church, 
and  so  sorely  pressing  the  Pope  that  another  nomination  to  that  king- 
dom became  an  urgent  necessity. 

138.  AVlierefore  Urban  V.,  A.  D.  1261-1264,  published  a  crusade 
against  Manfred,  and  the  kingdom  of  Sicily  was  offered  a  second  time 
to  the  energetic,  but  despotic  Charles  of  Anjou.  Charles  came  to  Italy ^ 


3S6  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

and  after  acknowledging  the  papal  suzerainty,  was  crowned  king  by- 
Clement  IV.,  who  reigned  from  A.  D.  1265  to  1268.  Manfred's  army 
was  routed,  he  himself  falling  in  battle.  But  the  Pope  was  cruelly 
deceived  in  Charles,  whose  tyranny  soon  caused  the  people  to  call 
young  Conradin  from  Germany  to  deliver  Sicily  from  the  French  yoke. 
In  vain  did  the  Pope  dissuade  the  young  prince  from  his  adventurous 
expedition  into  Italy.  Conradin  was  defeated  and  fell  into  the  hands 
of  the  remorseless  victor  who,  in  spite  of  the  earnest  entreaties  of  the 
Pope,  had  the  young  prince  beheaded  in  1268.  Thus  sank  the  last 
royal  heir  of  the  powerful  dynasty  of  tlie  Hohenstaufens  into  an  early 
grave.  The  still  remaining  members  of  the  House  of  the  Hohenstaufens 
also  experienced  a  cruel  fate.  Enzio  and  the  sons  of  Manfred  pined 
in  prison  till  they  died. 

SECTION  XUI.      GREGORY   X FOURTEENTH    ECUMENICAL    COUNCIL  —  SUCCESSOEfl: 

OF    GREGORY. 

French  Influence  in  the  Sacred  College— Long  Vacancy  in  the  Papacy — Gre- 
gory X. — Fourteenth  General  Council — Reunion  of  the  Greeks — Law  of 
Papal  election — Affairs  in  Germany — Rudolph  of  Hapsburg — Rapid  Suc- 
cession of  Popes — Nicholas  III. — Martin  IV. — Tyranny  of  Charles  of  An- 
jou — Revolt  of  Sicily — Peter  of  Arragon,  King  of  Sicily — Honorius  lY. — 
Nicholas  lY. — Celestine  Y.— His  Abdication. 

139.  The  grant  of  the  kingdom  of  Naples  to  Charles  of  Anjou 
proved  perilous  to  the  freedom  and  independence  of  the  Papacy.  From 
that  period,  French  influence  became  dominant  in  the  sacred  College 
of  Cardinals,  which  at  last  culminated  in  the  translation  of  the  papal 
residence  to  Avignon.  After  the  death  of  Clement  lY.,  there  was 
vacancy  of  nearly  three  years.  The  cardinals,  assembled  at  Yiterbo,- 
could  not  agree  in  the  choice  of  a  Pope;  they  obstinately  clung  to 
their  respective  candidates.  Finally,  through  the  efforts  of  St.  Bona- 
venture,  they  agreed  on  Theobald  Yisconti,  the  holy  archdeacon  ol 
Liege,  who  took  the  name  of  Gregory  X.,  A.  D.  1272-1276.  With  all 
the  energy  of  an  active  and  zealous  Pontiff,  Gregory  labored  for  th 
pacification  of  Christendom  and  the  reconquest  of  the  Holy  Land. 

140.  No  sooner  had  he  ascended  the  Apostolic  chair  than  he  sum-, 
moned  77ie  Fourteenth  Ecumenical  Council,  which  met  at  Lyons^: 
A.  D.  1274.  The  declared  objects  of  the  Council  were:  succor  to  th 
Holy  Land,  the  reconciliation  of  the  Greek  Church,  and  the  reform-] 
ation  of  morals.  Five  hundred  bishops,  the  Latin  patriarchs  of  Con 
stantinople  and  Antioch,  over  a  thousand  abbots  and  other  privileged 
ecclesiastics,   the  kings  of  France  and  Arragon,  besides  ambassadors 


I -I 


GREGORY  X.  387 

from  Germany,  England,  and  Sicily,  and  the  Grand-Master  of  the 
Knights  of  St.  John,  took  part  in  its  proceedings.  Of  the  two  greatest 
theologians  of  the  age,  St.  Thomas  Aquinas  and  St.  Bonaventure,  who 
were  also  invited,  the  former  died  on  his  way  to  the  Council,  the 
latter  preached  during  its  sittings,  but  died  before  its  adjournment. 

141.  The  Council  opened  with  great  solemnity,  the  Pope  himself 
officiating.  For  the  succor  of  the  Holy  Land,  a  tenth  of  all  ecclesiastical 
revenues  was  voted  for  six  years.  In  the  fourth  session,  the  reunion 
of  the  Greek  Church  with  the  Latin  was  solemnized.  The  Creed  was 
chanted  in  both  Greek  and  Latin,  and  the  words,  "  who  proceedeth  from 
the  Father  and  the  Son,"  were  repeated  three  times.  The  representative 
of  the  Eastern  Emperor  abjured  the  schism  and  acknowledged  the 
supremacy  of  St.  Peter's  successors.  The  Council,  besides,  passed 
thirty-two  canons  regulating  the  discipline  of  the  Church,  and  provid- 
ing for  the  reformation  of  morals. 

142.  Yery  important  was  the  new  constitution  providing  for  the 
speedy  and  concordant  election  of  a  Koman  Pontiff,  which,  in  spite  of 
considerable  opposition  from  the  cardinals,  finally  received  the  ap- 
probation of  the  Council.  The  decree  ordains  that,  on  the  death  of 
the  Pope,  the  cardinals,  having  celebrated  his  obsequies  for  nine  days, 
should,  on  the  tenth  day,  enter  the  conclave,  whether  all  or  the  more 
distant  members  composing  the  sacred  College  had  arrived  or  not, 
and  remain  in  conclave,  until  they  should  have  chosen  a  successor. 
If,  after  three  days  from  the  opening  of  the  conclave,  no  election  had 
been  made,  their  repast  should  become  more  scant  during  the  next 
five  days,  after  which  they  should  be  allowed  only  bread,  water  and 
wine,  until  they  agreed  on  a  choice.  This  constitution  is  substantially 
the  rule  that  still  regulates  the  election  of  the  Pope. 

143.  After  the  death  of  Eichard  of  Cornwall,  in  1273,  the  princes 
of  Germany  elected  Kudolph  of  Hapsburg;  he  was  recognized  at 
Lyons,  by  the  Pope,  as  King  of  the  Romans.  At  a  meeting  of 
Gregory  and  Rudolph  at  Lausanne,  the  latter  took  the  customary 
oaths,  guaranteeing  the  freedom  of  ecclesiastical  elections  and  the 
right  of  appeal  to  Rome,  and  renouncing  the  right  of  spoil  (jus  spolii), 
or  claim  to  the  property  of  deceased  ecclesiastics,  which  had  been  ac- 
cumulated from  their  benefices.  Rudolph,  however,  never  came  to 
Rome  to  be  crowned  emperor.     He  died  in  1291. 

144.  After  the  death  of  Gregory  X.,  whom  the  Church  has  beati- 
fied, the  Popes  Innocent  V.,  Hadrian  Y.,  the  nephew  of  Innocent  lY., 
and  John  XXL,  a  Portuguese,  followed  in  quick  succession,  governing 
the  Church,  in  all,  a  year  and  a  half.  Then  followed  Cardinal  Cajetan 
Orsini,  as  Nicholas  III.,  A.  D.  1277-1280     He  was  a  man  of  great  abil- 


S88  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

ity  and  prudence,  but  favored  his  relatives  somewliat  too  much  by 
raising  members  of  the  Orsini  family  to  positions  of  honor  and  influ- 
ence. He  forced  King  Charles  of  Naples  to  resign  the  title  of  Eoman 
Senator,  and  his  pretended  claims  to  Tuscany. 

145.  By  intimidation  and  intrigues,  the  politic  Charles  of  Anjou 
secured,  after  a  prolonged  conclave  of  six  months,  the  election  of 
Martin  IV.,'  A.  D.  1281-1285.  The  new  Pope,  entirely  devoted  to  the 
interests  of  Charles,  restored  to  him  the  Koman  senatorship,  and  even 
encouraged  him  to  asj)ire  to  the  Imperial  Crown  of  Constantinople. 
The  tyranny  and  systematic  oppression  of  Charles  led  the  Sicilians  to 
revolt  against  his  government.  An  insult  offered  to  a  distinguished 
Sicilian  lady  by  a  Frenchman,  was  the  signal  for  the  general  insurrec- 
tion of  1282,  commonly  called  the  "Sicilian  Vespers,"  in  which  all  the 
French  residents  in  Sicily  were  massacred.  The  consequence  of  this 
terrible  uprising  was  the  union  of  the  kingdoms  of  Sicily  and  Arragon. 
Peter  III.  of  Arragon,  the  husband  of  Manfred's  daughter  Constantia, 
had  himself  crowned  king  of  Sicily.  The  despotic  Charles,  though 
aided  by  Pope  Martin,  who  excommunicated  Peter,  at  the  same  time 
dispossessing  him  of  his  hereditary  kingdom,  was  unable  to  regain 
his  authority  over  Sicily.  The  censures,  seemingly  apj)lied  in  the  in- 
terests of  the  French,  turned  out  disastrously  to  the  Pope's  policy. 
Both  King  Charles  and  Pope  Martin  died  in  the  year  1285. 

146.  Honorius  IV.,  A.  D.  1285-1287,  governed  the  Church  with 
prudence  and  ability.  During  the  captivity  of  Charles  11.,  son  of 
Charles  of  Anjou,  who  had  been  captured  by  the  Arragonese,  Hono- 
rius, as  suzerain  lord,  published  wise  laws  for  the  continental  king- 
dom of  Naples,  which  afforded  the  people  great  relief  in  the  oppression, 
under  which  they  had  been  suffering.  Nicholas  IV.,  A.  D.  1288-1292, 
succeeded  in  obtaining  the  freedom  of  Charles  II.,  but  could  not  in- 
duce the  Sicilians  to  return  to  the  allegiance  of  the  Anjou  dynasty,  nor 
prevail  on  James  II.,  Peter's  second  son,  who  had  been  crowned  at 
Palermo,  in  1286,  to  renounce  the  Crown  of  Sicily.  Under  the  pontif- 
icate of  Nicholas  IV.  occurred  the  fall  of  Ptolemais  (Acre),  the  last 
stronghold  of  the  Christians  in  the  East  (A.  D.  1291).  His  efforts  to 
organize  a  new  crusade,  for  the  recovery  of  the  lost  position,  were  un- 
successful. 

147.  After  the  death  of  Nicholas  IV.,  there  was  a  vacancy  of  more 
than  two  years  in  the  Papal  Chair.  Then,  July  7,  1294,  the  choice  of 
the  cardinals  fell  upon  the  pious  recluse,  Peter  Morrone,  who  was,  with 


1.  Although  but  the  second  of  this  name,  yet,  because  the  two  Popes  Marinus  had  been  ranged 
among  the  Martins,  this  Pontiff  is  historically  recognized  as  Martin  IV. 


i 


THE  CHURCH  IN  FRANCE.  389 

difficulty,  persuaded  to  accept  the  papal  dignity.  He  took  tlie  name  of 
Celestine  V.  A  stranger  to  the  world,  and  its  workings  and  intrigues, 
the  holy  Pontiff  lacked  knowledge  of  men  and  acquaintance  with  tem- 
poral matters.  He  transferred  his  residence  to  Naples,  and  thus  came 
completely  under  the  influence  of  Charles  11.  He  created  at  once 
twelve  cardinals,  seven  of  whom  were  French,  and  three  Neapolitans, 
and  appointed  the  king's  son,  a  youth  of  only  twenty-one  years,  arch- 
bishop of  Lyons.  He  lavished  offices  and  dignities  with  a  profuse 
hand,  and  inconsiderately  bestowed  benefices,  sometimes  giving  the 
same  benefice  to  three  or  four  persons  at  once. 

148.  The  loud  complaints  of  the  confused  state  of  affairs  which 
reached  his  ears,  and  the  consciousness  of  his  own  unfitness  for  his 
exalted  position,  induced  the  sainted  Pontiff  to  abdicate,  after  having 
occupied  the  Papal  Chair  five  months.  Before  taking  this  final  stei:>, 
Celestine  re-enacted  the  Conclave  Law  of  Gregory  X.,  and  issued  a  new 
constitution,  declaring  that  the  Pope  might  resign  his  dignity,  and 
that  the  Sacred  College  was  competent  to  receive  such  resignation. 
His  successor,  Boniface  VIII. ,  '  justly  fearing  that  a  schism  might  be 
caused  by  artful  persons,  who  would  misuse  the  holy  man's  simplicity, 
kept  him  in  close,  but  honorable,  confinement  in  the  castle  of  Fumone, 
near  Anagni,  until  his  death  in  1296. 

SECTION    XLHI.       THE    CHUKCH    IN    FRANCE. 

Accession  of  Hugh  Capet — Church  and  State — Abuses — Their  Causes — Efforts 
of  the  Church  at  Reformation — Synods — Flourishing  Schools — Philip  I. — 
His  Scandalous  Conduct — Philip  Augustus — His  Immoral  Divorce  and 
Marriage — Louis  IX. 

149.  On  the  extinction  of  the  Carlovingian  race,  in  987,  a  new  line 
of  kings  ascended  the  French  throne  in  the  person  of  Hugh  Capet. 
The  founders  and  supporters  of  the  new  djTiasty  against  the  powerful 
nobles,  were  principally  the  bishops;  the  coronation  and  anointing  of 
Capet  by  the  Church  gave  him,  in  the  eyes  of  the  French  nation,  a 
valid  claim  to  the  royal  dignity.  The  kingdom  had  need  of  the  assist- 
ance of  the  Church,  and  the  Church  of  the  kingdom.  The  nobles  had 
begun  to  exercise  a  power  over  the  bishops,  which  could  not  but  prove 
detrimental  to  the  independence  of  the  hierarchy.     They  endeavored 

1.  Speaking  of  the  influence  Pope  Boniface  VIII.  is  said  to  liave  had  on  the  abdication  of  his 
predecessor,  Archbishop  Kenrick  observes:  "  If  lie  (Boniface  VI 11.)  advised  the  holy  Pontifl"  Cele- 
stine to  abdicate  an  otllce  to  whose  duties  he  was  inadequate,  it  need  not  be  ascribed  to  secret 
aspirations  after  the  Tiara,  for  which,  however,  his  eminent  knowledge  and  determination  of 
character  qualified  him.  The  imprisonment  of  the  unambitious  hermit,  which  has  brought  cens- 
ure on  Boniface,  may  have  been  necessary  to  guard  against  the  wiles  of  bad  men,  who  might 
abuse  his  simplicity  to  cause  a  schism,  by  persuading  him  that  he  coulNl  not  lawfully  part  with 
the  power  which  God  liad  committed  to  him.''    rrimacy,  ch.  IX.,  p.  419. 


390  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

to  make  the  bishops  their  vassals,  and  gave  to  them  the  investiture  of 
the  temporalities  of  their  bishoprics.  In  this  the  hierarchy  beheld  an 
attack  upon  their  ancient  freedom.  Hence,  the  bishops,  too  weak  to 
defend  themselves  against  the  oppression  of  the  nobles,  required  the 
assistance  of  a  powerful  protector. 

150.  Much  confusion  arose  at  this  time  from  the  discussions  be- 
tween the  secular  and  the  regular  clergy,  the  bishops  and  the  abbots. 
Some  bishops  required  from  the  abbots  an  oath  of  fidelity,  and  en- 
deavored to  deprive  the  monasteries  of  all  their  tithes,  which,  it  was 
asserted,  the  monks  had  usurped  from  the  secular  clergy.  But  a  more 
flagrant  abuse  on  the  part  of  the  clergy  was  the  ever  increasing  viola- 
tion of  the  law  of  celibacy.  In  Normandy  and  Bretagne  especially,  this, 
law  of  the  Church  was,  in  the  tenth  and  eleventh  centuries,  violated 
without  scruple.  And  no  wonder.  The  rude  and  ignorant  Normans, 
who  but  recently  had  embraced  the  Christian  faith,  did  not  shrink 
from  intruding  themselves  into  the  clerical  state;  they  continued, 
when  ecclesiastics,  to  live  in  every  respect  as  laymen;  they  had  wives 
and  concubines.  Even  bishops,  such  as  Kobert  and  Mauger  of  Kouen, 
Sigf ried  of  Mans,  and  Quimper  in  Bretagne,  lived  in  public  matrimony. 
With  these  scandals  simony  was  in  close  connection.  The  nobility 
made  public  traffic  of  bishoprics  and  abbeys;  ecclesiastical  benifices 
were  squandered  upon  their  relatives  or  sold  to  the  highest  bidders.  • 

151.  The  Church  made  many  efforts  to  remedy  these  evils,  and 
restore  ecclesiastical  discipline  and  purity  of  morals.  Eighty  Synods 
were  held  in  France  during  the  eleventh  century,  which  all  engaged 
in  devising  means  against  the  lawlessness  and  rapacious  anarchy  of 
the  laity,  and  the  incontinence  and  simony  of  the  clergy.  Notwith- 
standing these  disorders,  which  were  great  impediments  to  learning, 
there  existed  in  France  flourishing  schools  atEheims,  Chartres,  Tours; 
in  the  abbey  of  Marmontiers,  which  had  been  reformed  by  St.  Majolus 
of  Cluny,  and  in  that  of  St.  Benignus,  at  Dijon.  But  far  superior  to 
these  schools  was  that  of  Bee,  in  which  Lanfranc,  the  most  learned 
theologian  of  his  age,  and  after  him,  his  still  more  illustrious  pupil, 
St.  Anselm,  directed  the  studies.  These  schools  were  the  seminaries 
from  which  many  eminent  bishops  went  forth. 

152.  King  Philip  I.  was  the  cause  of  much  grief  to  Popes  Gre- 
gory yn.,  and  Urban  11.,  both  on  account  of  his  practice  of  sim- 
ony and  his  immoral  conduct.  In  a  brief  of  the  year  1073,  Gregory 
Vn.  complains  of  the  king's  oppression  of  the  Church  and  his  base 
traffic  in  Church  benefices,  and  threatens  to  punish  his  surly  ob- 
stinacy with  ecclesi|istical  censures.  Finding  the  king  still  obdurate, 
the  Pope  addressed  an  encyclical  letter  to  the  French  bishops,  in 


THE  CHURCH  IN  FRANCE.  391 

which  he  laments  the  ruin  of  France,  the  multitude  of  crimes,  and  the 
impiety  that  prevailed,  laying  all  to  the  charge  of  the  simoniacal  and 
dissolute  king.  He  calls  upon  the  bishops  to  warn  the  king  solemnly; 
and,  if  he  still  remained  stubborn,  to  lay  him  under  a  ban,  and  France 
under  an  interdict.  Many  of  the  French  bishops  manifested  great 
weakness  and  indifference,  and  some  even  openly  sided  witli  the  king. 
Hence,  the  papal  legate,  Hugh  of  Die,  at  the  Synods  which  he  held  in 
1076  and  1077,  occupied  himself  principally  in  punishing  delinquent 
prelates.  In  1080,  Gregory  VII.  definitely  removed  Archbishop  Ma- 
nasses  of  Rheims  from  his  see.  King  Philip,  who  refused  to  rec- 
Q^^^r^r,  +1.^  oT.+ipope  of  Henry  IV.,  became  reconciled  with  the  Holy  ^^^9, 
and  thus,  for  the  present,  warded  off  the  blow  that  threatened  him. 
153.  But  later,  he  was  the  cause  of  a  great  scandal,  when,  in  1092, 
on  a  frivolous  plea  of  consanguinity,  he  divorced  his  wife  Bertha,  who 
was  the  mother  of  his  heir.  Prince  Louis  VL,  and  openly  lived  in  adult- 
ery with  Bertrada,  the  eloped  wife  of  Count  Fulk  of  Anjou.  The 
bishop  of  Senlis  had  the  weakness  to  bless  this  act  of  twofold  adultery, 
whilst  the  learned  canonist  Ivo,  bishop  of  Chartres  since  the  year  1090, 
earnestly  but  vainly  remonstrated  against  this  adulterous  union;  for 
his  ingenuous  zeal,  the  courageous  prelate  was  imprisoned.  There- 
upon the  papal  legate,  Archbishop  Hugh  of  Lyons,  at  the  Synod  of 
Autun,  in  1094,  solemnly  excommunicated  Philip  for  his  unlawful  and 
adulterous  conduct.  Pope  Urban  11.,  to  whom  the  king  appealed, 
confirmed  the  sentence  of  his  legate.  Philip  now  promised  to  put 
away  Bertrada,  but  soon  broke  his  promise.  The  scandalous  affair 
was,  at  last,  brought  to  an  end,  in  1104,  at  the  Council  of  Paris,  when 
Philip  and  Bertrada,  submitting  to  the  canonical  penances,  were  re- 
conciled to  the  Church.  Philip  died  in  1108,  after  having,  together 
with  his  son  Louis,  promised  the  Pope  to  protect  the  Holy  See  against 
the  tyranny  of  Emperor  Henry  V.  Bertrada  ended  her  days  in  the 
convent  of  Fontevrault. 

154.  During  the  twelfth  century  a  large  number  of  diocesan 
synods  were  celebrated  in  France.  The  French  nation  was  distin- 
guished for  its  loyalty  to  the  Holy  See,  and  the  French  Church  became 
illustrious  by  its  number  of  learned  and  holy  men.  A  serious  discord, 
however,  arose  between  Pope  Innocent  11.  and  Louis  VIL,  owing  to 
the  king's  interference  in  episcopal  elections.  Peter  de  la  Chatre  had 
been  canonically  elected  archbishop  of  Bourges,  and  as  such  was  con- 
firmed by  the  Pope;  but  the  king  obstinately  refused  to  recognize  the 
new  archbishop.  For  this.  Innocent  finally  placed  France  under  an 
interdict,  which  compelled  Louis  to  respect  the  independence  of  epis- 
copal elections. 


392  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

155.  Still  more  threatening  were  the  matrimonial  affairs  of  King 
Philip  Augustus.  On  a  false  pretext  of  affinity,  Philip  obtained  the 
annulment  of  his  marriage  with  Ingeburga,  sister  of  the  Danish  king 
Canute  U.,  by  a  Council  of  venal  bishops  assembled  at  Compiegne. 
The  hasty  divorce  was  promptly  annulled  by  Pope  Celestine  III.  But 
in  defiance  of  the  Pope's  warning  against  contracting  a  new  alliance, 
Philip  Augustus,  in  1196,  married  Agnes  of  Meran.  Pope  Innocent 
m.,  who  succeeded  Celestine  HE.,  made  every  effort  to  induce  the 
misguided  king  to  sever  his  unlawful  union  with  Agnes,  and  return 
to  his  legitimate  wife;  but  in  vain.  The  Pope,  therefore,  excommun- 
icated Philip  and  his  concubine,  and  laid  France  under  interdict. 
After  resisting  for  eight  years,  Philip,  submitting  himself  to  the 
Church,  dismissed  Agnes,  and  took  back  Ingeburga.  Thus  the  firm- 
ness of  the  Holy  See  at  last  obtained  the  victory.^ 

156.  Louis  Vin.  led  a  crusade  against  the  Albigenses,  who  were 
ransacking  the  South  of  France  and  waging  war  against  the  Church. 
After  a  short  and  successful  campaign,  he  died,  A.  D.  1226,  leaving 
the  Crown  of  France  to  his  son,  Louis  IX.,  then  only  eleven  years  old. 
A  more  perfect  type  of  Christian  royalty  and  probity  than  Louis  IX., 
the  pious  and  holy  king  of  France,  has  hardly  ever  been  seen  before 
or  since  on  any  throne.  During  his  minority,  his  mother,  the  pious 
Blanche  of  Castile,  took  possession  of  the  regency  and  governed  the 
kingdom  with  great  prudence  and  ability.  To  her  pious  care  and  at- 
tention, Louis  was  indebted  for  that  excellent  education  which  formed 
an  illustrious  king,  a  renowned  hero,  and  a  great  Saint.  Louis  was 
truly  the  father  of  his  subjects;  his  only  care  was  the  welfare  of  his 
people  and  the  promotion  of  religion  and  piety  in  his  realm.  His 
prudence  and  valor^  his  justice  and  integrity,  as  well  as  his  bene- 
volence and  many  virtues,  raised  France  to  a  plane  of  much  higher 
influence  than  she  had  occupied  under  his  predecessors.  In  the  strife 
between  Gregory  IX.  and  Frederick  11.,  he  at  first  maintained  an  im- 
partial and  dignified  neutrality;  but  he  afterwards  sided  with  the 
Pope,  and  labored  earnestly,  though  ineffectually,  to  reconcile  the  em- 
peror with  the  Church.  The  Pragmatic  Sanction  of  1268,  ascribed  to 
St.  Louis  IX.,  is  a  forgery  and  the  work  of  a  later  period. 


1.  ♦'  Never,"  says  De  Maistre,  "  have  the  Popes  and  the  Church,  in  general,  done  a  more  signal 
service  to  society,  than  in  checking,  by  the  power  of  ecclesiastical  censures,  the  tendency  of 
rulers  to  overstep  the  bounds  of  wedlock.  The  sanctity  of  the  marriage-tie,  that  great  foundation 
ol  public  happiness,  is  especially  of  the  most  vital  importance  in  royal  families,  where  its  breach 
breeds  incalculable  evils.  Had  not  the  Popes,  while  the  Western  nations  were  still  in  their  youth, 
held  a  power  to  master  the  princely  passions,  sovereigns,  going  from  one  caprice  to  another, 
from  one  abuse  to  a  greater,  would  at  last  have  probably  established  the  law  of  divorce  and  even 
of  polygamy;  and  disorder  repeated,  as  it  always  is.  through  the  downward  grades  of  society, 
must  have  reached  a  depth  of  license,  which  no  eye  can  fathom." 

r 


i 


BONIFACE  VIII.  AND  PHILIP  THE  FAIR.  393 

SECTION    XLIV.       BONIFACE   VIII.    AND    PHILIP    THE   FAIR    OF    FRANCE. 

Election  of  Boniface  Yin. — Political  Affairs  of  Europe — Boniface  and  Sicily 
— The  Colonnas — Boniface  and  Germany — Pliilip  the  Fair  of  France — 
Edward  I.  of  England — Mediation  of  the  Pope— Bull  "Clericis  Laicos" 
— Edict  of  Philip — Reconciliation — Violent  Acts  of  Philip — Mission  of  the 
Bishop  of  Pamiers — Bull  "  Ausculta  Fill  "—The  Short  Bull— Convention 
of  the  States — Synod  at  Rome — Bull  "Unam  Sanctam" — William  Noga- 
ret — Charges  against  Boniface — Reply  of  the  Pope — Treacherous  Attack 
on  the  Pope — Death  of  Boniface. 

157.  In  strict  compliance  with  the  law  of  Gregory  X.,  the  Sacred 
College  chose  the  learned  and  highly-gifted  Cardinal  Benedict  Gae- 
tano  to  succeed  Celestine  Y.  He  took  the  name  of  Boniface  YIII.,  A» 
D.  1294-1303.  He  was  of  a  noble  family  in  Anagni,  and  a  near  relative 
of  Popes  Innocent  III.,  Gregory  IX.,  and  Alexander  lY.  To  evade  the 
baneful  influence  of  the  Neapolitan  court,  Boniface  at  once  set  out  for 
Rome.^  The  pontificate  of  this  truly  great,  but  much  calumniated 
Pope,  occurred  when  the  political  affairs  of  Europe  were  extremely 
complicated.  The  Greeks  had  returned  to  their  schism;  Christendom 
had  lost  its  last  foothold  in  Palestine;  Scotland  and  France  were  at 
war  with  England;  Castile  was  engaged  in  a  struggle  with  Arragon; 
Naples  with  Sicily;  and  Germany  was  divided  between  Albert  of 
Austria  and  Adolph  of  Nassau.  The  policy  of  Boniface  was  to  estab- 
lish peace  among  the  States  of  Europe  and  unite  them  in  a  great 
crusade  for  the  recovery  of  the  Holy  Land. 

158.  With  this  view,  Boniface  proposed  his  mediation  between  the 
contending  parties.  His  efforts  to  bring  Sicily  back  under  the  dom- 
ination of  Charles  II.  of  Naples  met  with  failure;  the  Sicilians  pro- 
claimed Frederick  of  Arragon  their  king,  who,  not  heeding  the  papal 
excommunication,  plunged  Sicily  into  a  war  which  lasted  till  the  year 
1302.  Then  a  treaty  was  concluded  which  left  Frederick  in  the  pos- 
session of  the  kingdom  Trinacria  for  life,  after  which  it  was  to  pass 
back  to  the  king  of  Naples.  The  Colonnas,  a  powerful  Roman  family, 
gave  Boniface  much  trouble.  Two  cardinals  of  that  name,  James  and 
Peter,  entertained  a  secret  alliance  with  Frederick  of  Arragon  and  the 
Sicilians,  then  at  war  with  the  Pope.     Besides,  Cardinal  James  Colon- 


1.  His  coronation  at  Rome  was  attended  witli  extraordinary  magnificence.  Tlie  common 
statement  that  Boniface  VIII.  was  ttie  first  wearing  a  double  crown,  is  not  auttienticated.  Inno- 
cent III.,  in  a  painting,  made  prior  to  tlie  time  of  Boniface,  is  represented  witli  a  second  crown. 
Nicliolas  I.  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  to  unite  the  princely  crown  with  the  mitre.  To  this  In- 
nocent III.  seems  to  allude  when  in  a  sermon  he  says:  "  The  Church  has  given  me  a  crown  as  a 
symbol  of  temporalities;  she  has  conferred  on  me  a  mitre  in  token  of  spiritual  power;  a  mitre  for 
the  priesthood — a  crown  for  the  kingdom.''  Clement  V.,  or,  more  probably,  Urban  V.,  is  supposed 
to  have  first  used  the  triple  crown,  called  Tiara  ( rrire«:uum,  Mitra  turbinata). 


394  HI8T0BY  OF  THE  CHUBCIL 

na,  who  was  the  administrator  of  the  family-estate,  unjustly  withheld 
from  his  brothers  the  property  belonging  to  them.  They  appealed  to 
the  Pope,  who  in  vain  insisted  that  the  two  cardinals  should  do  justice 
to  their  family  and  sever  their  connection  with  Sicily.  But  these  fled 
to  their  castles,  and  although  they  had  given  their  votes  in  favor  of 
Boniface,  they  now  openly  asserted  the  illegality  of  his  election,  on 
the  ground  that  the  abdication  of  Celestine  V.  was  uncanonical.  They 
were  deprived  of  their  dignities  and  excommunicated;  and,  because 
they  continued  fomenting  revolt,  their  castles,  and  their  city,  Pales- 
trina,  were  destroyed  by  the  papal  troops  which  were  under  the  com- 
mand of  Landulf,  brother  of  Cardinal  James  Colonna.  The  two  rene- 
gade cardinals  took  refuge  in  France. 

159.  In  Germany,  Boniface  interposed  between  Adolph  of  Nassau 
and  Albert  of  Austria,  who  were  rivals  for  the  Imperial  Crown. 
Adolph  had  been  chosen  king  of  Germany  in  place  of  Albert,  the  son 
of  Rudolph  of  Hapsburg;  but  he  was  a  man  of  little  account  and  un- 
able to  maintain  his  authority.  The  German  princes,  becoming  dis- 
pleased with  him,  declared  him  deposed,  and  in  his  stead,  elected  Al- 
bert. Adolph,  appealing  to  the  arbitrament  of  war,  was  conquered, 
and,  as  it  was  reported  at  the  time,  slain  by  his  rival.  Boniface  at  first 
refused  to  recognize  Albert,  and  summoned  him  to  Borne  to  answer 
the  charge  of  murder  and  high  treason.  He  finally  confirmed  the  ap- 
pointment of  Albert,  who  in  the  meantime  had  been  re-elected  King 
of  the  Romans  by  the  i^rinces  of  Germany.  In  1308,  Albert  was  mur- 
dered by  his  nephew  John. 

160.  It  was  not  long  after  his  elevation  to  the  Pontificate,  before 
Boniface  became  embroiled  in  a  serious  conflict  with  the  French  king. 
Philip  the  Fair  of  France  and  Edward  I.  of  England  attacked  in  a 
very* high-handed  manner  the  immunities  of  the  Church.  Both  kings 
carried  on  a  fierce  war  principally  by  the  money  obtained  from  the 
arbitrary  taxation  of  the  Church,  against  which  the  prelates  of  the 
two  realms  vainly  remonstrated.  The  bishops  appealed  to  Rome 
for  redress.  Boniface,  who  considered  it  his  duty  as  Pope  to  prevent 
the  shedding  of  blood  amongst  Christians,  obliged  the  two  princes  to 
sign  a  truce,  and,  in  1296,  issued  a  Bull,  known  by  its  initial  words, 
"  Clericis  laicos,"  forbidding,  under  pain  of  excommunication,  in  every 
kingdom,  the  levy  or  payment  of  taxes  on  Church  propertj^  without 
the  express  permission  of  the  Holy  See. 

161.  Though  France  was  not  particularly  named,  Philip  under- 
stood himself  to  be  intended;  he  retaliated  by  an  edict  banishing  all 
foreign  tradesmen,  and  prohibiting  all  export  of  money,  gold,  arms, 
and  even  provisions,  without  his  written  permission.     This  measure 

r 


BONIFACE  VIII.  AND  PHILIP   THE  FAIR.  395 

was  equivalent  to  a  prohibition  of  all  subsidies  and  pecuniary  assist- 
ance to  the  Holy  See.  The  vigor  with  which  Philip  resisted  the  papal 
bull,  and  the  little  assistance  which  the  Pope  received  from  the  French 
bishoj)S,  constrained  Boniface  to  modify  his  prohibition  somewhat, 
and  to  allow  the  levying  of  subsidies  in  cases  of  necessity.  Boniface 
did  all  he  could  to  appease  the  French  king.  He  granted  him  further 
privileges,  and,  in  129*7,  completed  the  canonization  of  his  grand- 
father, Louis  IX.,  which  gave  general  satisfaction  in  France.  The 
Pope  also  succeeded  in  effecting  a  reconciliation  between  France  and 
England,  whose  kings  had  chosen  him  arbitrator;  not,  however,  as 
Pope,  but  only  as  a  private  individual. 

162.  For  a  few  years  after  the  doubtful  settlement  of  the  difficult- 
ies above  mentioned,  Boniface  and  Philip  seemed  reconciled  to  each 
other;  but,  in  1301,  the  latter  occasioned  new  and  more  serious 
troubles  to  the  Pope.  Complaints  of  the  oppression  practiced  on  the 
Church  by  the  French  king,  had  become  still  more  frequent  than  be- 
fore. Philip  not  only  took  for  himself  the  revenues  of  vacated  sees 
and  abbeys,  but  he  also  seized  their  landed  property.  To  this  was 
added  the  treacherous  assault  on  Count  Guide  of  Flanders,  who  being 
taken  and  held  a  prisoner,  appealed  to  the  Pope  for  assistance.  All 
this  obliged  Boniface  to  remonstrate  with  the  faithless  and  despotic 
Philip,  who  was  forming  plans  for  the  complete  subjugation  of  the 
Papacy. 

163.  Boniface  sent  Bishop  Bernard  of  Pamiers,  as  his  legate  to 
France,  to  expostulate  with  the  king  concerning  the  many  royal  ag- 
gressions upon  ecclesiastical  privileges.  In  violation  of  all  right, 
Philip  put  the  papal  envoy  under  arrest,  with  a  view  to  prosecute  him 
for  high  treason.  In  reply  to  the  insolent  demand  to  degrade  his 
legate  and  deliver  him  up  to  secular  authority,  Boniface  published 
several  bulls  addressed  to  the  king  and  the  clergy  of  France.  He  de- 
manded the  release  of  his  legate,  recalled  all  privileges  with  regard 
to  tithes  and  Church  property,  and  commanded  the  French  bishops  to 
attend  a  synod  which  he  called  at  Kome,  in  order  to  consult  them  on 
the  affairs  of  France.  In  the  Bull,  "  Ausculta  Fili,"  the  Pope  admon- 
ished the  king,  with  the  authority  of  a  father,  applying  to  himself  the 
words  of  the  Prophet  Jeremiah:  "God  has  placed  us  over  kings 
and  kingdoms,  to  root  up,  pull  down,  waste,  destroy,  build  up  and 
plant  in  His  name  and  by  His  doctrine." 

164.  The  despotic  monarch  ordered  the  papal  bull  to  be  publicly 
burnt,  and  in  its  stead,  a  forged  document,  the  so-called  "Short  Bull," 
was  published,  in  which  Boniface  is  made  to  claim  supreme  authority 
even  in  political  affairs,  and  to  say  that  the  king  was  to  be  subject  to 


396  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  Pope  both  in  spiritual  and  in  temporal  matters,  that  he  must  con- 
sider his  kingdom  as  a  papal  fief.*  To  baffle  any  further  measures  of 
the  Pope,  Philip,  in  1302,  assembled  at  Paris  a  parliament  of  the  three 
Estates  of  his  kingdom, — the  Clergy,  Nobility,  and  Commoners.  At 
this  assembly,  Peter  Flotte,  the  king's  chancellor,  brought  forward 
bitter  complaints  against  the  Pope,  whom  he  falsely  accused  of  mak- 
ing claim  to  the  temporal  domination  of  France.  The  Nobles  and 
Commoners  consented  to  whatever  was  asked  in  the  name  of  the  king; 
in  their  insolent  letters  to  the  cardinals,  they  even  denied  Boniface  the 
title  of  Pope.  The  clergy  who  were  intimidated  by  the  charge  of 
treachery  to  their  country,  likewise  submitted  to  the  dictates  of  the 
king.  A  letter  was  directed  to  the  Pope,  in  which  the  king  called 
him  a  fool  (tua  maxima  fatuitas),  declaring  any  one  mad  who  should 
dare  to  contest  with  him  his  "ecclesiastical  rights!" 

167.  Notwithstanding  the  king's  prohibition,  many  French  prel- 
ates— in  all  thirty-nine  bishops  and  six  abbots — attended  the  Synod  at 
Rome,  for  which  their  property  was  ordered  to  be  confiscated.  In 
that  Synod,  Boniface  promulgated  his  famous  Bull  denominated 
"  Unam  Sanctam."  Without  special  reference  to  France,  the  Bull  de- 
clares the  duty  towards  the  Pope  to  be  general.  After  explaining  the 
relations  between  Church  and  State,  between  the  Spiritual  and  the 
Temporal  power,  it  affirms  that  the  temporal  power  is  of  its  nature 
subordinate  to  the  ecclesiastical,  as  earthly  are  to  heavenly  things; 
and  defines  the  obligation  which  is  incumbent  on  rulers,  as  well  as 
their  subjects,  of  submitting  in  spiritual  matters  to  the  authority  of 
the  Vicar  of  Christ.  "We  declare  to  every  creature,  we  affirm,  define 
and  pronounce,  that  it  is  altogether  necessary  for  salvation,  to  be  sub- 
ject to  the  Roman  Pontiff."  No  more  is  taught  in  this  document,  as 
of  faith,  than  what  all  Catholics  in  every  age  have  held,  namely,  that 
subjection  to  the  Bishop  of  Rome  in  matters  of  salvation  is  a  necessary 
duty. 

166.  Even  before  the  publication  of  this  Bull,  the  blind  hatred  of 
the  French  king  hurried  him  on  to  extreme  measures.  In  an  extra- 
ordinary sitting  of  the  States-General,  the  king's  chancellor,  the  vio- 
lent William  Nogaret,  preferred  virulent  charges  of  heresy,  infidel- 
ity, even  theft  and  robbery  against  Boniface,  who  had  already  for  nine 

1.  What  Boniface  did  say,  was  not  that  the  Sovereign  Pontiff  is  direct  master  of  all  civil  gov- 
ernments, but  that  as  Vicar  of  Christ,  he  is  placed  above  all  those  who  rule  on  earth,  in  order  to 
keep  the  Rulers,  as  well  as  their  subjects,  in  the  way  of  the  Divine  Law,  for  every  breach  of  which 
bolii  are  aliice  amenable  to  the  Tribunal  of  the  See  of  Peter.  Boniface  In  his  reply  remarks:  "  We 
declare  that  we  do  not  desire  to  trespass  on  the  king's  jurisdiction  in  anything.  But  neither  the 
king  nor  any  other  Christian  can  deny  that  in  matters  of  sin  he  is  subject  to  us."  Tlie  cardinals 
also,  in  their  answer  to  the  French  Nobles,  empliatlcally  contradicted  the  charge  that  the  Holy 
Father  had  ever  written,  or  allowed  his  nuncios  to  say,  that  King  Philip  was  subject  to  him 
in  temporal  matters  as  regarded  his  kingdom,  and  that  he  had  received  It  as  a  flef  from  the  Holy 
S<'«.'. 


BONIFACE  VIIL   AND  PHILIP   THE  FAIR.  397 

rears  exercised  the  full  authority  of  Pope,  had  been  the  chosen  arbiter 
of  kings  in  their  quarrels,  and  whose  life  and  orthodoxy  had  been  till 
then  above  all  suspicion.  These  monstrous  charges  were  repeated  be- 
fore the  States-General,  by  William  Plasian.  In  twenty -nine  articles, 
he  produced  as  many  vile  accusations  against  the  Pope;  for  instance, 
that  he  had  not  been  legitimately  elected;  that  he  was  guilty  of  the 
death  of  his  predecessor  Celestine  V. ;  that  he  denied  the  immortality 
of  the  soul,  eternal  life,  and  transubstantiation;  that  he  encouraged 
idolatry,  practiced  simony,  and  compelled  priests  to  violate  the  seal  of 
confession; — calumnies  which  had  been  circulated  by  the  Colonnas 
and  other  enemies  of  the  Pope. 

167.  The  king,  in  reply  to  these  charges,  so  flagrantly  false  and 
silly,  hypocritically  assured  the  assembly  that  he  would  use  his  utmost 
power  for  the  convocation  of  a  General  Council,  in  order  to  have  the 
false  Pope  deposed,  and  then  for  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  France, 
appealed  to  the  future  General  Council  and  the  future  lawful  Pope 
against  any  censures  of  Boniface.  All  possible  measures  were  taken, 
to  obtain  the  assent  of  the  clergy  and  the  University  of  Paris.  Five 
archbishops,  twenty-one  bishops,  and  a  few  abbots,  had  the  weakness 
to  subscribe  to  this  unecclesiastical  appeal  to  a  General  Council !  The 
abbots  of  Citeaux,  Clugny  and  Premontre,  and  many  Italian  monks 
were  imprisoned  for  refusing  to  subscribe.  "Whoever  did  not  consent 
to  this  audacious  appeal  was  considered  a  traitor.  As  soon  as  the 
bearer  of  the  papal  Bull  "  Unam  Sanctam  "  entered  France,  he  was  ar- 
rested and  thrown  into  prison.  The  cardinal-legate  who  remonstrated 
and  demanded  the  delivery  of  the  papal  letters,  was  treated  with  in- 
dignity and  obliged  to  flee  from  France. 

168.  On  learning  these  scandalous  proceedings,  Boniface,  in  a 
public  Consistory,  exonerated  himself  by  a  solemn  oath,  of  the  mon- 
strous charges  brought  against  him.  He  issued  several  bulls,  repre- 
hending the  French  canonists  and  bishops  for  their  weakness,  and 
censuring  the  accusations  and  slanders  current  in  France,  as  well  as 
the  appeal  to  a  General  Council.  Still,  to  allow  him  time,  Boniface 
did  not  yet  excommunicate  Philip,  but  only  threatened  him  with  the 
censures  of  the  Church.  This  leniency  was  soon  ill  repaid  by  an  act 
of  brutal  and  treacherous  violence  on  the  part  of  the  king's  minions, 
at  the  instigation,  at  least  with  the  knowledge  and  approval,  of  their 
royal  master. 

169.  Nogaret,  who  had  taken  an  active  part  in  all  the  proceedings 
against  Boniface,  was  secretly  despatched  by  the  king  into  Italy  to 
arrest  the  Pope.  Accompanied  by  an  armed  force,  Nogaret  and  his 
accomplice,  Sciarra  Colonna,  brother  of  Cardinal  Peter  Colonna,  ap- 


898  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

peared  before  Anagni,  whither  the  Pope  had  gone  without  guards. 
When  the  French  emmissaries  prepared  to  seize  his  person,  Boniface 
who  was  nearly  eighty-six  years  old,  acted  with  composure  and  dig- 
nity. Robed  in  pontifical  attire  and  the  insignia  of  his  office,  and 
seated  on  the  papal  throne,  he  awaited  the  approach  of  the  audacious 
intruders.  He  declared  that,  "as  he  was  betrayed  and  taken  like 
Christ  by  treachery,  he  would  die  as  the  Vicar  of  Christ."  The  Pope 
was  held  a  prisoner  for  two  days,  after  which  he  was  rescued  by  the 
inhabitants  of  Anagni  and  returned  to  Rome,  where  he  was  received 
with  joy.  But  the  indignities  offered  to  his  sacred  person,  resulted  in 
his  death.  Forgiving  his  enemies,  he  died  of  a  violent  fever.  The 
fable,  that  the  magnanimous  Pontiff  killed  himself  in  madness,  or  died 
in  a  fit  of  despair,  is  refuted  by  the  fact  that  his  body,  in  1605,  three 
hundred  years  after  his  death,  was  found  entire,  with  no  trace  of  a 
wound  discernible. 

170.  Public  opinion,  even  among  Catholics,  was  once  divided,  as 
to  the  true  character  of  this  Pope.  While  the  Ghibelline  poet  Dante 
fiercely  assailed  him,  because  Boniface  was  a  decided  Roman  and 
Guelph,  calling  him  "the  prince  of  modern  pharisees"  and  "the  high- 
priest  whom  evil  take,"  the  erudite  Petrarca  styles  him  "the  marvel  of 
the  world."  Cardinal  Wiseman  concludes  his  able  vindication  of  this 
much  maligned  Pope  by  saying:  "Although  the  character  of  Boniface 
was  certainly  stern  and  inflexible,  there  is  not  a  sign  of  its  having  been 
cruel  and  revengeful.  Throughout  the  whole  of  his  history,  not  an 
instance  can  be  found  of  his  having  punished  a  single  enemy  with 
death  .  .  .  Moreover,  we  do  not  find  in  any  writer,  however  hostile  to 
him,  the  slightest  insinuation  against  his  moral  conduct  or  character; 
and  this  is  not  a  little  in  one,  who  has  been  more  bitterly  assailed 
than  almost  any  other  Pontiff.  The  charge  of  avarice,  which  has  been 
often  repeated,  may  well  be  met  by  the  liberality  displayed  in  his 
ecclesiastical  endowments  and  presents.  His  justice  seems  to  have 
been  universally  acknowledged  ...  Of  his  literary  acquirements  we 
need  not  speak;  no  one  has  disputed  them;  and  the  Sixth  Book  of 
Decretals  will  attest  them  so  long  as  Christ's  undying  Church  shall 
last."  The  learned  Mohler  adds:  "What  Boniface  desired  to  effect  was 
explained  by  the  principles  on  which  the  Popes  had  acted  for  a  long 
time.  The  failure  of  his  plans  did  not  lie  with  him,  but  in  the  import- 
ant changes  of  the  time.  When  the  Papacy  was  obliged  to  descend 
again  from  the  heights  to  which  it  had  attained  in  the  twelfth  and 
thirteenth  centuries,  it  could  not  have  been  done  with  more  dignity 
than  by  Boniface  VIII.,  and  in  the  manner  in  which  he  conducted 
himself  during  his  pontificate." 


THE  POPES  IN  AVIGNON.  399 

SECTION   XLV.       TKANSLA.TION  OF  THE  HOLY  SEE  TO  AVIGNON POPES  BENEDICT  XI. 

AND    CLEMENT    V. 

Benedict  XI. — His  Conciliatory  Measures — Schemes  of  Philip  the  Fair — Elec- 
tion of  Clement  Y. — Papal  Residence  at  Avignon — First  Acts  of  Clement 
Y. — Fifteenth  General  Council — The  Templars — Accusations  against  the 
Order — Suppression  of  the  Templars — Clement  Y.  and  Germany. 

171.  The  immediate  successor  of  Boniface  Viii.,  the  sainted  Bene- 
dict XI.  held  the  pontificate  only  about  nine  months.  A  man  of  mild 
and  gentle  disposition,  he  endeavored,  in  the  most  moderate  and  con- 
ciliatory manner  possible,  to  compose  the  difficulties  witb  France.  He 
absolved  King  Philip  from  excommunication,  withdrew  the  censures 
resting  upon  the  French  prelates  and  canonists  who  had  refused  to 
obey  the  summons  of  Boniface  Yiii.,  and  removed  the  condemnation 
published  against  the  Colonnas,  yet  without  restoring  these  to  their 
dignities.  He  also  modified  the  constitution  "  Clericis  laicos,"  and  con- 
demned only  the  exaction,  but  not  the  payment,  of  taxes  by  the  clergy 
to  the  laity. 

172.  Benedict  pronounced  sentence  of  excommunication  against 
Nogaret,  Sciarra  Colonna,  and  their  accomplices  in  the  outrage  against 
Boniface  YIII.  at  Anagni,  and  summoned  them  before  his  tribunal, 
to  receive  judgment.  This  outrage  at  Anagni  was  still  causing  great 
indignation,  even  in  France,  against  Philip  and  Nogaret.  To  vindicate 
their  past  conduct,  these  branded  the  late  Pope  as  the  originator  of 
the  strife,  and  sought  to  have  him  condemned  as  a  heretic.  For 
this  purpose,  they  endeavored,  in  every  way,  to  win  over  Benedict 
and  the  cardinals,  and  demanded  the  convocation  of  a  General  Council 
for  the  judgment  of  Boniface.  Benedict,  who  would  not  consent  to 
the  proposals  of  Philip,  died  suddenly,  as  is  supposed,  by  poison,  A.  D. 
1304. 

173.  After  a  prolonged  conclave  of  eleven  months,  Bertrand  die 
Got,  archbishop  of  Bordeaux,  was  elected  by  the  influence  of  the 
French  king,  and  was  known  as  Clement  Y.,  A.  D.  1305-1314.  Not- 
withstanding the  urgent  invitations  of  the  cardinals,  he  declined  to  go 
to  Eome,  had  the  ceremony  of  his  coronation  performed  at  Lyons, 
and  fixed  his  residence  at  Avignon.  In  this  city,  although  not  then 
within  the  kingdom  of  France,  the  Papal  See  fell  under  an  irksome 
dependence  on  the  French  court,  for  more  than  seventy  years, — a 
period  which  by  Italian  writers  is  called  the  Babylonish  Captivity  of  the 
Papacy.  No  sooner  had  Clement  Y.  assumed  the  government  of  the 
"Church,  than  Philip  repeated  his  proposal  for  the  condemnation  of 


400  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUBCH. 

Boniface  Vm.,  and  shortly  after  added  the  haughty  demand  to  sup- 
press the  order  of  the  Templars. 

174.  To  elude  the  delicate  questions,  Clement  endeavored  to  con- 
tent the  king  by  liberal  concessions.  He  absolved  Philip  from  any 
censure  he  might  have  incurred,  allowed  him  an  ecclesiastical  tithe 
for  five  years,  created  nine  French  cardinals,  restored  the  Colonnas  to 
their  dignity  and  former  rights,  and  entirely  abrogated  the  Bull 
"Clericis  laicos."  As  to  the  Bull  "Unam  Sanctam,"  he  declared  that 
it  should  in  no  way  prejudice  the  interests  of  the  king  and  the  French 
nation. 

175.  But  as  Philip  did  not  desist  to  urge  his  accusations  against 
Boniface  Yin.  and  the  Templars,  Clement  finally  ^yielded  to  begin 
legal  investigations,  and  summoned  before  his  tribunal  the  accusers 
of  the  deceased  Pope  and  of  the  Templars.  But  unwilling  to  assume 
the  responsibility  of  deciding  questions  of  so  great  importance,  he 
convoked  the  Fifteenth  General  Council.  It  opened  at  Vienne,  in  1312 
and  was  attended  by  one  hundred  and  fourteen  bishops  and  arch- 
bishops, among  whom  were  the  patriarchs  of  Alexandria  and  Antioch. 
The  charges  against  Boniface  were  there  pronounced  groundless,  and 
he  was  declared  to  be  a  rightful  Pope. 

176.  The  Templars  by  their  extensive  wealth  and  power  had 
gravely  alarmed  the  European  potentates  of  the  time,  and  in  partic- 
ular had  drawn  upon  themselves  the  jealousy  of  the  French  king. 
This  sovereign,  therefore,  vowed  their  destruction,  and  induced  the 
Pope  to  have  judicial  investigations  instituted  into  the  orthodoxy  and 
morality  of  the  order.  It  was  asserted  that  the  order  was  corrupt, 
heretical,  and  immoral;  that  its  members  were  worshipping  an  idol 
and  practicing  unnatural  lust.  Even  prior  to  the  meeting  of  the 
Council,  a  number  of  Templars  were  summoned  before  the  ecclesias- 
tical tribunals.  The  Pope  himself  granted  a  hearing  to  seventy-two 
prominent  members  of  the  order,  who  freely  confessed  themselves 
guilty  of  heresy  and  obtained  absolution.  Philip  would  not  await  the 
tardy  decision  of  the  Pope.  Everywhere  throughout  France,  the 
knights  of  the  order,  including  the  Grand-Master,  Jacques  Molay, 
were  all  arrested  on  the  same  da/;  their  property  and  estates  were 
seized  and  confiscated.  The  Pope  vainly  protested  against  the  arbi- 
trary arrest  of  a  whole  religious  order  which  was  under  the  special 
protection  of  the  Holy  See.  Philip,  in  1310,  caused  the  pliant  arch- 
bishop of  Sens,  one  of  his  creatures,  to  try  and  condemn  forty-five 
Templars;  and  these,  by  command  of  the  king,  were  burned  at  the 
stake.     Similar  scenes  were  enacted  in  other  places. 

177.  Clement  was  dissatisfied  with  the  precipitancy  of  the  kin^ 


THE  POPES  IX  AVIGNON.  401 

but  to  stay  the  proceedings  would  have  been  to  avow  himself  the 
abettor  of  guilt.  He,  therefore,  reserved  the  final  decision  in  the  affair 
of  the  Templars  for  the  General  Council.  With  the  approval  of  that 
body,  he  published  a  bull,  suppressing  the  order,  not  by  way  of  a  final 
judgment  on  the  guilt  of  all  its  members,  but  by  the  plenitude  of  his 
power,  and  as  a  measure  of  expediency,  because  the  interests  of  the 
Church  required  the  dissolution  of  the  institute.  That  the  property 
of  the  Templars  might  be  devoted  to  the  same  purposes  for  which  it 
had  been  originall}^  given,  it  was  assigned  to  the  Knights  Hospitallers. 
In  France,  however,  the  estates  of  the  order  were,  for  the  most  part, 
confiscated  by  the  king.  Finally,  in  1314,  Molay,  the  Grand  Master, 
and  Guy  of  Auvergne,  the  Grand  Preceptor  of  the  Templars,  were 
tried  by  order  of  the  king,  and  condemned  to  the  stake  for  retracting 
their  former  confessions.^ 

118.  In  Germany,  Pope  Clement  supported  Henry  of  Luxemburg 
against  Charles  of  Valois,  brother  of  Philip  the  Fair,  in  his  claim  to 
the  Imperial  Crown.  Henry  led  an  expedition  into  Italy,  and  was 
crowned  emperor  by  a  commission  of  five  cardinals  appointed  for  that 
purpose  by  the  Pope.  The  administration  of  Rome  and  the  Ecclesias- 
tical States  were  conducted,  in  the  Pope's  name,  by  three  cardinals. — 
"The  memory  of  Clement  V.,"  Archbishop  Kenrick  observes,  "comes 
down  to  us  charged  with  having  ambitiously  intrigued  for  the  Tiara, 
by  promising  to  Philip  the  Fair  to  rescind  the  acts  of  Boniface,  and 
to  condescend  to  his  will  on  some  other  important  point,  not  then  dis- 
closed. This  compact  originally  rests  on  the  authority  of  Villani,  a 
partisan  of  the  schismatic al  Louis  of  Bavaria  .  .  .  But  the  suppression 
of  the  Knights  Templars,  which  resulted  in  the  capital  punishment 
of  a  large  number  of  them,  by  the  authority  of  PhiHp,  was  a  measure 
of  fearful  responsibility,  the  justice  of  which  is  an  historical  problem 
perhaps  never  to  be  solved.  His  permission  for  the  opening  of  the 
process  against  the  memory  of  Boniface,  which  is  objected  to  him  as 
an  act  of  criminal  condescension,  was  probably  given  in  the  confidence 
that  it  would  result,  as  in  fact  it  did,  in  his  entire  acquittal."  Primacy. 
Part  ni.,  Ch.  IX. 

1.  While,  on  the  one  hand,  it  was  alleged  that  confessions,  inculpating  the  order  of  the  Tem- 
plars, were  made  freely  and  without  constraint  by  many  of  its  members,  on  the  other  hand,  it  has 
been  asserted  that  damnatory  evidence  was  wrung  from  them  by  torture.  Judicial  torture  was, 
in  ihose  ages,  deemed  a  necessary  means  for  discovering  guilt,  and  formed  a  rigorous  feature  in 
the  examination  of  such  as  were  accused  of  crime.  But  as  regards  tiie  trials  of  the  Templars  in 
France,  as  the  learned  Dr.  Jungmann  has  shown,  it  must  be  observed  that,  at  least,  in  many  in- 
stances, the  ordeal  of  torture  was  not  at  all  employed;  many  Templars,  including  prominent 
members  of  the  order,  voluntarily  admitted  their  guilt,  without  the  least  violence  having  been 
done  to  them.  In  the  process,  for  instance,  conducted  by  the  papal  commissioners  at  Paris,  fi"om 
1309  to  1311,  in  which,  besides  other  witnesses,  as  many  as  225  Templars  were  examined,  the  ju- 
dicial torture  came  not  at  all  into  operation,  so  much  is  certain,  tnat  the  Grand  Master  Molay 
was  subjected  to  no  torture.  When  examined  by  the  Papal  Inquisitor,  in  1307.  he  freely  confessed, 
that  on  his  reception  into  the  order,  '*he  was  made  to  deny  Christ  and  spit  upon  the  Crucifix,  and 
that,  by  his  command,  the  same  was  done  by  the  postulants  who  were  received  by  htm,  after  lie 
Tjecame  Grand  Master  of  the  order." 


402  EI8T0RY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

SECTION   XLVI.      JOHN   XXn,   AND   HIS   SUCCESSORS   IN  AVIGNON. 

Prolonged  Conclave — Pope  John  XXII. — Spiritual  Franciscans,  or  Fratricelli 
— Michael  Cesena — William  Ockham — Louis  of  Bavaria — His  Conflict  with 
the  Holy  See — Antipope  Nicholas  Y. — Benedict  XII. — Scandalous  Con- 
duct of  Louis — Clement  YI. — Innocent  YI. — Compact  of  the  Cardinals- 
Emperor  Charles  lY.— Golden  Bull — State  of  Rome— Rienzi — His  Fall 
— Urban  Y.— His  Administration— Gregory  XL — Return  to  Rome. 

179.  After  the  death  of  Clement  Y.,  the  Holy  See  remained  vacant 
two  entire  years,  when  Cardinal  James  of  Osa  was  chosen  and  crowned 
as  John  XXIC.,  A.  D.  1316-1334.  The  new  Pontiff,  a  promotor  of 
letters,  and  himself  a  man  of  extensive  learning,  displayed  a  marvel- 
lous administrative  talent  and  activity,  issuing,  during  the  eighteen 
years  of  his  pontificate,  no  fewer  than  60,000  documents.  The  imme- 
diate creation  of  seven  French  cardinals,  seemed  to  indicate  the  resolve 
to  make  France  the  permanent  abode  of  the  Papacy.  The  Pope's  so- 
licitude was  soon  aroused  by  the  divisions  in  the  Franciscan  Order. 
An  extreme  party  of  Franciscans,  called  Spiritualists,  or  Fratricelli, 
who  denied  the  right  of  the  order,  even  as  a  community,  to  hold  prop- 
erty, refused  to  accept  the  milder  interpretation  of  the  primitive  rule 
by  the  Holy  See,  disavowing  the  authority  of  the  Pope  to  dispense 
from  their  rule,  which  they  strangely  claimed  to  be  equal  to  the  Four 
Gospels! 

180.  The  excesses  committed  by  the  Spiritualists  against  the  Con- 
ventuals, or  less  rigid  members,  obliged  Michael  de  Cesena,  the  General 
of  the  order,  to  implore  the  assistance  of  the  Pope,  by  whom  the 
fanatics  were  condemned.  But  soon  a  new  contest  broke  out  among 
the  Conventuals  themselves.  A  party,  headed  by  Michael  de  Cesena 
and  the  learned  William  Ockham,  defended  as  an  article  of  faith,  that 
"Christ  and  his  Apostles  never  possessed  any  property,  in  common  or 
individually."  The  proposition  was  condemned  by  Pope  John.  Cesena 
and  Ockham,  refusing  to  submit,  fled  to  Germany,  and  there  incited 
Louis  the  Bavarian  against  the  Pope. 

181.  After  the  death  of  Henry  YH.,  in  1313,  the  Crown  of  Ger- 
many was  claimed  by  Louis  of  Bavaria  and  Frederick  of  Austria.  The 
electors  of  the  rival  kings  applied  to  the  Pope  for  recognition  of  their 
respective  candidates.  John  wrote  to  Louis  and  Frederick,  as  well  as 
to  the  German  princes,  exhorting  them  to  an  amicable  settlement  of 
the  contest.  But  neither  of  the  parties  would  give  way,  and  a  resort 
to  arms  was  decisive  in  favor  of  Louis  (A.  D.  1322).  Without  awaiting 
the  papal  confirmation,  Louis  had  assumed  the  imperial  title,  and,  in 


TEE  POPES  IN  AVIGNON,  403 

fact,  had  all  the  while  acted  as  emperor,  contrary  to  all  ancient  prec- 
edents, and  in  violation  of  the  acknowledged  right  of  the  Holy  See. 
In  reply  to  the  Pope's  warning  to  desist  from  exercising  the  usurped 
rights  until  his  election  had  been  confirmed,  Louis  loaded  the  Pontiff 
with  bitter  reproaches,  charging  him  with  favoring  heresy,  and,  at 
the  instance  of  the  heretical  Fratricelli,  demanded  a  General  Council 
to  depose  him! 

182.  At  last,  in  1324,  the  Pope  excommunicated  Louis.  The 
deluded  prince  retorted  by  issuing,  through  the  Spiritualists,  a  violent 
manifesto  against  the  Pope,  calling  him  a  heretic,  and  appealed  to  a 
General  Council!  In  1327,  Louis  led  an  army  into  Italy;  had  himself 
crowned  at  IVIilan,  with  the  Iron  Crown  by  two  deposed  prelates,  and 
at  Eome  with  the  Imperial  Crown  by  Sciarra  Colonna,  the  notorious 
companion  of  Nogaret;  pronounced  the  Pope  deposed,  even  deserving 
of  death;  and,  to  complete  the  sacrilegious  farce,  created  the  antipope 
Nicholas  V.  But  this  daring  step  caused  a  general  movement  against 
Louis  in  Italy,  which  compelled  him  to  hasten  back  to  Germany. 
John  renewed  his  former  sentence  against  Louis,  and  also  excommun- 
icated Michael  de  Cesena  and  "William  Ockham,  the  chief  advisers  of 
the  misguided  prince.  The  antipope,  who  was  also  obliged  to  fly  from 
Italy,  submitted  to  the  authority  of  John,  who  treated  him,  until  his 
death  in  1333,  with  much  kindness.^ 

183.  The  gentle  Benedict  XTE.,  A.  D.  1334-1342,  was  an  eminent 
canonist  and  theologian,  and  a  severe  reformer.  He  meditated  the 
restoration  of  the  Holy  See  to  Rome,  but  was  resisted  in  this  effort 
by  the  cardinals.  His  endeavors  for  a  reconciliation  with  Louis  the 
Bavarian  were  opposed  by  the  kings  of  France  and  Naples.  Louis  in 
a  constitution  of  1338,  declared  "that  the  imperial  authority  was  de- 
rived immediately  from  God,  that  the  Emperor  could  not  be  judged 
by  the  Pope,  but  that  the  Pope  could  be  judged  by  a  General  Council." 
The  Church  in  Germany,  which  was  still  under  the  interdict,  was  in  a 
miserable  condition.  Great  offense  was  given,  when  Louis,  by  virtue 
of  his  imperial  authority,  assumed  to  dissolve  the  marriage  of  Mar- 
garet, heiress  of  Carinthia  and  Tyrol,  with  Prince  John  of  Bohemia, 


1.  Concerning  the  Beatific  Vision,  the  question  was  at  the  time  discussed  among  theologians, 
whether  the  Blessed  in  Heaven  saw  God  face  to  face,  before  the  day  of  Judgment.  Pope  John,  in 
a  work  written  before  his  Pontificate,  and  afterwards  in  a  sermon,  expressed  it  as  iiis  private 
opinion,  that  the  Saints  will  enjoy  the  Beatific  Vision,  only  after  the  General  Judgment.  For  this 
he  was  charged  with  heresy  by  the  heretical  Fratricelli.  But  John  cleared  himseif  by  stating  that 
he  had  simply  advanced  a  private  opinion,  without  any  intention  of  pronouncing  a  dogmatic 
definition.  The  University  of  Paris,  holding  the  contrary  opinion,  asked  the  Pope  to  settle  the 
question  bv  an  apostoUc  decision.  To  silence  any  misrepresentations  on  the  subject,  John,  on 
his  death-bed.  made  a  public  profession  of  the  orthodox  faith,  confessing  "that  the  Saints  are  In 
heaven,  where  they  see  God  face  to  face."  His  successor,  Benedict  XII.  published  a  bull  determin- 
ing the  question,  that  the  souls  of  the  Blessed  immediately  behold  God ;  and  th  econtroversy  wtis 
finally  closed  by  the  Council  of  Florence  which  defined,  that  the  purified  souls  "are  at  once  re- 
ceived into  Heaven  and  clearly  see  God  Himself  as  He  is,  in  three  Persons  and  one  Substance." 


404  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

and  espoused  her  to  his  son  Louis,  to  whom,  besides,  she  was  related 
in  the  third  degree  of  consanguinity.  In  vain  did  the  Pope  protest 
against  this  immoral  divorce. 

184.  Benedict's  successor,  Clement  VI.,  A.  D.  1342-1352,  displayed, 
indeed,  great  splendor  and  magnificence  on  the  pontifical  throne,  but 
he  is  eulogized  also  for  his  culture  and  eloquence,  and  his  great  char- 
ity and  generosity.  His  charity  was  fully  exhibited  toward  the  vic- 
tims of  the  great  plague  of  1348,  and  toward  the  Jews  whom  he  pro- 
tected against  an  angry  populace.  Nothwithstanding  the  urgent  re- 
quest of  the  Romans  to  take  up  his  residence  in  Rome,  he  remained 
in  Avignon.  His  purchase  of  the  city  and  dependencies  of  Avignon 
from  Queen  Joanna  of  Naples,  seemed  to  indicate  his  design  of  per- 
manently establishing  the  papal  residence  in  France. 

185.  Clement  renewed  the  excommunication,  launched  by  his  pre- 
decessor against  Louis  of  Bavaria,  who  was  continually  vacillating 
between  haughty  defiance  of  the  Pope  and  abject  submission.  The 
exactions  of  this  unprincipled  sovereign,  as  well  as  his  oppression  of 
the  Church,  his  usurpation  of  papal  rights  and  arbitrary  appointments 
to  bishoprics  and  benefices,  at  last  aroused  a  formidable  opposition 
against  him  in  Germany.  In  1346,  at  the  instance  of  the  Pope,  the 
princes,  weary  of  a  ruler  who  had  brought  disgrace  and  ruin  upon  the 
Empire,  chose  Prince  Charles  of  Bohemia  for  king  of  Germany.  Louis 
died  the  following  year,  while  preparing  for  war  against  his  rival. 
Upon  the  death  of  Giinther  of  Schwarzburg,  who  had  been  set  up  as 
king  by  the  Bavarian  party,  all  Germany  recognized  Charles  IV. 

186.  The  first  act  of  Innocent  YI.,  A.  D.  1352-1362,  was  to  rescind 
a  statute,  or  compact,  of  the  Conclave,  which  the  cardinals  had  separ- 
ately agreed  upon.  By  this  compact,  which  would  have  raised  the 
Sacred  College  to  an  independent,  dominant,  and  autocratic  body,  the 
future  Pope  would  bind  himself  not  to  increase  the  number  of  car- 
dinals, nor  nominate  for,  nor  depose  from,  the  higher  offices  of  the 
Roman  Church  or  the  Papal  States,  without  the  consent  of  two-thirds 
of  the  College.  In  1355,  King  Charles  IV.,  having  renewed  to  the 
Pope  all  the  promises  of  former  emperors,  received  in  Rome  the  Im- 
perial Crown  from  two  delegated  cardinals.  In  the  same  year,  Charles 
issued  his  famous  Oolden  Bull,  which  reserved  the  right  of  electing  the 
king  of  Germany  to  seven  electors — the  four  lay  fiefs,  Bohemia,  Sax- 
ony, Brandenburg,  and  the  Palatinate;  and  the  three  great  archbish- 
oprics of  Mentz,  Treves  and  Cologne — and  decreed,  that  the  majority 
of  votes  sufficed  for  an  election. 

187.     Rome,  for  nearly  fifty  years  deserted  by  the  Popes,  had  passed 
imder  the  tyrannical  yoke  of  the  rapacious  nobles,  whose  houses  were 


1 


THE  POPES  IN  AVI&NON.  405 

fortified  castles,  and  whose  armed  dependents  kept  the  city  in  a  per- 
petual turmoil.  Disorders  of  every  kind,  tumult  and  robbery  pre- 
vailed in  the  streets.  In  the  midst  of  this  confusion,  Nicola  di  Rienzi, 
an  obscure  man,  conceived  the  project  of  restoring  Rome  to  her  an- 
cient greatness.  He  succeeded  in  disarming  the  nobility;  had  him- 
self proclaimed  Tribune  of  Rome ;  and,  with  the  approval  of  the  Pope, 
was  placed  at  the  head  of  a  new  government.  But  his  rule,  which  at 
first  realized  the  fairest  hopes,  was  of  short  duration.  His  excesses 
and  tyranny  caused  his  downfall;  he  was  forced  to  abdicate  and  flee 
the  city. 

188.  Meanwhile,  Rome  having  returned  to  its  former  state  of 
anarchy,  Pope  Innocent  sent  Cardinal  Aegidius  Albornoz  with  an 
army  into  Italy,  through  whose  tactics  and  energy  the  revolted  Papal 
States  were  soon  reduced  to  submission.  Rienzi  obtained  permission 
to  return  to  Rome,  and  was  appointed  Senator  by  Albornoz.  But  his 
extravagance  and  tyranny  once  more  aroused  the  people  against  him, 
and  he  lost  his  life  in  a  popular  sedition,  in  1354. 

189.  Urban  V.,  A.  D.  1362-1370,  himself  a  shining  pattern  of  every 
virtue,  strove  to  make  the  papal  court  a  model  of  Christian  life.  He 
enforced  in  every  department  severe  discipline,  and  rigidly  examined 
the  attainments  and  morals  of  those  whom  he  preferred  to  honors.  He 
was  a  munificent  patron  of  learned  men,  and  most  liberal  to  the  poor. 
One  of  his  first  cares  was  to  carry  on  the  expedition  for  the  recovery 
of  the  Holy  Land,  begun  by  his  predecessor,  and  opened  by  the 
Sainted  Peter  Thomas  of  Salinose.  The  crusaders  took  Alexandria; 
but,  left  without  support,  they  were  compelled  to  abandon  the  place. 

190.  Convinced  that  the  residence  of  the  Popes  at  Avignon  was 
injurious  to  the  interests  of  the  Church,  Urban  determined  to  return 
to  Rome.  Not  heeding  the  murmurs  of  the  cardinals,  he,  in  1367,  set 
out  for  Italy,  and  on  reaching  Rome,  was  received  amid  great  rejoic- 
ings. All  the  cardinals  followed  him,  with  the  exception  of  three  who 
would  still  cling  to  Avignon.  In  1369,  the  Greek  Emperor,  John  V. 
Palaeologus  coming  to  Rome,  abjured  the  schism  and  negotiated  for 
the  reunion  of  the  Greek  with  the  Latin  Church.  But  the  efforts  of 
the  Pope  to  unite  the  Western  princes  in  defence  of  Constantinople 
against  the  Turks,  were  unsuccessful.  The  factious  and  turbulent 
spirit  of  the  Italians,  and  the  unquiet  state  of  Rome,  induced  Urban, 
notwithstanding  the  entreaties  of  the  pious  Franciscan,  Pedro,  prince 
of  Arragon,  and  the  warning  of  the  Swedish  princess,  St.  Bridget,  that 
a  speedy  death  awaited  him  in  France,  to  re-transfer  the  papal  res- 
idence to  Avignon,  A.  D.  1370.  He  died  three  months  after,  in  that 
city. 


406  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

191.  To  Gregory  XL,  A.  D.  1370-1378,  who  was  the  nephew  of 
Clement  VI.,  belongs  the  merit  of  having  put  an  end  to  the  "Babylon- 
ish Captivity"  of  the  Popedom  in  Avignon.  The  hostility  of  the  Vis- 
conti  of  Milan  and  of  the  Eepublic  of  Florence  to  the  Roman  Church, 
and  the  efforts  made  by  many  papal  cities,  to  throw  off  their  allegiance 
to  the  Pope,  convinced  Gregory  that  none  but  the  Pope  himself  could 
restore  papal  power  in  the  States  of  the  Church.  Yielding  to  the 
solicitations  of  St.  Catharine  of  Siena  and  of  the  Romans,  who  insisted 
that  the  residence  of  the  Pope  in  Rome  was  necessary  to  prevent  a 
schism,  Gregory,  in  1377,  despite  the  opposition  of  the  cardinals,  left 
Avignon  for  Rome  where  he  was  greeted  with  transports  of  joy.  He 
was  accompanied  by  all  the  cardinals  except  six,  who  preferred  linger- 
ing at  Avignon.  Yet  as  Rome  was  no  secure  place  of  abode,  Gregory 
meditated  a  return  to  Avignon,  which  was  prevented  only  by  his 
death.  To  avert  in  the  event  of  his  death  the  danger  of  an  interreg- 
num or  schism,  Gregory,  by  a  special  bull  empowered  the  sixteen  car- 
dinals, who  had  accompanied  him  to  Rome,  to  elect  at  once  a  successor 
by  simple  majority,  without  holding  a  conclave,  or  awaiting  the  ar- 
rival of  the  cardinals  then  at  Avignon.* 


SECTION   XLVn.       THE   SCHISM   OF   THE   WEST,    OE,    THE    GREAT   PAPAL   SCHISM. 

Election  of  Urban  YL— His  Character— Breach  between  Urban  and  the  Car- 
dinals—Antipope  Clement  YII.  —  Schism  —  Affairs  of  Naples— Arrest 
of  Cardinals — Death  of  Urban  YI.— Boniface  IX. — Endeavors  of  the 
Christian  Nations  to  put  an  End  to  the  Schism — The  Sorbonne — Death 
of  Antipope  Clement  YII. — Antipope  Benedict  XIII. — His  Character — 
National  Councils  at  Paris — Benedict  besieged  at  Avignon— Innocent 
YII. 

192.  After  the  death  of  Gregory  XI.,  the  Romans,  fearing  the 
election  of  a  Frenchman,  and  the  restoration  of  the  Holy  See  to  Avi- 
gnon, earnestly  insisted  at  the  conclave,  that  a  Roman,  or  at  least  an 
Italian,  should  be  chosen  Pope.  Accordingly,  the  sixteen  cardinals, 
then  assembled  in  conclave,  elected  Bartholomew  Prignano,  arch- 
bishop of  Bari,  who  assumed  the  name  of  Urban  YI.,  A.  D.  1378-1389. 
The  new  Pontiff  was   recognized   also  by  the    absent   cardinals  at 


1.  "The  long  absence  of  the  Popes  from  Rome,"  observes  Archbishop  Kenrlck,  "  during  their 
stay  at  Avignon,  which,  like  the  captivity  of  Babylon,  as  the  Romans  sarcastically  designate  it, 
extended  to  about  seventy  years,  affords  no  reason  for  questioning  the  succession,  because  the 
authority  of  a  bishop  does  nor  depend  on  his  residence  in  his  see.  Those  Pontiffs  vi^ho  resided  at 
Avignon  were  truly  Bishops  of  Rome,  having  been  elected  under  this  title  by  the  college  of  car- 
dinals, to  fill  the  Place  of  Peter.  They  governed  that  See  by  means  of  a  Cardinal  Vicar,  whilst 
they  personally  applied  themselves  to  the  government  of  the  universal  Church."  Primacy,  Part  I., 

uu.  18. 


r 


\ 


SCHISM  OF  TEE  WEST.  407 

Avignon.  A  subsequent  election,  which  confirmed  the  first;  the  acquies- 
cence of  all  the  cardinals  who,  during  several  months,  continued  to 
acknowledge  him  in  public  documents  addressed  to  the  bishops 
throughout  Christendom;  their  assistance  at  his  coronation;  and  the 
homage  rendered  to  him  by  all,  must  needs  remove  every  doubt  regard- 
ing the  freedom  and  legitimacy  of  Urban's  election. 

193.  Urban  was  a  stern  reformer,  and  a  man  of  great  merit  and 
integrity;  but  his  seeming  harshness  and  severe  reproaches  soon  alien- 
ated from  him  the  minds  of  the  cardinals.  The  French  cardinals,  es- 
pecially, resented  what  they  judged  to  be  the  imperiousness  and  un- 
due inflexibility  of  the  new  Pontiff.  They  began  to  rumor  that  his 
election  was  compulsory  and  therefore  invalid.  These,  eleven  in 
all,  with  Peter  de  Luna,  a  Spaniard,  retired  to  Anagni,  and  under 
the  pretext  that  the  election  of  Urban  was  void,  declared  the  Holy 
See  vacant,  and  chose  the  warlike  Cardinal  Kobert  of  Geneva,  who 
took  the  name  of  Clement  VII.  The  three  Italian  cardinals,  who 
hfad  Ibeen  decoyed  to  Anagni,  had  no  part  in  this  election;  neither 
did  they  enter  any  protest,  and  from  that  time  kept  aloof  from  Urban. 
Fearing  for  his  own  safety  in  Italy,  although  Queen  Joanna  of  Naples 
at  once  espoused  his  cause,  Clement  embarked  in  all  speed  for  France, 
and  abode  at  Avignon. 

194.  Thus  began  the  great  schism  which  divided  Western  Chris- 
tendom for  thirty-nine  years  (A.  D.  13*78-1417).  The  nations,  support- 
ing the  one  or  the  other  of  the  papal  claimants,  were :  France,  Naples 
Castile,  Arragon,  and  Scotland  adhered  to  the  antipope  Clement,  as 
the  free  choice,  as  it  was  contended,  of  the  cardinals;  while  the  rest 
of  Italy,  with  Germany,  England,  Hungary,  Portugal,  and  the  Scan- 
dinavian kingdoms  remained  faithful  to  Urban,  on  account  of  the 
priority  of  his  election,  and  its  free  ratification  by  the  entire  Sacred 
College  for  a  considerable  time. 

195.  The  disastrous  schism  produced  the  most  lamentable  results, 
especially  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  which  became  the  field  of  bloody 
strife.  The  childless  Queen  Joanna  was  persuaded  to  set  aside  the 
claims  of  her  cousin,  Charles  of  Durazzo,  the  lawful  heir  to  her  realm, 
and  adopt  in  his  stead  Louis  of  Anjou,  brother  of  the  French  king, 
thus  inflicting  on  Naples  all  the  miseries  of  a  French  invasion  and 
civil  war.  Pope  Urban  excommunicated  and  deposed  the  Queen,  and 
invested  Charles  in  the  kingdom  of  Naples.  Joanna,  abandoned  by 
her  subjects,  was  taken  prisoner,  and,  by  order  of  Charles,  put  to 
death,  in  1383. 

196.  But  the  new  king  of  Naples  did  not  at  all  realize  the  hopes 
which  the  Pope  entertained  of  him;  he  refused  to  redeem  the  prom- 


408  HISTOUY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

ises  which  he  had  made  at  his  coronation.  Urban  excommunicated 
the  faithless  prince,  and  placed  Naples  under  interdict.  In  the 
meantime,  the  Sacred  College  had  been  re-organized  by  the  creation  of 
twenty-nine  cardinals.  Six  of  these  having  entered  into  a  proven 
conspiracy  with  the  king  of  Naples  against  Urban,  were  cast  into 
prison,  where  some  of  them  died;  the  rest  were  put  to  death,  with  the 
exception  of  Cardinal  Eston,  an  Englishman,  who  at  the  intercession 
of  his  sovereign,  Richard  11.,  was  spared.  Urban  was  besieged  by 
Charles  in  Nocera,  but  escaped  to  Genoa.  In  1388,  he  returned  to 
Rome,  and  was  preparing  an  expedition  against  Naples,  when  he  died. 

197.  The  antipope  Clement  VII.  and  his  cardinals  had  some  vague 
hope,  that  upon  the  death  of  Urban,  the  Italian  cardinals  would  rec- 
ognize him  as  Pope.  But  these  refusing  to  acknowledge  an  intruder, 
proceeded,  immediately  after  Urban's  death,  to  the  election  of  Peter 
Tomacelli,  who  took  the  title  of  Boniface  IX.,  A.  D.  1389-1404.  Boni- 
face, a  pious  and  mild  Pontiff,  but  too  indulgent  to  his  relatives,  re- 
established the  papal  authority  in  Rome,  restored  the  cardinals  de- 
posed in  the  preceding  reign,  and  hastened  to  make  terms  with  the 
royal  family  of  Naples.  He  recognized  young  Ladislaus,  son  of  Charles 
m.,  as  the  legitimate  king,  and  energetically  supported  him  against 
Louis  of  Anjou,  who  was  compelled  to  withdraw  to  France. 

198.  A  general  discontent  with  the  existing  state  of  affairs  pre- 
vailed throughout  Christendom,  and  engendered  a  loud  demand  for  a 
sj)eedy  termination  of  the  calamitous  schism.  Religious  men  of  both 
parties,  deploring  the  many  evils  resulting  from  the  division,  labored 
earnestly  for  the  restoration  of  the  peace  and  unity  of  the  Church. 
The  University  of  Paris,  the  Sorbonne,  was  particularly  prominent  in 
its  endeavors  to  put  an  end  to  the  schism.  It  presented  a  memorial 
to  the  king,  in  which  it  recommended  three  methods  for  the  settle- 
ment of  the  difficulty:  Cession,  or  resignation  of  the  two  Pontiffs;  ar- 
bitration, that  is,  discussion  and  determination  of  contested  claims  by 
acceptedly  imj)artial  judges;  or,  finally,  the  convocation  of  a  General 
Council.  The  University,  at  the  same  time,  addressed  a  strong  letter 
to  Clement  VII.  at  Avignon,  which  so  affected  him  that  he  was  seized 
with  sudden  illness  and  died,  A.  D.  1394. 

199.  Fearing  the  interference  of  the  Sorbonne  and  the  French 
court,  the  cardinals  at  Avignon  hastened  to  elect  the  ambitious  and 
crafty  Peter  de  Luna,  who,  under  the  title  of  Benedict  XIII.,  con- 
tinued the  schism  for  twenty-three  years  longer.  Before  his  election, 
Benedict  had  promised  under  oath  that,  if  elected,  he  would  do  all  in 
his  power  to  end  the  schism,  and,  if  necessary,  should  at  once  resign 
all  claims  to  the  Papacy.     But  when  elected,  he  steadily  refused  to 


SCHISM  OF  THE  WEST.  409 

make  good  his  promise.  He  adroitly  succeeded  even  in  bringing  over 
to  his  side  the  learned  Nicholas  de  Clemangis,  rector  of  the  Sorbonne, 
and  St.  Vincent  Ferrer,  the  Thaumaturgus  of  the  age;  and  induced 
Peter  d'Ailly,  the  greatest  theologian  of  the  day,  to  accept  a  bishopric 
at  his  hands.  Amid  the  existing  confusion,  it  became  difficult  for  even 
the  most  enlightened  and  conscientious  men  to  pronounce  with  cer- 
tainty which  of  the  two  claimants  was  the  legitimate  Pontiff. 

200.  When  called  upon  by  the  French  national  assembly,  con- 
vened at  Paris,  in  1395,  to  resign,  Benedict  refused,  and  was  successful 
in  persuading  the  University  of  Toulouse*  to  espouse  his  cause.  Dis- 
gusted with  his  tergiversation,  France,  in  another  national  assembly, 
held  in  1398,  resolved  on  the  unconditional  "subtraction,"  or  with- 
drawal, of  allegiance  and  adhesion  to  Benedict's  "obedience."  The  re- 
fractory Pontiff,  abandoned  by  all  his  cardinals,  except  two,  was  kept 
for  five  years  a  close  prisoner  at  Avignon.  But  escaping,  and  being 
as  adroit  as  he  was  obstinate,  he  regained  popular  favor,  and  France 
once  more  returned  to  his  "  obedience."  Meanwhile,  Emperor  Wen- 
ceslaus  and  King  Richard  11.  of  England,  adopting  the  policy  of  the 
French  king,  ventured  to  compel  Pope  Boniface  to  resign;  but  both 
princes  were  deposed  by  their  own  subjects.  In  place  of  "VVenceslaus, 
Ruprecht  of  the  Palatinate  was  elected  king  of  Germany;  his  election 
was  confirmed  by  Boniface,  in  1403. 

201.  Innocent  YII.,  A.D.  1404-1406,  the  successor  of  Boniface  IX., 
had  the  esteem  of  all  by  his  great  learning,  exemplary  piety,  and  simple 
manner  of  living.  Before  his  election,  lie  had,  with  the  other  cardin- 
als, solemnly  sworn  to  concur  with  all  his  power,  towards  effecting 
the  union  of  the  Church,  even  by  the  abdication  of  the  Sovereign 
Pontificate.  He  contemplated  for  this  purpose  the  convocation  of  a 
General  Council,  but  was  prevented  from  carrying  out  his  resolution, 
by  the  revolt  of  the  Romans  and  his  untimely  death. 


SECTION    XLVin.        THE    SCHISM    OF    THE    WEST,     OK,    THE    PAPAL    SCHISM,     CON- 
TINUED  SCHISMATICAL    COUNCIL    OF    PISA. 

Gregory  XII. — Makes  Overtures  of  Peace — His  Protest  against  the  illegal 
Calling  of  a  Council — Council  of  Pisa — Both  Popes  deposed — Election  of 
Alexander  V. — The  Catholic  World  divided  between  Three  "Obedi- 
ences"— John  XXIII. — His  Character — Illegitimacy  of  the  Council  of 
Pisa. 

202.  Before  proceeding  to  a  new  election,  the  Urbanists,  or  Roman 
cardinals,  singly  pledged  themselves  by  oath  that,  whosoever  of  their 
number  should  be  chosen  Pope,  would  resign  the  papal  dignity  so 


410  HISTORY  OF  IHE  CHURCH. 

soon  as  the  Avignonese  rival  should  abdicate  or  die.  The  election  of 
Gregory  XII.,  A.  D.  1406-1416,  a  man  of  sterling  virtue,  and  sin- 
cerely desirous  of  peace,  seemed  thus  to  warrant  the  speedy  termina- 
tion of  the  schism.  His  first  act  was  a  letter  to  the  antipope  Benedict, 
in  which  he  expressed  his  willingness  to  resign,  if  the  Avignonese 
claimant  would  do  the  same.  Gregory's  letters  to  the  Sorbonne  and 
the  king  of  France,  declaring  his  readiness  to  yield  his  right  for  the 
peace  and  union  of  Christendom,  were  received  and  read  with  joy.  A 
meeting  of  the  two  Popes  was  arranged  to  be  held  at  Savona,  in  1407. 
Benedict  came  to  the  appointed  place  with  a  strong  escort;  but  Gre- 
gory, fearing,  not  without  some  ground,  intrigues  and  snares  for  his 
arrest,  cancelled  his  engagement. 

203.  All  hopes  of  an  abdication  of  the  rival  Popes  having  van- 
ished, the  cardinals  of  both  "obediences"  abandoned  them,  met  at  Leg- 
horn (Livorno),  and  resolved  on  calling  a  Council  at  Pisa,  and  requir- 
ing at  the  same  time  the  two  claimants  to  either  abdicate,  or  submit 
their  claims  to  the  future  Council.  Gregory,  protesting  against  the 
illegal  proceeding  of  the  cardinals,  demurred  "that  judgment  had 
been  given  against  him,  though  there  had  been  no  judge,  and  that  the 
Council  had  been  convoked  only  to  ratify  the  verdict  which  the  car- 
dinals had  already  rendered."  Pointing  out  the  dangerous  precedent, 
which  this  manner  of  acting  exhibited,  he  added  that,  "since  the  right 
of  convoking  a  General  Council  belonged  to  the  Pope,  he  was  willing 
to  convoke  such  a  Council  in  some  other  place,  but  that  he  could 
not  attend  the  Council  of  Pisa,  without  degrading  the  pontifical 
authority." 

204.  Notwithstanding  his  entreaties  and  warning,  the  greater  part 
of  Christendom  renouncing  obedience  to  Gregory,  went  over  to  the 
cardinals.  The  Council  summoned  by  the  latter  met  at  the  appointed 
place,  in  1409,  under  the  presidency  of  Guido  de  Malesec,  the  senior 
cardinal.  There  assisted  at  it  twenty-four  cardinals  of  both  "obedi- 
ences," four  patriarchs,  about  two  hundred  archbishops  and  bishops 
in  person  or  by  proxy,  besides  a  great  number  of  generals  of  orders, 
abbots,  doctors,  deputies  of  universities,  and  ambassadors  of  nearly  all' 
the  European  sovereigns.  Kings  Kuprecht  of  Germany  and  Ladis- 
laus  of  Naples  alone  remained  faithful  to  Gregory;  while  Spain,  Por- 
tugal and  Scotland  adhered  to  Benedict. 

205.  The  Council  of  Pisa,  guided  by  the  counsels  of  such  men  as 
Peter  d'Ailly,  bishop  of  Cambray,  John  Gerson,^  chancellor  of  the  Sor- 


1.  Gerson,  in  a  work  entitled  "De  Auferil)llitate  Papae  al)  Ecclesla."  maintained  that  there 
were  certain  cases  in  which  the  Pope  might  he  legally  deposed.  "  When  the  Church,"  he  argued, 
"has  no  visible  head,  either  because  he  is  corporally,  or  politically,  dead,  or  because  there  remains 


bCHTSM  OF  THE   WEST.  411 

"bonne,  and  Peter  d'Anchorano,  a  learned  jurisconsult  of  Bologna,  de- 
clared itself  canonically  convoked  and  constituted  by  the  two  colleges  of 
cardinals  blended  in  one,  and  to  be  the  laivful  representative  of  the 
Universal  Church,  with  power  to  judge  and  depose  the  rival  Popes. 
Setting  aside  the  protest  of  King  Kuprecht  in  favor  of  Gregory  and 
iigainst  the  legality  of  its  meeting,  the  Synod  cited  both  Pontiffs  to 
appear  before  it;  on  their  failing  to  obey  the  summons,  it  decreed 
that  all  Christians  ought  to  renounce  all  obedience  to  both  claimants. 
It  proceeded  to  depose  them  as  contumacious  and  schismatical,  and 
declared  the  Holy  See  to  be  vacant;  lastly,  it  ordained  the  holding  of 
a  conclave,  from  which  came  forth  Cardinal  Philargi  as  Alexander  Y. 
After  passing  some  decrees  for  the  reform  of  existing  abuses,  the 
Pathers  adjourned,  agreeing  to  meet  again  in  three  years  and  take  up 
the  reformation  of  the  Church,  in  its  Head  and  members. 

206.  As  the  far-seeing  king  Euprecht  had  predicted,  the  Church, 
to  her  great  dismay,  now,  instead  of  two,  had  three  claimants  to  the 
Papacy.  Naples,  some  cities  in  Italy,  and  King  Buprecht,  but  not 
the  German  Empire,  supported  Gregory;  Arragon,  Castile,  Sardinia  and 
Scotland  remained  true  to  Benedict;  while  Alexander  was  recognized 
in  the  rest  of  Christendom.  Alexander,  after  a  pontificate  of  only  ten 
months,  was  succeeded  by  Cardinal  Balthasar  Cossa  as  John  XXm. 
John,  more  remarkable  for  his  military,  than  his  religious,  qualifica- 
tions, is  described  as  a  man  of  great  administrative  ability,  a  clever 
politician,  and  bold  soldier.  He  supported  Sigismund  of  Hungary 
against  the  other  claimants  to  the  Empire,  and  Charles  of  Anjou 
against  Ladislaus.  In  1412,  he  convened  at  Eome  the  Council  which 
had  been  agreed  upon  at  Pisa.  However,  only  a  small  number  of 
bishops  attended  the  Synod,  which,  after  condemning  some  proposi- 
tions of  Wy cliff e  and  Huss,  adjourned,  without  having  done  anything 
toward  effecting  that,  much  spoken  of,  reformation  of  the  Church. 

207.  While  some  theologians,  as  for  instance,  Natalis  Alexander, 
Raynoldus,  Ballerini,  and  others  affirm  that  both  the  Council  of  Pisa 
and  the  Pope  it  created  were  legitimate,  the  more  common  opinion  in 
the  Church  has  ever  rejected  that  assembly  as  schismatical.  "Neither 
ecclesiastical  authority,"  says  Hefele  of  this  Council,  "nor  the  most 
trustworthy  theologians  have  ever  numbered  it  among  the  Ecumenical 
Councils."  There  can  be  no  truly  Ecumenical  Council  except  when 
convened  by  the  Head  of  the  Church,  and  the  acts  of  no  Council  have 
a  binding  force  save  when  confirmed  by  the  Pope.    Hence,  St.  Antoni- 


no  hope  that  the  faithful  will  ever  submit  to  him  or  his  successors,  she  then  may  proceed  to  give 
herself  a  new  and  undisputed  Head,  by  means  of  a  General  Council  convoked  by  the  cardinals,  or 
even  by  the  assistance  and  instrumentality  of  some  prince  or  other  Christian." 


412  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUBCH. 

niis  and  many  others  in  his  time,  deeming  the  proceedings  at  Pisa 
utterly  void,  refused  to  recognize  Alexander  V.,  whose  election  only 
served  to  aggrevate  the  evil.  "Alexander,"  argues  Cardinal  Hergen- 
raether,  "was  not  legitimate  any  more  than  the  Council  of  Pisa.  For 
the  latter  was  neither  convened  by  the  entire  Church,  nor  by  the 
legitimate  Pope,  nor  was  it  universally  recognized.  The  cardinals 
had  no  power  to  convoke  a  General  Council,  at  least  not  during  the 
lifetime  of  Gregory  XII.,  who  up  to  that  time  had  been  acknowledged 
as  the  legitimate  Pontiff.  But  if  he  was  the  legitimate  Head  of  the 
Church,  he  could  not  cease  to  be  so  by  the  decree  of  a  headless  as- 
sembly. There  existed  no  right  to  depose  the  Pope.  If  Gregory  per- 
jured himself,  he  certainly  sinned,  but  could  not  loose  his  pontificate. 
But  if  there  existed  no  right  to  depose  the  Pope,  there  existed  also  no 
right  to  appoint  a  new  one." 

SECTION    XLIX.       COUNCIL    OF    CONSTANCE CLOSE   OF   THE   SCHISM POPE 

MAETIN   V. 

The  Catholic  World  longs  for  Unity — Emperor  Sigismund— Council  of  Con- 
stance— Its  Object — Mode  of  Voting — Cardinal  Filastre — Charges  against 
John  XXIII.— His  Flight — Is  Deposed  and  Submits— Abdication  of  Gre- 
gory XII. — Deposition  of  Benedict  XIII. — Election  of  Martin  Y.— Con- 
cordats—Authority  of  the  Council  of  Constance. 

208.  The  action  of  the  Council  of  Pisa  had  only  resulted  in  in- 
creasing the  existing  confusion  in  the  Church;  neither  Gregory  nor 
Peter  de  Luna  would  consent  to  make  a  renunciation  in  favor  of  the 
Pope  chosen  by  that  body.  This  state  of  things  Christendom  could 
no  longer  endure;  it  longed  for  peace  and  the  unity  of  Church;  its 
most  illustrious  representatives,  and  the  great  powers,  headed  by  the 
emperor  Sigismund,  made  every  effort  to  terminate  those  dire  di- 
visions in  the  Church.  This  could  be  accomplished  only  by  a  General 
Council — a  council  of  greater  authority,  more  fully  representing  the 
Church  and  the  whole  hierarchy  than  that  of  Pisa. 

209.  The  sudden  invasion  of  the  treacherous  king  Ladislaus  into 
the  Roman  territory,  compelled  John  XXHI.  to  seek  protection  from 
Sigismund.  John  consented  very  reluctantly  to  the  imperial  demand 
to  call  a  General  Council  in  some  German  city,  for  the  termination  of 
the  schism.  In  concert  with  the  emperor,  he  summoned  a  General 
Council  to  open  at  Constance,  in  November,  1414,  with  the  threefold 
object  of  extinguishing  the  schism,  and  uniting  the  Church  under  one 
acknowledged  Pope;  of  reforming  the  Church  in  its  Head  as  well  as 
members;  and  of  extirpating  heresy. 


COUNCIL   OF  CONSTANCE.  413 

210.  The  Council,  which  was  opened  by  John  in  person,  was  at- 
tended by  three  patriarchs,  twenty-nine  cardinals,  about  one  hundred 
and  eighty  bishops,  over  one  hundred  abbots,  and  three  hundred 
doctors  in  various  degrees,  and  numbered  in  all  as  many  as  eighteen 
thousand  ecclesiastics  of  all  ranks.  Among  the  most  prominent  mem- 
bers were  Cardinals  Filastre  of  Rheims,  Zabarella  of  Florence,  and 
Peter  d'Ailly  of  Cambray,  and  Gerson,  the  famous  chancellor  of  the 
Sorbonne.  Despite  the  remonstrances  of  John  and  his  partisans,  the 
assembly  declared  itself  independent  of  the  Council  of  Pisa,  and 
agreed  to  receive  and  admit  the  ambassadors  of  Gregory  and  Bene- 
dict as  paj)al  legates. 

211.  To  neutralize  the  preponderance  of  the  Italian  bishops,  who 
composed  nearly  one  half  of  the  voters,  and  who  were  almost  univers- 
ally in  the  interests  of  John  XXTTT.,  it  was  determined  that,  on  ques- 
tions relating  to  the  union  of  the  Church,  the  right  of  su&age  should 
not  be  confined  to  bishops,  but  should  be  extended  to  abbots,  chap- 
ters, deputies  of  universities,  doctors,  and  ambassadors  of  the  Christian 
rulers;  and  that  the  voting  in  the  Council  be  by  nations,  and  not  by 
individuals.  The  nations  were:  1. — The  Italians;  2. — The  French; 
3. — The  Germans,  comprehending  the  Poles  and  Scandinavians;  4. — 
The  English.  To  these  the  Spaniards,  who  had  not  joined  the  Council 
at  its  opening,  were  afterwards  added,  as  the  fifth  nation. 

212.  As  a  means  of  restoring  the  union  of  the  Church,  Cardinal 
Filastre  proposed  the  simultaneous  abdication  of  the  three  claimants, 
and  the  election  of  a  universally  acknowledged  Pope.  The  adoption 
of  this  proposition  by  the  Council,  and  especially  the  publication  of 
an  anonymous  memorial,  containing  serious  charges  against  his  person 
and  private  character,  destroyed  every  hope  for  John,  and  utterly  de- 
prived him  of  "his  wonted  courage  and  discretion.  In  the  second  Ses- 
sion, indeed,  he  formally  promised  under  oath  to  resign,  provided 
Gregory  and  Peter  de  Luna  would  do  likewise;  but,  lest  he  should  be 
held  to  his  promise,  he  secretly  fled  from  Constance,  and  threatened 
to  dissolve  the  Council. 

213.  Irritated,  rather  than  discouraged,  by  the  flight  of  John,  the 
assembled  Fathers  continued  theu'  sittings,  proclaimed  the  complete 
independence  of  the  Council,  and  its  supremacy  over  the  Pope.  From 
the  third  to  the  fifth  sessions,  they  were  busied  in  passing  a  series  of 
revolutionary  resolutions,  which  declared  that  a  Pope  can  neither 
transfer  nor  dissolve  a  General  Council,  without  the  consent  of  the 
latter,  and  hence  the  actual  Synod  might  validly  continue  its  work, 
even  after  the  flight  of  the  Pope;  that  the  holy  Synod  of  Constance 
was  a  truly  Ecumenical  Council,  representing  the  whole  Church,  hav- 


414  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

ing  its  power  immediately  from  Christ — to  whicli  all  of  every  rank, 
including  the  Pope,  were  obliged  to  submit  in  matters  of  faith,  in  the 
extirpation  of  schism,  and  in  the  reformation  of  the  Church  both  in 
its  Head  and  its  members;  and  that  every  person,  even  a  Pope,  that 
should  obstinately  refuse  to  obey  that  Council,  or  any  other  lawfully 
assembled,  would  be  liable  to  such  punishment  as  might  be  decreed 
in  the  premises. 

214.  In  the  meantime,  fruitless  negotiations  were  carried  on  with 
the  fugitive  Pope.  At  last  John,  having  failed  to  make  the  cession  of 
his  papal  office,  as  demanded,  was  cited  to  answer  for  fifty-five  grave, 
but  exaggerated,  charges  against  his  private  life  and  late  conduct. 
Brought  back  to  Constance,  the  Council  pronounced  sentence  of  depo- 
sition against  him,  which  he  shortly  afterwards  ratified  by  his  formal 
resignation.  In  this  manner,  the  illegal  action  of  the  illegitimate 
Council  of  Pisa  was  undone  by  another  illegitimate  Synod.  The 
Council  further  decreed,  that  neither  the  deposed  Pope,  nor  the  other 
two  claimants,  could  ever  again  be  elected  to  the  Papacy.  John  XXIII. 
was  held  in  safe  custody  till  1419,  when  Pope  Martin  V.  procured  his 
liberty  and  made  him  Cardinal  bishop  of  Tusculum.  The  edifying  life, 
which  he  led  from  the  time  of  his  deposition,  terminated  in  the  same 
year. 

215.  Gregory  XH.,  who  had  previously  pledged  himself  to  resign 
his  dignity,  the  moment  the  other  contestants  should  withdraw,  has- 
tened to  redeem  his  promise.  He  sent  Lord  Malatesta  of  Rimini  to 
Constance,  to  assure  the  emperor,  that  he  was  ready  to  make  a  full 
renunciation  of  the  Papacy,  on  condition  that  the  Council,  acknowl- 
edging his  authority,  would  allow  itself  to  be  legally  convoked  by 
bim,  and  that  no  one  of  the  other  "  obediences "  should  preside  in  the 
session  in  which  he  was  to  make  such  renunciation.  Being  the  only 
rightful  Pope,  Gregory  felt  that  this  measure  was  necessary,  to  secure 
both  the  legitimacy  of  the  Council  and  the  legality  of  the  ensuing 
Pontifical  election.  On  the  acceptance  of  this  proposition,  Gregory, 
on  July  4,  1414,  issued  a  bull  convoking  the  Council  from  that  date, 
and  giving  thenceforth  canonical  validity  to  its  Acts,  after  which,  in 
the  fourteenth  session,  he  proffered  his  unreserved  resignation  of  the 
Papacy.  In  a  subsequent  letter  to  the  Council,  he  subscribed  himself 
simply  "Cardinal  Angelus."  To  reward  his  magnanimity,  the  Synod 
appointed  him  to  the  bishopric  of  Porto  and  Legate  Apostolic  of  An- 
cona.     He  died  in  the  odor  of  sanctity,  in  1417. 

216.  The  antipope  Benedict  XIIL,  in  spite  of  the  entreaties  of  the 
emperor  Sigismund,.  and  of  the  king  of  Arragon,  stubbornly  refused 
to  abate  his  pretensions.     The  Spaniards  then  withdrew  from  his 


COUNCIL   OF  CONSTANCE.  4:5 

"obedience."  On  the  return  of  tlie  embassy,  which  had  been  sent  to 
urge  his  resignation,  the  process  against  him  was  commenced;  it 
terminated  with  his  deposition.  Peter  de  Luna,  abandoned  by  all  his 
adherents,  excepting  the  little  town  of  Peniscola,  where  he  resided, 
continued  jDcrsistently  to  assert  his  pretensions  till  his  death,  in  1424. 

217.  After  the  abdication  of  Gregory  XII.  the  Holy  See  remained 
Tacant  for  nearly  two  years.  The  English  and  Germans  argued  that 
reform  should  precede  the  election  of  a  Pope;  the  other  nations  took 
the  opposite  view.  Then,  after  all  Catholic  nations  had  given  ample 
proofs  of  submission  and  lasting  fidelity,  the  Council  of  Constance  ar- 
ranged for  the  election  of  a  Pope.  The  conclave,  consisting  of  twenty- 
three  cardinals,  and  a  representative  delegation  of  thirty  prelates,  six 
for  each  nation,  on  November  11,  1417,  elected  Cardinal  Otho  Colonna, 
who  took  the  name  of  Martin  V.,  A.  D.  1417-1431. 

218.  The  new  Pope,  who  was  a  man  of  great  ability  and  undis- 
puted integrity,  at  once  appointed  a  Committee  on  Reformation;  but 
the  recommendations  on  reform  submitted  by  this  committee  were 
not  accepted  by  the  Council.  The  wants  of  the  various  nations  rep- 
resented in  the  Council  were  so  conflicting,  that  they  would  not  admit 
of  any  'definite  and  satisfactory  arrangement;  wherefore,  the  Pope 
presented  a  counter-plan  of  reform,  and  concluded  separate  Con- 
cordats with  the  several  nations,  by  which  some  of  the  worst  abuses 
were  corrected.  Besides,  seven  general  decrees  on  reform  were  passed 
by  the  Council  and  confirmed  by  the  Pope.  Another  Council,  which 
Martin  agreed  to  convoke  after  five  years  at  Pavia,  was  to  take  up 
and  complete  the  work  of  the  much  needed  reformation. 

219.  Martin  approved  the  earlier  decrees  of  the  Council  reprobat- 
ing the  errors  of  Wycliffe  and  Huss;  but  condemned  the  opinion  assert- 
ing the  right  of  appeal  from  the  Pope  to  a  General  Council.  He 
issued  a  special  bull,  declaring  "that  it  was  unlawful  for  any  one, 
either  to  appeal  from  the  judgments  of  the  Apostolic  See,  or  to  reject 
its  decisions  in  matters  of  faith."  Lastly,  after  confirming  all  that 
had  been  done  and  decided  conciliariter  by  the  Synod,  that  is,  such 
decrees  only  as  were  enacted  according  to  the  canonical  rules  govern- 
ing an  Ecumenical  Council.  Martin  formally  dissolved  the  Council 
in  its  forty-fifth  session,  April  22,  1418. 

220.  Regarding  the  ecumenical  authority  of  the  Council  of  Con- 
stance, Hefele  arrives  at  the  conclusion,  that  all  those  decrees,  in  the 
enactment  of  which,  according  to  Pope  Martin's  distinction,  the  con- 
ciliar  rules  had  been  observed  (quae  conciliariter  determinata,  con- 
clusa  et  decreta  fuissent),  and  which,  according  to  the  declaration 
of  Martin's  successor,  Eugenius  IV.,  contain  "nothing  detrimental  to 


416  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  rights,  dignity,  and  supremacy  of  the  Apostolic  See  "  (absque  prae- 
judicio  juris,  dignitatis  et  prae-eminentiae  Sedis  Apostolicae),  are  un- 
questionably to  be  accepted  as  ecumenical;  while  those  decrees  to 
which  this  test  does  not  apply,  must  be  looked  upon  as  reprobated. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  Council  of  Constance,  from  its  forty- 
second  to  the  forty-fifth  sessions,  at  which  the  lawful  Pope  presided, 
was  a  regular  General  Synod,  and,  consequently,  is  to  be  called  the 
Sixteenth  Ecumenical  Council  of  the  Church. 

221.  Of  the  earlier  sessions  of  this  Council  Cardinal  Hergen- 
roether  observes: — "They  (the  decrees)  were  arrived  at  without  due 
consultation,  and  by  voting  according  to  nationality,  which  was  for- 
bidden by  Church  legislation.  The  party  of  the  antipope  John  XXIII.> 
who  had  convoked  the  Council,  was  alone  represented.  Its  decisions 
are -opposed  to  the  decisions  passed  by  the  Second  Council  of  Lyons, 
or  Fourteenth  General  Council,  by  the  Council  of  Florence,  and  by 
the  Fifth  Lateran  Council,  by  which  they  were  condemned  and  re- 
pealed. It  was  only  after  the  lawful  Pope,  Gregory  XII.,  convened 
the  Council  and  then  renounced  his  dignity,  and  Martin  V.  was  duly 
elected,  that  the  assembly  formed  a  regular  General  Council.  Martin  V. 
only  approved  those  decrees  which  the  Council  had  passed,  upoji  mat- 
ters of  faith,  in  a  conciliar  manner.'*     Cath.  Church  and  Chr.  State. 

SECTION   L.       POPES   MARTIN   V.    AND    EUGENIUS   IV COUNCIL   OF   BASLE. 

Martin  V.  in  Rome — Council  of  Pavia — Eugenius  lY. — Council  of  Basle — Its 
Object  —  Julian  Cesarini — Conflict  between  the  Pope  and  the  Basilians — 
Nicholas  of  Cusa — Proceedings  at  Basle — Reconciliation — Synodical  Acts 
of  Basle— Dissolution  of  the  Council — The  Basilians  in  open  Rebellion 
against  the  Pope — Cardinal  L'Allemand— Revolutionary  Decrees— Anti- 
pope  Felix  Y. — Close  of  the  Schism. 

222.  Martin  Y.  prudently  declined  the  invitation  of  the  French, 
to  re-establish  the  Holy  See  at  Avignon,  as  well  as  that  of  Em- 
peror Sigismund,  who  offered  him  Basle,  Strasburg,  and  Mentz, 
from  which  to  select  the  papal  residence.  He  returned  to  Italy;  but, 
Rome  being  then  occupied  by  the  Neapolitans,  he  tarried  at  Florence 
till  1420,  when  he  entered  Rome  amidst  the  loud  rejoicings  of  the 
people.  Martin  exerted  all  his  efforts  to  restore  industry  and  com- 
merce in  the  Papal  States,  and  carry  out  the  reforms  inaugurated  at 
Constance.  In  pursuance  of  a  decree  by  the  Fathers  of  Constance,  he 
convoked  a  Council  for  1423,  to  meet  at  Pavia,  which  shortly  after 
was  transferred  to  Siena.  Owing  to  the  small  number  of  bishops 
attending  the  Council,  and  the  dissensions  which  arose  among  its 


COUNCIL   OF  BASLE.  417 

members,  Martin  declared  it  dissolved,  and  convoked  another  Council 
to  assemble  at  Basle,  in  1431.  But  he  died  the  day  before  the 
opening. 

223.  Eugenius  IV.,  A.  D.  1431-1447,  the  nephew  of  Gregory  XII., 
immediately  addressed  himself  to  the  projected  reforms.  He  con- 
firaied  the  convocation  of  the  Council  of  Basle,  as  well  as  the  appoint- 
ment of  Cardinal  Julian  Cesarini,  as  papal  legate  and  president  of  the 
the  assembly.  The  Council  opened  under  John  of  Polemar  and  John 
of  Kagusa,  delegates  of  Cardinal  Cesarini,  who  was  at  the  time  en- 
gaged in  endeavoring  to  effect  a  reconciliation  with  the  Hussites.  But 
very  few  prelates  were  in  attendance.  On  his  arrival  in  Basle,  Cesarini 
sent  a  messenger  to  Kome,  to  acquaint  the  Pope  with  the  state  of 
affairs. 

224.  In  the  meantime,  the  prelates  at  Basle,  consisting  of  only 
three  bishops  and  fourteen  abbots,  held  their  first  public  session;  they 
declared  their  assembly  a  lawfully  convened  Council  whose  object  was 
defined  to  be:  1. — The  extirpation  of  heresy;  2. — The  establishment 
of  peace  among  Christian  princes;  3. — The  reformation  of  the  Church 
in  its  Head  and  members.  Four  deputations  were  formed,  not,  as  at 
Constance,  according  to  nationalities,  but  according  to  the  matters  to 
be  treated:  1. — Of  faith;  2. — Of  pacification;  3. — Of  reformation;  and 
4. — Of  general  matters  (Deputatio  fidei,  pacis,  reformationis,  et  com- 
munis). 

225.  The  small  attendance  of  bishops  at  Basle,  but  especially  the 
proposals  for  a  reunion  made  by  the  Greeks  who,  however,  desired 
the  Council  to  meet  in  some  Italian  city,  induced  the  Pope  to  dissolve 
the  Council  and  convoke  a  new  one  to  open  at  Bologna  eighteen 
months  later.  The  cardinal  legate  obeyed,  and  declined  to  take  his 
seat  as  president  of  the  Council  then  holding.  But  the  bishops  at 
Basle  vehemently  opposed  the  removal  of  the  Council,  which,  they 
alleged,  would  exclude  all  hopes  of  reconciling  the  Hussites.  They 
continued  their  sessions,  elected  Philibert,  bishop  of  Coutances,  as 
president  of  their  assembly  in  place  of  Cesarini,  and  proceeded  to  act, 
at  first,  independently  of  the  Pope,  and,  soon  after,  against  his  author- 
ity and  person. 

226.  A  serious  oonflict  between  the  Pope  and  the  Fathers  at  Basle 
now  ensued.  The  extreme  assertion  of  Gerson,  as  to  the  supremacy 
of  a  General  Council  over  the  Pope,  found  a  new  and  eloquent  ad- 
vocate in  the  learned  Nicholas  of  Cusa.  The  Council  of  Basle  adopted 
the  doctrine,  and,  in  its  second  session,  which  was  attended  by  only 
fourteen  bishops,  renewed  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of  Constance, 
proclaiming  the  superiority  of  an  Ecumenical  Council  over  the  Pope; 


418  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

it  consequently  denied  the  power  of  the  Pope  to  dissolve  or  transfer  a. 
General  Council,  without  its  consent.  In  its  subsequent  sessions,  the 
recalcitrant  conventicle  commanded  the  Pope  to  withdraw  his  bull 
of  dissolution;  cited  him  and  his  cardinals  to  appear  at  Basle,  and 
threatened  them  with  further  action,  if  they,  in  three  months,  did  not 
obey  the  summons.  Finally,  in  the  tenth  session,  the  Fathers  of  Basle, 
who,  in  the  interval,  had  increased  to  the  number  of  five  cardinals 
and  forty-one  prelates,  proceeded  to  declare  Eugenius  contumacious! 

227.  Eugenius,  finding  that  he  could  not  bring  over  the  prelates 
of  Basle  to  his  opinion,  began  to  waver,  and  sent  four  legates  to  Basle 
with  authority  to  negotiate  with  the  assembled  Fathers,  on  the  con- 
tinuance of  the  Council.  He  also  published  a  bull,  explaining  the 
reasons  why  the  Pope  had  hitherto  objected  to  holding  the  Council  at 
Basle,  and  the  considerations  which  now  induced  him  to  allow  its  con- 
tinuance in  that  place,  as  well  as  to  send  legates  thither.  But  his 
legates  were  ill  received,  and  his  overtures  rejected  as  unsatisfactory. 
The  refractory  prelates,  in  the  eleventh  session,  went  so  far  as  to 
menace  the  Pope  with  suspension  and  deposition,  for  refusing  to  rec- 
ognize the  arrogant  pretensions  of  their  conventicle. 

228.  On  learning  the  revolutionary  measures  adopted  at  Basle^ 
Pope  Eugenius,  in  1433,  issued  a  bull  annulling  all  such  decrees  of 
the  assembly  as  were  derogatory  to  his  dignity  and  the  authority  of 
the  Holy  See,  at  the  same  time  signifying  his  willingness  to  continue 
the  Council.  At  last,  revoking  his  bull  of  dissolution,  he  consented  to 
acknowledge  the  assembly  of  Basle  as  a  lawfully  convened  Council, 
under  the  express  condition,  however,  that  his  legates  would  be  ad- 
mitted to  preside  at  its  sessions,  and  that  all  decrees  derogatory  to 
his  person  and  the  prerogatives  of  the  Holy  See,  would  be  repealed. 
Meanwhile,  some  of  the  Italian  princes,  taking  advantage  of  the  em- 
barrassing condition  of  the  Pope,  commenced  war  upon  him  and  in- 
vaded the  Papal  States.  The  Bomans  also  rose  in  arms  and  besieged 
the  Pope  in  his  palace,  which  compelled  him  to  escape  in  disguise  to 
Florence. 

229.  But  happily,  through  the  efforts  of  Sigismund,  who  was 
crowned  emperor  in  Kome,  in  1433,  a  reconciliation  was  now  brought 
about  between  the  Pope  and  the  Fathers  of  Basle;  the  latter  declared 
themselves  satisfied  with  the  terms  of  the  Pope.  From  this  period, 
all  sessions,  from  the  sixteenth  to  the  twenty-fifth  (Febr.  5,  1434,  to 
May  7,  1437),  were  held  under  the  presidency  of  the  papal  legates.  A 
number  of  decrees  was  passed  by  the  Council,  which  apply  to  the  ex- 
tinction of  heresy,  the  establishment  of  peace  among  Christian  rulers, 
and  the  reformation  of  the  faithful.     These  are  the  only  Acts  of  the 


COUNCIL   OF  BASLE.  419 

Council  of  Basle  that  are  recognized  as  truly  synodical,  and  that  were 
approved  bj  the  Holj  See. 

230.  Still,  before  long,  the  Council  again  engaged  in  a  contest 
against  the  Pope.  Returning  to  their  former  schism,  the  Fathers  re- 
newed the  declaration  of  the  supremacy  of  a  General  Council  over  the 
Pope,  and,  without  consulting  the  latter,  adopted  a  decree  for  the 
reform  of  the  Roman  Chancery,  and  enacted  laws  which  tended  to 
subject  both  the  Holy  See  and  the  Sacred  College  to  their  authority. 
Great  efforts  were  also  made  to  interfere  in  the  negotiations  with  the 
Greek  Emperor,  on  the  subject  of  the  proposed  reunion  of  the  Greek 
and  Latin  Churches,  though  without  si'ccess.  A  division  arose  on  this 
question  among  the  members  of  the  Council.  "While  the  majority, 
headed  by  the  cardinal  archbishop  L'Allemand  of  Aries,  voted  for 
continuing  the  Council  at  Basle  or  Avignon,  the  minority  favored 
Florence  or  some  other  Italian  city. 

231.  This  caused  Pope  Eugenius  to  dissolve,  once  more,  the  Council 
of  Basle,  and  to  transfer  its  sessions  to  Ferrara,  Sept.  1437.  Public 
opinion  now  turned  in  favor  of  the  Pope,  and  the  more  moderate  of 
the  prelates  began  to  withdraw  from  the  Council.  The  cardinals,  ex- 
cepting L'Allemand,  and  nearly  all  the  prelates  of  rank,  in  obedience 
to  the  Pope's  mandate,  repaired  to  Ferrara.  A  scanty  number  of 
bishops  and  abbots,  with  about  four  hundred  priests  and  doctors,  who 
were  all  granted  the  right  of  suffrage,  remained,  and,  under  the 
presidency  of  the  fanatical  L'Allemand,  continued  the  sessions  of  the 
now  schismatical  Council. 

232.  The  malcontents  of  Basle,  exasperated  by  the  general  defec- 
tion from  their  conventicle  to  the  Council  of  Ferrara,  now  proceeded 
to  revolutionary  extremes.  The  following  propositions  respecting  the 
subjection  of  the  Pope  to  a  General  Council  were  defined  by  them  as 
articles  of  faith:  1. — That  a  General  Council  is  superior  to  the  Pope; 
2. — That  the  Pope  cannot  dissolve,  or  transfer,  or  adjourn  a  General 
Council;  3. — That,  whoever  denies  these  articles  is  a  heretic.  They, 
furthermore,  excommunicated  the  Council  of  Ferrara,  and  cited  its 
members  before  the  Basle  tribunal;  finally,  in  their  thirty-fourth  ses- 
sion, which  was  attended  by  only  seven  bishops,  thej^  presumed  to 
depose  Eugenius,  in  whose  stead  they  thrust  Amadeus  of  Savoy. 

233.  The  antipope,  who  took  the  name  of  Felix  V.,  was  recog- 
nized outside  of  his  hereditary  states  by  only  a  few  universities  and 
minor  princes.  The  schismatical  assembly  remained  in  session  till 
1443,  when  it  adjourned  to  Lausanne.  After  playing  his  miserable 
part  for  ten  years,  Felix  abdicated,  and  his  party  put  an  end  to 
the   schism  laj  reco^-nizing   the   pontificate    of   Nicholas  V.     Felix, 


420  mSTOBT  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

•who  is  the  last  antipope  recorded  in  history,  died  in  1451.  "The 
Council  of  Basle,"  Cardinal  Hergenroether  says,  "which  a  contem- 
porary writer  (Traversari)  called  a  seminary  of  heresy,  was  headless 
and  schismatical,  and  never  met  with  recognition  from  the  Church. 
Eugenius  IV.  confirmed  the  holding  of  the  Council,  but  only  under 
two  conditions,  which  were  not  fulfilled.  These  conditions  were :  first, 
that  everything  which  that  Council  had  done  contrary  to  the  author- 
ity of  the  Apostolic  See,  should  be  declared  null  and  void;  second, 
that  his  legates  should  have*  the  virtual  presidency.  He  never,  how- 
ever, ratified  the  canons  of  this  assembly." 


SECTION  LI.       THE   SEVENTEENTH   ECUMENICAL,    OR   COUNCIL   OP   FEREAEA   AND 
FLORENCE REUNION   OF   THE    GREEK,   AND    OTHER   EASTERN   CHURCHES. 

The  Greek  Church— Attempts  of  the  Popes  to  Reunite  the  Greeks— The 
Greeks  in  Ferrara  —  Principial  Questions — Eminent  Latin  and  Greek 
Theologians— Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost — Primacy  of  the  Roman  See 
— Definition  of  the  Council — Decree  of  Reunion— Results  —  Reunion  of 
Other  Oriental  Churches — France  and  the  Council  of  Florence. 

234.  The  Council  of  Basle  was  transferred  to  Ferrara,  and  after- 
wards to  Florence,  chiefly  for  the  purpose  of  reuniting  the  Greek  with 
the  Latin  Church.  Several  conventions  were  held  during  the  thir- 
teenth and  fourteenth  centuries,  to  close  the  Greek  Schism;  but  any 
Reunion  accomplished  was  never  of  long  duration.  The  reconciliation 
effected  under  Emperor  Michael  II.  Palaeologus  at  Lyons,  in  12  74, 
lasted  but  a  few  years;  Andronicus  11.  Palaeologus  rejected  the  ar- 
rangement and  threw  the  Empire  back  into  schism.  New  attempts  at 
reconciliation  were  made,  in  1330,  by  Andronicus  III.  Palaeologus, 
who  was  hard  pressed  by  the  Turks.  Negotiations  for  the  Reunion 
were  also  carried  on  between  the  emperor  of  Constantinople  and 
Popes  John  XXII.,  Benedict  XII.,  Clement  VI.,  and  Innocent  YI. 
Emperor  John  V.  Palaeologus,  in  1369,  abjured  the  schism  and  was 
received  into  Catholic  communion,  by  Urban  V. 

235.  At  last  the  emperor  John  VII.  Palaeologus  applied  to  Pope 
Eugenius  TV.  for  Reunion  with  the  Roman  Church,  as  the  only  hope  of 
saving  his  tottering  Empire  from  the  Ottoman  power.  He  accepted 
the  invitation  of  the  Pope  to  the  Council  of  Ferrara,  which  opened  in 
January,  1438.  Seven  hundred  Greeks  sailed  from  the  Bosporus  for 
Eerrara,  on  board  the  fleet  placed  at  their  disposal  by  Eugenius,  who 
likewise  defrayed  all  expenses  for  their  maintenance  while  attending 
the  Council.     The  emperor,  the  patriarch  Joseph  of  Constantinople, 


COUNCIL   OF  FLOREXCE.  421 

Bessarion,  the  famous  arclibisbop  of  Nice,  and  deputies  from  the  other 
patriarchs,  were  among  the  number. 

236.  The  Greeks,  who  arrived  at  Ferrara  early  in  March,  were 
received  with  great  solemnity  by  the  Pope.  On  April  9  th,  the  united 
Council  was  solemnly  declared  in  session.  The  principal  questions 
proposed  for  discussion  were:  1. — The  Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost; 
2. — The  addition  of  the  "Filioque"  to  the  Symbolum;  3. — Purgatory, 
and  the  nature  of  purgatorial  j)unishment;  4. — The  Beatific  Vision  of 
the  Blessed  in  heaven;  5. — The  use  of  leavened  or  unleavened  bread 
in  the  Mass;  and,  6. — The  Primacy  of  the  Roman  See.  Prominent 
among  the  Latins,  in  defending  the  doctrines  of  the  Roman  Church, 
were  Cardinals  Cesarini  and  Albergati;  Archbishop  Andrew  of  Rhodus, 
Ambrose  Traversari,  general  of  the  Camaldolensians,  and  the  two 
learned  Dominicans,  John  Torquemada  (Turrecremata),  and  John  of 
Ragusio,  or  Montenegro.  Of  the  Greeks,  taking  part  in  the  discus- 
sions, the  most  eminent  were  the  learned  Bessarion,  archbishop  of 
Nice,  Isidore,  archbishop  of  Kiew,  Dorotheus,  archbishop  of  Mytelene, 
and  the  two  most  bitter  opponents  of  the  Reunion,  the  archbishops 
Mark  of  Ephesus,  and  Anthony  of  Heraclea. 

237.  The  discussion  on  the  Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost  ex- 
tended through  fifteen  sessions,  after  which,  the  plague  breaking  out 
at  Ferrara,  the  Council  was  removed  to  Florence.  In  this  city,  the 
Fathers  continued  to  deliberate  from  1439  to  1442.  The  debates  on 
the  great  dogmatic  questions  of  the  Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost 
and  the  Primacy  of  the  Pope  were  prolix  and  often  violent.  The 
Greeks  finally  accepted  the  Latin  terminology,  viz :  "that  the  Holy  Ghost 
proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son"  and  consented  to  the  addition  of 
the  word,  "Filioque"  to  the  Creed. 

238.  The  other  points  of  difference  were  agreed  upon  with  less 
difficulty.  It  was  defined,  that  either  leavened  or  unleavened  bread 
may  be  used  at  the  Mass,  each  Church  being  allowed  to  maintain  its 
own  usage ;  that  the  departed  souls  of  the  just,  when  thoroughly  puri- 
fied, go  straight  to  Heaven,  and  the  departed  souls  of  the  wicked 
descend  at  once  to  Hell;  that  departed  souls  not  perfectly  purified  are 
detained  in  Purgatory,  where  their  sufferings  may  be  shortened  or  al- 
leviated by  the  sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  prayers,  and  other  good  works  of 
the  faithful  on  earth.  The  discussions  on  the  Primacy  of  the  Roman 
See  were  much  more  keen  and  protracted.  The  emperor,  particularly, 
was  averse  to  admitting  the  papal  prerogatives.  He  was  willing  to 
concede  the  pre-eminence  of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  but  objected  to  the 
Pope's  right  of  convoking  General  Councils,  without  the  consent  of 


422  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  emperor  and  the  patriarchs;  of  demanding  obedience  from  the 
patriarchs,  and  of  receiving  appeals  from  their  decision. 

239.  At  last,  by  the  interposition  of  Bessarion  and  Isidore,  the 
emperor  consented  to  acknowledge  the  Papal  Primacy,  whereupon  the 
Council  defined  that  ''the  Holy  Apostolic  See  and  the  Roman  Pontiff  hold 
the  Primacy  over  the  whole  world;  that  the  Roman  Pontiff  vi  the  successor 
of  Blessed  Peter,  Prince  of  the  Apostles;  that  he  is  the  true  Vicar  of  Christ, 
the  Head  of  the  whole  Church,  the  Father  and  Teacher  of  all  Christians; 
and  that  to  him,  in  Blessed  Peter,  full  power  has  been  given  by  our  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  of  feeding,  riding,  and  governing  the  Universal  Church;  as  is 
also  contained  in  the  Acts  of  the  Ecumenical  Councils,  and  in  the  sacred 
canons."  The  Decree  of  Reunion  was  signed  by  the  Pope  and  the  em- 
peror, and  all  the  members  of  the  Council,  except  Mark  of  Ephesus 
and  the  bishop  of  Stauropolis;  and,  on  July  6,  1439,  it  was  solemnly 
published,  having  been  read  in  Latin,  by  Cardinal  Cesarini,  and  in 
Greek,  by  Bessarion.  Soon  after  the  Greeks  left  Florence  for  their 
homes;  Bessarion  and  Isidore,  who  had  zealously  exerted  themselvea 
for  the  Reunion,  were  raised  to  the  cardinalate. 

240.  Yet  the  happy  results  thus  secured  at  Florence  were  soon- 
dissipated;  the  greater  portion  of  the  Greek  people  opposed  it,  and, 
as  early  as  1443,  the  three  patriarchs  of  Alexandria,  Antioch,  and  Je- 
rusalem formally  condemned  the  Florentine  decrees.  Unfortunately 
the  noble  patriarch  Joseph  of  Constantinople  had  died  during  the 
Council,  and  the  new  patriarch,  Metrophanes,  who  was  equally  well 
disposed  to  the  Reunion,  was  unable  to  withstand  the  tide  of  popular 
feeling  and  the  intrigues  of  Mark  of  Ephesus  and  other  enemies  of 
unity.  His  successor,  Gregory  Mammas,  a  strenuous  advocate  of  the 
Reunion,  was  deposed  in  a  synod  at  Constantinople,  in  1450.  His  im- 
mediate successors,  Arsenius  and  Gennadius,  were  hostile  to  the 
Florentine  Decree,  but  they  were  compelled  by  the  emperor  Con- 
stantine,  who  honestly  favored  the  Reunion,  to  resign  their  sees. 
Cardinal  Isidore,  the  fugitive  metropolitan  of  Kiew,  as  Legate  Apos- 
tolic, succeeded  in  having  the  Florentine  decrees  promulgated  at  Con- 
stantinople, in  1452.  But  the  following  year,  1453,  the  Turks  stormed 
and  took  Constantinople,  when  the  Sultan  Mohammed  11.,  the  con- 
queror of  the  Eastern  Empire,  caused  Gennadius  to  be  elected  to  the 
patriarchate.  Thus,  by  Greek  perfidy  and  Turkish  fanaticism,  the 
last  hope  of  a  Reunion  of  the  East  and  West  was  destroyed. 

241.  The  Council  remained  in  session  at  Florence  for  several 
years,  to  afford  the  other  Oriental  schismatics  an  opportunity  of  re- 
uniting with  the  Church.  In  1439,  the  Armenians,  in  1441,  the  Ethi 
opian  king  Constantine,  in  1442,  the  Jacobites  of  Syria,  and  in  1443 


J 


NICHOLAS  V.  AND  HIS  SUCCESSORS.  423 

the  Bosnians  were  received  into  Catholic  communion,  and  Eugenius 
issued  special  instructions  for  the  united  nations,  containing  a  full 
exposition  of  Catholic  doctrines  and  usages.  Their  example  was  fol- 
lowed by  many  Christians  in  Syria  and  Mesopotamia,  and  by  the 
Chaldeans,  Nestorians,  and  Maronites  in  Cyprus,  who,  with  their 
bishops  and  clergy  made  their  submission,  in  1445,  at  Rome,  whither 
the  Pope  had  transferred  the  Council,  in  1443.  The  Council  finally 
closed  its  sessions  in  the  Lateran  Basilica,  October  25,  1445. 

242.  For  a  time,  certain  G-allican  writers  denied  the  ecumenical 
authority  of  the  Council  of  Florence,  because,  maintaining  the  super- 
iority of  a  General  Council  over  the  Pope,  they  held  that  Eugenius 
exceeded  his  powers  in  removing  the  Council  from  Basle  to  Florence. 
The  French  element  was  predominant  at  Basle.  King  Charles  VII., 
in  1438,  forbade  the  French  bishops  to  attend  the  Council  of  Ferrara, 
and,  in  1448,  declared  to  the  legates  of  Eugenius,  that  he  would  never 
acknowledge  the  Council.  Even  at  Trent  the  French  objected 
against  the  Florentine  decrees  on  the  Papal  authority. 

SECTION    UI.       THE    CONCORDATS    UNDER    EUGENIUS    IV NICHOLAS    V ^HIS 

SUCCESSORS. 

Pragmatic  Sanction  of  Bourges— Affairs  of  Germany— Diets— Concordat  of 
Princes— Concordat  of  Vienna— Nicholas  V.— His  Activity— Calixtus  III. 
— Pius  II. — His  Antecedents — His  Efforts  to  arm  Christendom  against 
the  Turks— Paul  II. — Sixtus  IV. — Conflict  with  Florence. 

243.  During  the  conflict  between  Eugenius  IV.  and  the  Council 
of  Basle,  France  and  Germany  remained  in  a  state  of  neutrality.  Yet, 
both  countries  showed  a  certain  leaning  toward  the  schismatical 
Council,  which  appeared  to  them  an  available  opportunity  for  the  exten- 
sion of  royal  prerogatives  at  the  expense  of  the  Church.  In  1438,  at 
the  summons  of  King  Charles  VII.,  the  French  clergy  assembled  at 
Bourges,  and  there  framed  what  is  known  as  the  Pragmatic  Sanction 
of  Bourges.  The  Pragmatic  Sanction  admitted  certain  of  the  decrees 
of  Basle;  others  it  modified.  It  adopted  the  decrees,  declaring  a 
General  Council  superior  to  the  Pope,  abolishing  Papal  reserves  and 
expectatives,  and  restricting  appeals  to  Rome  to  the  graver  causes.  In 
vain  did  the  Popes  protest  against  the  Pragmatic  Sanction,  which  has 
been  rightly  regarded  as  the  fountain-head  of  Gallicanism. 

244.  Following  the  example  of  France,  the  German  princes,  in 
three  successive  diets  at  Mentz,  Niiremberg,  and  Frankfort  declared 
their  determination  to  maintain  strict  neutrality  in  the  contest  be- 


424  HISTORY  OF   THE  CHURCH. 

tween  Eugenius  and  the  Council  of  Basle.  The  eloquence  and  argu- 
ments of  Cardinal  Cervantes  and  Nicholas  of  Cusa,  who  appeared  at 
the  diets  as  the  legates  of  Eugenius,  were  unavailing;  they  could  not 
persuade  the  princes  to  throw  off  their  inglorious  neutrality,  and  at 
once  espouse  the  cause  of  the  Pope  against  the  schismatics  of  Basle. 
This  state  of  suspense  was  the  cause  of  dire  divisions  and  much  con- 
fusion in  the  Church  of  Germany. 

245.  When,  in  1445,  Eugenius  deposed  the  archbishops  of  Cologne 
and  Treves,  because  of  their  declaration  in  favor  of  the  Basilians  and 
the  antipope,  the  situation  became  all  the  more  aggravated.  The 
German  princes,  taking  up  the  cause  of  the  deposed  prelates,  pro- 
tested against  this  proceeding  of  the  Pope,  as  an  illegal  exercise  of 
his  authority.  The  refusal  of  Eugenius  to  revoke  his  sentence  of  de- 
position, threatened  to  cast  Germany  wholly  on  the  side  of  the  schis- 
matics. But,  through  the  efficient  services  of  Aeneas  Sylvius  Piccolo- 
mini,  afterward  Pope  Pius  H.,  who  was  dispatched  by  Emperor  Fred- 
erick in.,  on  a  special  mission  to  Rome,  the  difficulty  was  settled. 
Aeneas  succeeded  in  bringing  about  an  understanding  between  the 
German  princes  and  the  Pope,  thus  inflicting  a  death-blow  to  the  as- 
sembly at  Basle,  whose  dissolution  speedily  followed.  An  agreement 
in  four  articles,  known  as  the  Concordat  of  the  Princes,  was  ratified  by 
Eugenius,  two  weeks  before  his  death,  in  1447,  whereupon  the  German 
ambassadors  yielded  obedience  to  the  rightful  Pope. 

246.  The  first  care  of  Nicholas  V.,  A.  D.  1447-1455,  was  to  give 
union  to  the  Church  and  aid  to  the  tottering  Empire  of  the  East.  The 
schism  of  Basle  was  happily  brought  to  a  close  and  a  new  treaty — the 
Concordat  of  Vienna — concluded  with  the  Emperor  Frederick  HI.,  in 
1448,  regulated  the  appointments  to  ecclesiastical  dignities  in  Ger- 
many, and,  in  many  points,  modified  the  "  Concordat  of  the  Princes,'' 
which  Eugenius  had  been  constrained  to  sign.  In  1450,  Nicholas 
celebrated  the  General  Jubilee,  and,  in  1452,  bestowed  the  Imperial 
Crown  on  Frederick  III.  of  Germany — the  last  "Roman  Emperor"  who 
received  the  crown  from  the  hands  of  the  Pope. 

247.  Nicholas  devoted  all  his  energy  to  the  recovery  of  Constan- 
tinople from  the  hands  of  the  Turks.  He  had  sent  a  fleet  to  the  assis- 
tance of  the  Greeks,  which,  however,  arrived  too  late.  Himself 
learned,  Nicholas  was  a  liberal  patron  of  letters.  He  expended  large 
sums  in  j^urchasing  and  collecting  books,  manuscripts  or  copies  of 
them,  and  encouraged  the  translation  into  Latin  of  the  Greek  Fathers 
and  classical  works.  To  him  also  is  accredited  the  foundation  of  the 
Vatican  Library,  which  he  enriched  by  an  addition  of  five  thousand 
volumes. 


NICHOLAS  V:  AND  HIS  SUCCESSORS.  425 

248.  Calixtus  m.,  A.  D.  1455-1458,  a  Pontiff  of  remarkable  firm- 
ness, likewise  employed  all  his  endeavors  to  unite  all  Christendom  in 
an  expedition  against  advancing  Mohammedanism.  But  his  efforts 
were  met  with  cool  indifference  on  the  part  of  the  Christian  powers. 
He  himself,  then,  raised  and  equipped  an  army  to  aid  the  Hungarians 
against  the  invading  Turks;  and,  to  obtain  the  divine  assistance  for 
the  Christian  warriors,  he  ordered  the  Lord's  Prayer  and  the  Angelic 
Salutation  to  be  recited  by  the  faithful  at  noon;  whence  originated 
the  "  Angelus."  To  his  efforts  mainly  is  to  be  attributed  the  great  vic- 
tory of  the  Christians  at  Belgrade,  in  1456.  Calixtus  also  was  a  lover 
of  letters,  and  made  large  additions  to  the  Vatican  library. 

249.  On  the  death  of  Calixtus  III.,  the  eminent  jurist  and  cele- 
brated poet,  Aeneas  Sylvius,  ascended  the  papal  throne,  as  Pius  11., 
A.  D.  1458-1464.  In  his  former  years,  he  had  sided  with  the  Council 
of  Basle,  and,  though  a  layman,  acted  as  secretary  to  that  assembly 
and  the  antipope,  Felix  V.  It  was  then  that  he  wrote  his  "  History  of 
the  Council  of  Basle,"  and  other  works  in  defence  of  the  supremacy  of 
General  Councils,  which  he  afterwards  retracted.  He  was,  subsequent- 
ly, appointed  Imperial  Secretary  by  Frederick  m.,  and  Apostolic  Sec- 
retary by  Eugenius  IV.  Nicholas  V.  made  him  bishop  of  Triest,  and 
afterwards  of  Siena;  Calixtus  111.  created  him  cardinal,  and,  at  the 
death  of  that  Pontiff,  he  succeeded  him  in  the  Popedom. 

250.  Few  men  of  more  consummate  ability  than  Pius  11.  had  sat 
in  the  chair  of  St.  Peter.  The  ruling  idea  of  his  pontificate  was  the 
organization  of  a  universal  league,  embracing  all  Christendom,  against 
the  Turks.  He  summoned  an  assembly  of  all  the  Christian  powers 
to  be  held  at  Mantua.  At  the  same  time,  he  undertook  the  conversion 
of  the  Sultan  Mohammed  II.,  to  whom  he  addressed  a  long  and  elab- 
orate epistle.  But  the  efforts  of  the  energetic  Pontiff  met  with  no  en- 
couragement from  the  western  nations.  Notwithstanding  this  failure, 
Pius  maintained  his  courage;  he  placed  himself  at  the  head  of  an 
army  and  set  out  for  Ancona.  Here,  death  thwarted  the  designs  which 
the  magnanimous  Pontiff  had  formed  for  the  glory  of  Christendom. 
By  a  special  bull,  Pius  II.  condemned  appeals  from  the  Pope  to  a 
future  General  Council,  and,  by  another,  he  formally  withdrew  what 
he  had  written  in  defence  of  the  Council  of  Basle  and  the  supremacy 
of  General  Councils. 

251.  The  character  of  Paul  11.,  A.  D.  1464-1471,  who  was  a  liberal 
patron  of  arts  and  letters,  has  been  unjustly  assailed,  particularly  by 
Platina,  out  of  spite  for  abolishing  the  office  of  abbreviators  in  the 
Papal  Chancery,  among  the  clerks  of  which  great  abuses  prevailed. 
He  is  censured  for  his  excessive  prodigality,  and  for  raising  three  of 


426  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

his  nephews  to  the  dignity  of  cardinals.  Nepotism,  however,  was 
xmiversally  practiced  in  those  days,  and  considered  less  odious  than 
at  present. 

252.  Sixtus  rV.,  A.  D.  14Y1-1484,  like  his  immediate  predecessors, 
a  munificent  patron  of  literature,  largely  increased  the  Vatican  library, 
huilt,  besides  several  other  churches,  the  celebrated  Sixtine  chapel, 
and  adorned  Rome  with  many  magnificent  edifices.  He  placed  the 
**  Seraphic  Doctor,"  Bonaventure,  on  the  calendar  of  saints,  sought  to 
put  an  end  to  the  controversies  between  the  Thomists  and  Scotists, 
and  condemned  the  errors  of  Peter  of  Osma,  a  professor  of  Salamanca. 
His  principal  efforts  were  directed  toward  uniting  the  Christian  princes 
in  a  league  against  the  Turks.  But  he  met  with  hardly  any  success; 
the  greater  powers  refused  to  obey  his  call. 

253.  Pope  Sixtus  lY.,  it  is  alleged,  tarnished  his  otherwise  blame- 
less and  useful  pontificate  by  favoring  his  relatives  too  much.  Four 
of  his  nephews  he  raised  to  the  cardinalate ;  two  others  became  suc- 
cessively prefects  of  Rome.  But  they  all  proved  themselves  worthy  of 
their  dignities:  the  cardinals  were  men  of  high  probity  and  great 
ability,  while  the  two  prefects  endeared  themselves  to  the  people  by 
liberality  and  munificence.  Besides,  it  must  be  remembered  that  the 
promotion  of  their  relatives  to  posts  of  trust  and  power  was,  for  the 
Popes,  in  those  days,  a  necessary  safeguard  against  the  many  Italian 
factions. 

254.  Sixtus  became  embroiled  in  a  bitter  strife  with  the  Florentine 
Republic,  and  the  powerful  family  of  the  Medici,  who  sided  with  the 
Pope's  enemies  and  refused  to  admit  Francesco  de  Salviati,  as  arch- 
bishop of  Pisa.  The  conspiracy  of  the  Pazzi,  a  noble  family  of  Flor- 
ence, which  resulted  in  the  assassination  of  Julian  de  Medici,  drew 
upon  Pope  Sixtus  the  false  suspicion  that  he  had  been  accessory  to 
the  plot.  The  Florentine  magistrates,  without  previous  recourse  to 
the  Holy  See,  put  to  death  archbishop  Salviati  and  other  ecclesiastics, 
charged  with  participating  in  the  conspiracy.  For  this  they  were  ex- 
communicated, and  Florence  was  laid  under  interdict.  But  the  Flor- 
entines paid  no  attention  to  the  papal  censures,  and  appealed  to  a 
General  Council.  The  quarrel  was  finally  settled,  but  only  after  the 
Florentines  had  given  satisfaction  for  the  execution  of  the  ecclesias- 
tics. Sixtus  was  also  involved  in  a  conflict  with  the  Venetians,  whom 
he  was  compelled  to  place  under  interdict.  But  they  too,  appealed 
to  a  General  Council,  and  commanded  the  clergy  to  disregard  the 
papal  censures,  banishing  such  as  disobeyed  the  civil  mandate. 


LAST  POPES  OF  THIS  PEBIOD.  427 

SECTION  Lin.       THE   LAST   POPES    OF    THIS    PERIOD ^FTFTH   LATERAN    COUNCIL. 

Innocent  YIII. — His  Pontificate — Lorenzo  de  Medici— Prince  Dshem — Alex- 
ander YI. — His  Antecedents — His  Nepotism — Affairs  of  Naples — Bull  of 
Partition — Charges  against  Alexander  YI. — Pius  III. — Character  of 
Julius  II. — League  of  Cambrai  —  Schismatical  Council  of  Pisa — Eight- 
eenth General  Council — Its  Objects — Leo  X. 

255.  Considering  the  irregularities  of  their  youths  and  the  cor- 
ruption of  their  reigns,  we  must  pronounce  the  election  of  the  two 
succeeding  Pontiffs  a  disgrace  to  the  Sacred  College,  and  a  scandal  to 
the  Church.  Cardinal  John  Baptist  Cibo,  a  Grenoese,  succeeded  Sixtus 
lY.  as  Innocent  YITE.,  A.  D.  1484-1492.  After  a  loose  life  in  youth, 
lie  was  married.  On  the  death  of  his  wife,  he  entered  the  ecclesias- 
tical state,  in  which  his  conduct,  as  well  as  his  ability,  won  general 
esteem,  and  secured  his  promotion  to  the  episcopate  under  Paul  II., 
to  the  cardinalate  under  Sixtus  lY.,  and  finally  to  the  government  of 
the  Universal  Church.  , 

256.  His  successful  efforts  in  effecting  a  reconciliation  between 
the  rival  houses  of  the  Orsini  and  Colonnas,  and  restoring  peace  and 
order  in  the  Papal  dominions,  procured  Innocent  the  title  of  "Father 
of  the  Country."  Innocent  succeeded  also  in  concluding  an  alliance 
with  the  powerful  Lorenzo  de  Medici,  the  bitter  opponent  of  the  pre- 
ceding Pope.  On  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain,  after  their  con- 
quest of  Granada,  in  1492,  he  conferred  the  title  of  "Catholic  Majesty." 
In  the  prolonged  dispute  between  the  two  rival  houses  of  Lancaster  and 
York  of  England,  Innocent  decided  in  favor  of  the  latter.  But  much 
needed  reforms  were  neglected,  and  crying  abuses  at  the  Papal  court 
were  allowed  to  continue.  To  fill  his  depleted  treasury.  Innocent  in- 
creased the  number  of  curialistic  offices,  which  were  conferred  for 
high  sums.  For  keeping  in  custody  Prince  Dshem,  the  brother  and 
rival  of  Sultan  Bajazet  11.  of  Constantinople,  the  latter  jDaid  the  Pope 
annually  forty  thousand  ducats. 

257.  The  pontificate  of  Alexander  YL,  who  reigned  from  A.  D. 
1492  to  1503,  was  a  time  of  degradation  for  the  Holy  See,  and  a  calam- 
ity to  the  Church.  This  Pope  was  of  the  Borgia  family,  and  his  mother 
a  sister  of  Calixtus  III.,  who,  when  becoming  Pope,  made  his  nephew, 
then  a  military  officer,  bishop  of  Yalencia,  and  shortly  after  created 
him  cardinal  and  vice-chancellor  of  the  Roman  Church.  Before  his 
elevation  to  the  Papacy,  he  became  the  father  of  four  children,  by  a 
Roman  lady  of  noble  family.  His  election  to  the  Papacy  was  accom- 
plished by  bribery.  Alexander  possessed,  indeed,  all  the  qualities  of 
an  able  and  valiant  ruler,  but  utterly  lacked  the  virtues  of  a  Pontiff. 


428  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

258.  When  raised  to  the  Papacy,  Alexander  availed  himself  of 
every  means  to  enrich  and  elevate  his  family.  His  son  Juan  was 
created  Duke  of  Gandia;  another  son,  the  vicious  Caesar  Borgia,  was 
nominated  a  cardinal;  on  the  death  of  his  brother,  Caesar  succeeded 
him  in  his  titles  and  estates,  and,  having  never  received  holy  orders, 
was  married  to  a  French  princess  and  created  duke  of  Valentinois. 
To  this  was  added  the  dukedom  of  Romagna  by  the  Pope,  who  also 
gave  to  the  sons  of  his  daughter  Lucretia  large  tracts  of  territory 
taken  from  dispossessed  Italian  princes. 

259.  Alexander  formed  a  league  with  the  king  of  Naples  against 
Charles  Vm.  of  France,  who  laid  claim  to  the  Neapolitan  Crown.  Un- 
able, however,  to  prevent  the  invasion  of  Italy  by  the  French,  the  Pope 
hastened  to  make  terms  with  Charles,  promising  him  the  investiture  of 
Naples.  But  no  sooner  had  Charles  gained  possession  of  Naples,  than 
Alexander  formed  a  powerful  coalition,  composed  of  Venice,  Milan, 
Spain,  and  the  emperor  Maximilian  I.,  which  compelled  the  French  king 
to  withdraw  from  Italy.  Alexander  ,now  directed  his  efforts  toward 
strengthening  his  power  in  the  Papal  States,  which  were  then  in  a  very 
disturbed  condition.  His  son  Caesar  Borgia  succeeded  in  crushing  and 
expelling  the  petty  tyrants  who  had  made  themselves  independent  of 
the  Holy  See.  It  was  under  the  reign  of  Alexander  that  the  eloquent, 
but  eccentric  Dominican,  Jerome  Savonarola,  made  war  upon  tem- 
poral rulers,  including  the  Pope,  denouncing  their  corruption  and  ex- 
cesses. He  was  condemned  to  death  and  executed  at  Florence,  in 
1498. 

260.  This  pontificate  was  contemporary  with  the  Discovery  of 
America  by  Christopher  Columbus,  and  one  of  Alexander's  first  acts  was 
the  publication  of  a  buU,^  known  as  the  "Bull  of  Partition,"  which  pro- 
vided for  the  propagation  of  the  Christian  faith  in  the  recently  dis- 
covered regions,  and  divided  the  New  "World,  that  is,  the  countries  dis- 
covered, or  to  be  discovered  in  the  future,  between  Spain  and  Portugal. 
The  bull  of  this  Pontiff,  forbidding  the  publication  of  new  books. 


1.  By  this  bull,  a  line  of  demarcation  was  drawn  from  the  North  Pole  south  thirty-seven 
degrees  west  of  Cape  de  Verde  Islands.  What  lay  to  the  West  was  to  belong  to  Spain,  and 
what  to  the  East  to  Portugal.  In  relation  to  this  partition  of  the  New  World,  Cardinal  Hergen- 
roether  observes:  "No  Pope  has  ever  taught,  nor  has  any  grave  theologian  ever  maintained,  that 
the  Pope  lias  authority  to  bestow  the  dominions  of  unbelieving  princes  upon  believers,  merely  at 
his  own  discretion,  and  to  give  away  at  will  lands  not  belonging  to  him.  The  bull  of  Alexander 
VI.  (1493),  which  is  specially  cited  in  proof  of  this  claim,  was  by  no  means  intended  to  partition 
the  world,  but  to  direct  the  course  of  Spanish  ships,  to  hiuder  disputes  between  Christian 
princes,  especially  between  Spain  and  Portugal;  and,  on  the  other  hand,  to  secure  the  spread  of 
Christianity.  In  all  matters  concerning  the  acquisition  of  territory  and  voyages  of  discovery 
made  by  Christian  kingdoms,  the  Pope,  as  their  recognized  arbiter,  had  the  right  of  decision; 
and,  in  matters  concerning  the  spread  of  Christianity  in  newly-discovered  lands,  he  had  the 
same  right,  as  Head  of  the  Church.  Just  as  patents  are  now  given  for  inventions,  and  copyrights 
granted  for  compositions  in  literature  and  art,  so,  in  former  days,  a  Papal  Bull  and  the  protection 
of  the  Roman  Church  were  found  convenient  means  for  securing  fruits  acquired  with  toil  and 
difficulty,  all  other  claimants  unjustly  desirous  of  taking  them  for  themselves  being  held  back 
by  the  censures  of  the  Church  ....  A  Papal  constitution  In  that  day  had  as  much  force  as  a 
European  treaty  In  our  own,  and  even  more."    Cath.  Church  and  Chr.  State. 


LAST  POPES  OF  THIS  PEKIOD.  429 

without  the  approbation  of  the   ecclesiastical  authority,  tended  to 
check  the  spread  of  heretical  and  other  obnoxious  writings. 

261.  The  hatred  entertained  for  the  rule  of  Alexander  VL  led 
men  to  charge  him  with  imaginary  crimes,  and  to  greatly  exaggerate 
his  real  failings.  The  horrible  crimes  of  which  this  Pope  and  his  chil- 
dren, especially  Lucretia,  stand  accused,  were  but  the  inventions  of 
malice ;  these  atrocious  calumnies,  as  W.  Roscoe,  an  eminent  Protestant 
historian  has  shown,  are  traceable  to  the  revengeful  journalists  of  the 
day.  The  implacable  hostility  of  the  Reformers,  and  the  resentment  of 
France,  because  of  the  political  attitude  of  Alexander  VI.  to  that  country, 
have  contributed  not  a  little  to  blacken  his  memory.  Besides,  the  deeds 
of  violence  committed  by  Caesar  Borgia  in  the  Pope's  name,  added  much 
to  bring  disgrace  on  his  father's  pontificate.  Yet  enough  is  known, 
which  compels  us  to  acknowledge  that  the  elevation  of  Alexander  VI. 
was  disgraceful,  and  his  government  calamitous.  But  the  errors  of 
his  private  life  never  affected  his  conduct  as  Pope.  He  made  several 
wise  decrees  and  patronized  learning;  in  his  many  constitutions,  he 
never  taught  or  commanded  anything  contrary  to  faith  and  morals. 

262.  To  Alexander  VL  succeeded  the  virtuous  cardinal  Francis 
Piccolomini,  a  nephew  of  Pius  IL,  whose  name  he  took.  But  the 
worthy  Pontiff,  who  was  earnestly  desirous  of  reforming  the  Church  in 
its  Head  and  members,  survived  his  elevation  only  twenty-six  days, 
when  the  energetic  and  valiant  Julius  IL  was  called  to  the  Papacy, 
A.  D.  1503-1513.  Julius,  the  nephew  of  Sixtus  IV.,  was  an  enemy  to 
nepotism,  a  liberal  patron  of  arts  and  letters,  and  in  heart  and  action 
a  brave  soldier  and  valiant  ruler,  such  as  the  Roman  See  then  needed. 
His  highest  aim  being  the  restoration  of  the  Papal  States,  and  the  re- 
establishment  of  Italian  unity,  he  directed  all  his  efforts  toward  sub- 
duing the  petty  Italian  tyrants,  and  freeing  the  Peninsula  from  foreign 
domination.  This  necessarily  drew  him  into  military  undertakings, 
which  have  brought  upon  his  memory  unmerited  reproach.  Julius, 
however,  never  undertook  a  needless  campaign,  nor  conquered  a  terri- 
tory to  which  the  Holy  See  had  no  claim. 

263.  One  of  the  first  acts  of  Julius,  on  coming  to  the  Papal  throne, 
was  to  reduce  the  refractory  nobility  to  submission,  and  eject  Caesar 
Borgia  from  the  Papal  dominions.  The  duchy  of  Romagna,  with 
Perugia,  Bologna,  and  other  cities,  were  again  annexed  to  the  States 
of  the  Church.  In  1508,  Julius  fonned  the  League  of  Cambrai  against 
the  Venetians,  who  held  Faenza,  Rimini,  and  other  territories  of  the 
Church.  When  he  had  attained  his  object,  and  the  Venetians  ceded 
to  him  the  places  they  but  lately  possessed  in  the  Papal  States,  Julius 
relieved  them  from  excommunication  and  withdrew  from  the  League. 


430  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

The  Duke  of  Ferrara,  a  rebellious  vassal  of  the  Holy  See  and  the 
ally  of  France,  was  dejDOsed  and  banished  the  country. 

264.  Julius  next  resolved  to  free  Italy  from  French  rule.  In  1511, 
the  Holy  League  vras  formally  concluded  between  the  Pope,  Venice, 
and  Spain  against  France.  The  result  was  the  expulsion  of  the 
French  from  all  Italy.  This  conduct  of  Julius  greatly  irritated 
Louis  Xn.  of  France,  who,  at  the  instance  of  his  prelates  and  several 
discontented  cardinals,  presumed  to  assemble  a  General  Council 
against  the  Pope.  The  schismatical  conventicle  was  opened  at  Pisa, 
in  November,  1511,  by  only  fourteen,  chiefly  French,  bishops  and 
three  cardinals.  The  emperor  Maximilian  I.,  though  approving  the 
project  of  convoking  a  General  Council,  had  yet  no  inclination  to  send 
a  single  bishop  from  Germany  to  the  conventicle  of  Pisa,  which  was  gen- 
erally understood  to  be  held  merely  for  political  purposes.  The 
schismatics,  after  renewing  the  decrees  of  Constance,  proclaiming  the 
supremacy  of  General  Councils,  and  declaring  the  Pope  suspended, 
were  compelled  to  remove  their  assembly  to  Milan,  and  thence  to 
Lyons,  where  it  vanished  away  like  a  phantom  amid  general  ridicule, 
A.  D.  1512. 

265.  To  crush  the  schism  in  its  beginning.  Pope  Julius  laid 
France  under  interdict,  excommunicated  the  Pisan  prelates  as  schis- 
matics, and  convoked  at  Bome  the  Eighteenth  General,  and  Fifth  Lat- 
er an  y  Council.  The  Council  which  opened  in  May,  1512,  was  attended 
by  fifteen  cardinals,  and  seventy-nine  bishops,  afterwards,  one  hun- 
dred and  twenty,  mostly  Italians.  Its  objects  were:  1. — The  re-estab- 
lishment of  peace  among  Christian  princes;  2. — A  crusade  against 
the  Turks;  and,  3. — The  reformation  of  the  Church  in  its  Head  and 
its  members.  The  Pisan  decrees  were  annulled,  the  interdict  over 
France  confirmed,  and  the  Pragmatic  Sanction  of  Bourges  condemned. 
'The  Council  defined  the  "authority  of  the  Pope  over  all  Councils," 
and  condemned  the  opinion  holding  that  the  intellectual  soul  is  mortal, 
or  only  one  in  all  men,  or,  that  these  propositions  were  true,  at  least, 
philosophically.  Pope  Julius  died  during  the  fifth  session;  he  was 
succeeded  by  Leo  X.,  who  resumed  and  continued  the  Council  till 
March,  1517,  when  it  was  closed. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  ENGLAND.  431 

SECTION   LIV.      THE   CHURCH   IN   ENGLAND    UNDER   THE   NORMAN   KINGS. 

Xing  Canute — His  Zeal  for  Religion — Edward  the  Confessor — Robert  of  Can- 
terbury— St.  Wulstan  of  Worcester — William  the  Conqueror — His  Eccle- 
siastical Policy — Councils — Deposition  of  Stigand — Lanfranc,  Archbishop 
of  Canterbury — Oppression  of  the  Church  by  William  II. — Anselm  made 
Archbishop  of  Canterbury — His  Conflict  with  the  King — Council  at  Rock- 
ingham— Anselm's  Contest  with  Henry  I. — Settlement  of  the  Contro- 
versy— Death  of  St.  Anselm — Archbishops  Ralph  of  Canterbury,  and 
Turstin  of  York — Accession  of  Stephen — Woeful  State  of  Society — 
Synods  of  Winchester  and  London. 

266.  Once  firmly  seated  on  the  English  throne,  King  Canute  en- 
deavored by  every  means  to  conciliate  his  new  subjects.  By  his  firm, 
yet  humane  and  impartial  administration  of  justice,  his  zeal  for  religion 
and  earnest  support  of  the  Church,  he  sought  to  heal  the  wounds 
which  the  Danish  conquest  had  inflicted  upon  the  vanquished  nation. 
His  Christian  sentiments,  his  many  religious  foundations,  and  his  rev- 
erence for  the  clergy  and  holy  places,  gained  him  the  high  esteem  of 
Christendom.  Though  Canute  generally  resided  in  England,  he 
frequently  visited  Denmark,  carrying  with  him  pious  missionaries,  to 
civilize  and  instruct  his  countrymen.  In  1027,  he  made  a  pilgrimage 
to  Eome,  where  he  assisted  at  the  coronation  of  Emperor  Conrad  11., 
and  obtained  the  redress  of  some  grievances  under  which  the  English 
Church  labored.  The  rule  of  this  king,  which  lasted  for  eighteen 
years  (A.  D.  1017-1035),  brought  many  blessings  upon  England. 

267.  The  brief  reigns  of  Canute's  two  successors  were  followed  by 
the  paternal  rule  of  Edward  the  Confessor.  To  promote  religion  and 
the  general  welfare  of  his  people  was  the  principal  care  of  this  saintly 
monarch.  His  virtues  and  kingly  qualities  earned  him  popular 
respect,  and  long  did  the  English  cherish  a  grateful  remembrance  of 
his  peaceful  and  happy  reign.  Some  of  the  prelates,  however,  who 
had  procured  their  position  during  the  Danish  wars  by  usurpation 
and  simony,  were  the  very  opposite  of  their  sainted  monarch.  There 
were,  indeed,  not  wanting  zealous  servants  of  God  in  the  hierarchy, 
such  as  Archbishop  Robert  of  Canterbury,  and  St.  Wulstan  of  Worce- 
ster. The  former  was  expelled  by  the  Anti-Norman  party,  and  his  see 
was  usurped  by  Stigand,  who  obtained  the  pallium  from  the  antipope 
Benedict  X.  Pope  Alexander  11.  suspended  the  intruder,  who,  how- 
ever, contrived  to  maintain  himself  in  office  till  he  was  driven  out 
under  the  succeeding  reign.  One  of  the  last  acts  of  Edward  was  the 
erection  of  Westminster  Abbey,  which  was  consecrated  shortly  before 
his  death,  in  1066.  The  surname  of  "Confessor"  he  obtained  from 
Alexander  III.,  by  whom  he  was  canonized,  in  1161. 


432  HISTOUY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

268.  The  policy  of  William  I.,  surnamed  the  Conqueror,  whose 
reign  was  contemporaneous  with  the  period  of  the  great  Hildebrand^ 
contributed  much  towards  linking  the  English  Church  more  firmly 
to  the  centre  of  Christendom.  Ecclesiastical  administration  was  sep- 
arated from  the  secular;  and  civil  magistrates  were  directed  to  enforce 
the  decisions  of  the  bishops.  In  the  general  relaxation  of  learning 
and  discipline,  William  found  a  justifiable  excuse  for  procuring  the 
deposition  of  many  Anglo-Saxon  bishops,  and  supplying  their  places 
with  Norman  prelates.  At  his  request,  Pope  Alexander  11.  sent  three 
legates  to  England,  Ermenfrid,  bishop  of  Sion,  and  the  cardinals  Peter 
and  John.  Councils  were  held  at  Winchester  and  Windsor,  in  which 
Stigand,  the  intruded  primate  of  Canterbury,  and  several  other 
bishops  and  abbots  were,  on  account  of  their  immorality,  formally  de- 
posed. Yet  the  attempt  of  the  king,  to  reward  the  services  of  some 
of  his  military  officers  with  ecclesiastical  benefices,  was  firmly  resisted 
by  the  Holy  See. 

269.  With  few  exceptions,  the  new  bishops  were  men  disting- 
uished for  their  virtues  and  talents,  and  by  their  zeal  for  discipline 
and  reform.  The  most  illustrious  of  them  was  the  celebrated  Lan- 
franc,  abbot  of  Caen,  in  Normandy.  On  the  deposition  of  Stigand, 
Lanfranc  was,  by  the  command  of  both  the  Pope  and  the  king,  com- 
pelled to  accept  the  new  vacant  see  of  Canterbury,  A.  D.  1070.  Soon 
after,  he  went  to  Eome  for  the  pallium.  Pope  Alexander  II.,  who  had 
once  been  his  pupil,  received  the  renowned  master  with  the  greatest 
honors.  Ketuming,  Lanfranc  worked  energetically  to  remedy  the 
evils  which  then  afflicted  the  Church  in  England.  He  was  able  grad- 
ually to  fill  the  episcopal  sees  with  worthy  prelates,  to  re-establish 
monastic  discipline,  and  to  reform  local  ecclesiastical  abuses. 

270.  King  William  ably  seconded  the  noble  exertions  of  the 
Primate.  The  scheme  of  his  brother  Odo,  bishop  of  Bayeux,  who  as- 
pired to  the  Papacy,  the  king  practically  defeated  by  holding  him  in 
close  confinement.  William,  however,  prohibited  appeals  to  Kome,  and 
persistently  refused  to  give  up  the  usurped  right  of  investiture.  Pope 
Gregory  VII.,  at  the  time  sufficiently  engaged,  being  involved  in  a 
bitter  contest  with  Henry  IV.  of  Germany,  and  having  no  accurate  in- 
formation of  the  circumstances  occurring  in  England,  was  prevented 
from  resisting  this  encroachment  upon  ecclesiastical  right. 

271.  After  the  death  of  the  Conqueror,  in  1087,  the  Church  in 
England  was  sorely  aggrieved  by  the  tyranny  and  extortions  of  his 
son  and  successor,  William  II.,  called  the  Eed,  or  Kufus.  The  death 
of  Lanfranc,  in  1089,  leaving  him  without  any  restraint,  the  rapacious 
prince  commenced  j^lundering  churches  and  monasteries.     The  rev- 


TEE  CHURCH  IN  ENGLAND.  433 

€nues  of  every  vacant  see  and  prelacy  were  seized;  to  further  enricli 
the  royal  exchequer,  episcopal  elections  were  purposely  delayed. 
Struck  with  remorse  during  a  dangerous  illness,  William  II.  resolved 
to  atone  for  his  sacrileges.  He  restored  the  estates  which  he  had  taken 
from  the  different  churches;  and,  urged  by  his  nobles,  he  nominated 
the  learned  Anselm,  abbot  of  Bee,  in  Normandy,  to  the  see  of  Canter- 
bury. Only  on  the  king's  promise,  to  resign  the  temporalities  belong- 
ing to  the  see  of  Canterbury,  to  follow  his  counsels  in  things  spiritual, 
and  to  acknowledge  Urban  II.  as  rightful  Pope,  did  Anselm,  at  last, 
<jonsent  to  receive  consecration,  A.  D.  1093. 

272.  But,  when  restored  to  health,  the  king,  by  his  renewed  rapac- 
ity and  despotism,  soon  gave  much  trouble  to  the  new  Primate.  The 
refusal  to  acknowledge  Urban  II.,  and  permit  Anselm  to  receive  the 
pallium  from  that  Pontiff,  led  to  a  complete  rupture.  A  Council  was 
called  at  Rockingham  to  adjust  matters,  but  with  no  result.  In 
his  struggle  with  the  king,  Anselm  was  forsaken  by  the  bishops, 
while  the  nobles  of  the  realm  earnestly  supported  their  courageous 
archbishop,  refusing  to  renounce  obedience  to  him,  as  the  despotic 
king  required.  Shortly  after,  William  acknowledged  Urban,  and  was 
reconciled  with  Anselm. 

2*73.  But  fresh  aggressions  compelled  Anselm  to  appeal  to  the 
Holy  See.  He  set  out  for  Eome,  in  1097,  and  was  received  by  Urban 
with  signal  marks  of  respect;  but  his  resignation  the  Pope  refused  to 
accept.  While  in  Italy,  Anselm  took  part  in  the  Councils  of  Lateran 
and  Bari.  At  the  latter  Council,  he  defended  in  a  masterly  oration 
the  "Procession  of  the  Holy  Ghost"  against  the  Greeks.  Anselm  re- 
mained a  voluntary  exile,  living  chiefly  at  Lyons,  till  the  year  1100, 
when,  upon  the  sudden  death  of  William  and  the  accession  of  Henry  I., 
he  repaired  to  England. 

274.  Although  the  new  king  had  promised  to  respect  the  liberties 
and  immunities  of  the  Church,  he  was  soon  engaged  in  a  sharp  conflict 
with  Anselm,  concerning  the  right  of  investiture.  Henry  required 
Anselm  to  renew  his  homage  and  be  again  invested  with  his  arch- 
bishopric. This  the  Saint  firmly  refused.  The  matter  was  referred 
to  the  Holy  See,  and  Paschal  11.  declared  in  favor  of  Anselm,  urging 
him  to  resist  to  the  utmost  the  practice  of  investiture,  that  "  venom- 
ous source  of  all  simony."  As  Henry  would  not  give  up  his  preten- 
sions, Anselm  went  into  exile  a  second  time. 

275.  Paschal  11.  threatened  to  excommunicate  Henry;  but,  at  the 
instance  of  Anselm,  the  Pope  contented  himself  with  pronouncing  ex- 
communication against  the  venal  prelates  who  had  received  investiture 
from  the  king.     At  last,  the  good  services  of  Henry's  sister,  Adela, 


434  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  countess  of  Blois,  led  to  a  compromise,  by  which  the  king  relin- 
quished  the  claim  of  investiture  by  the  ring  and  crosier,  but  clung  ta 
the  right  of  exacting,  from  bishops  and  abbots-elect,  the  "homagium," 
or  oath  of  fidelity,  to  the  Crown.  Anselm  returned  to  England  in 
1106,  and  henceforth  lived  in  peace  till  his  death,  in  1109. 

276.  For  five  years  King  Henry  refused  to  grant  a  sucessor  to  St. 
Anselm,  when  he  was  obliged  by  the  Pope  to  allow  an  election;  and, 
in  1114,  Kalph  was  chosen  archbishop  of  Canterbury.  The  most  im- 
portant event  of  Ralph's  episcopate  was  his  controversy  with  Turstin, 
archbishop  of  York,  who  claimed  exemption  from  the  jurisdiction  of 
Canterbury.  Henry,  who  supported  the  claim  of  Ralph,  wished  to 
compel  Turstin  to  subjection,  but,  after  six  years  of  resistance,  he  was 
at  last  induced  by  the  Pope,  to  permit  Turstin  to  take  possession  of 
his  see,  A.  D.  1121. 

277.  The  reign  of  Stephen,  nephew  of  the  late  king,  was  a  period 
of  fearful  anarchy,  owing  to  the  civil  war  which  then  distracted  the 
kingdom.  Pillage  and  bloodshed  prevailed;  even  cemeteries  and 
churches  were  plundered.  The  Church  at  the  time  suffered  niany 
grievances;  religion  and  morality  among  the  people  were  on  the  de- 
cline. William  and  Theobald,  who  after  Ralph  successively  occupied 
the  primatial  chair  of  Canterbury,  labored  earnestly  for  the  restora- 
tion of  peace  and  the  reformation  of  ecclesiastical  discipline.  Their 
efforts  were  nobly  supported  by  Turstin,  the  zealous  archbishop  of 
York,  and  Henry,  bishop  of  Winchester,  who  was  the  brother  of  King^ 
Stephen,  and  legate  of  the  Holy  See.  In  the  Councils  of  Westminster 
and  London,  presided  over  respectively  by  the  papal  legates,  John  of 
Crema,  and  Alberic,  bishop  of  Ostia,  wise  laws  were  framed  for  Church 
government  and  the  reformation  of  morals.  Turstin  of  York,  who 
died  in  1139,  was  succeeded  by  St.  William,  the  nephew  of  King 
Stephen. 

SECTION   LV.       THE   CHURCH    IN   ENGLAND,  CONTINUED CONFLICT   OP   ST.  THOMAS 

A   BECKET   WITH   HENRY   H. 

Accession  of  Henry  II. — Thomas  a  Becket— His  Early  Life — Becomes  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury — "Ancient  Customs" — Resistance  of  St.  Thomas — 
Council  of  Westminster — Constitutions  of  Clarendon — Council  of  North- 
ampton— Firmness  of  St.  Thomas — Escapes  into  France — His  Reception 
by  Pope  Alexander  III. — Condemnation  of  the  Customs — Henry's  Sub- 
mission—Return of  St.  Thomas  to  Canterbury — His  Martyrdom — Henry's 
Surrender  of  the  Customs — His  Penance. 

278.  King  Stephen  died  in  1154.  By  the  treaty  of  Wallingford, 
concluded  shortly  before  Jiis  death,  the  Crown  of  England  passed  to 


THE  CHURCH  IN  ENQLAJSD.  435 

Henry  11.,  grandson  of  Henry  L  On  the  recommendation  of  Arch- 
bishop Theobald,  Henry  made  the  illustrious  St.  Thomas  a  Becket  his 
chancellor.  Becket,  the  son  of  a  wealthy  merchant  of  London,  was 
early  introduced  into  the  household  of  Archbishop  Theobald,  whose 
favorite  he  soon  became.  To  improve  himself  in  every  knowledge, 
especially  in  civil  and  ecclesiastical  law,  Thomas  with  the  permission 
of  his  patron  frequented  the  University  of  Paris,  and  then  went  to 
Bologna,  where  he  attended  the  lectures  of  the  celebrated  Gratian. 
On  his  return  to  England,  he  was  employed  in  some  important  negotia- 
tions, and  gradually  rose  to  the  archdeaconry  of  Canterbury. 

279.  When  Theobald  died,  in  1161,  Henry  resolved  to  raise  his 
esteemed  chancellor  to  the  vacant  see.  Thomas,  foreseeing  the  gather- 
ing storm,  was  unwilling  to  accept  the  dignity,  and  warned  the  prince, 
that  their  friendship  should  then  soon  cease,  as  it  would  be  impos- 
sible for  him  to  discharge  the  duties  of  archbishop  and  yet  retain  the 
favor  of  his  monarch.  At  the  instance  of  the  legate.  Cardinal  Henry 
of  Pisa,  Thomas,  at  last,  yielded  and  was  consecrated,  A.  D.  1162. 
From  that  time  the  life  and  conduct  of  Thomas  notably  changed.  Till 
then,  his  labors  had  been  largely  for  the  king;  henceforth,  his  services 
were  conscientiously  devoted  to  the  Church.  AMience,  unwilling  to 
serve  two  masters,  he  resigned  the  chancellorship,  which  greatly  dis- 
pleased the  king. 

280.  Under  the  troublous  reign  of  Stephen,  who  depended  much 
upon  the  support  of  the  clergy,  the  bishops  had  been  able  to  maintain 
their  dignity  and  independence.  Henry  IT.,  however,  following  the 
example  of  William  I.  and  William  II.,  aimed  at  the  complete  subjec- 
tion of  the  hierarchy  to  the  Crown.  Whatever  rights  former  kings 
had  shamelessly  usurped,  or  whatever  appeared  to  his  ambition  to 
add  to  his  absolutistic  power,  these,  under  the  name  of  '' Ancient  Cus- 
trnns  of  the  Realm"  Henry  claimed  for  the  Crown.  Many  of  the  En- 
ghsh  prelates  were  weak  and  base  enough  to  succumb.  Not  so  St. 
Thomas,  who  entered  upon  his  new  career  with  the  determination  of 
discharging  his  pastoral  duties  to  the  full  extent  of  his  abilities.  One 
of  his  first  acts  was  to  vindicate  all  the  rights  and  reclaim  all  the 
property  which  had  been  usurped  from  his  see. 

281.  In  1163,  Thomas  attended  the  Council  of  Tours,  where  he 
was  treated  with  singular  attention  by  Pope  Alexander  III.  Return- 
ing to  England,  he  soon  incurred  the  royal  displeasure  by  his  un- 
daunted firmness  in  defending  the  immunities  of  the  clergy,  and  the 
independence  of  the  ecclesiastical  courts.  In  the  Council  of  West- 
minster, in  1163,  Henry  proposed  the  question,  whether  the  bishops 
would  promise  to  observe  the  "Customs  of  the  Realm?"     By  the  ad- 


436  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

vice  of  their  Primate,  they  answered  that  they  would  observe  them, 
"saving  their  order."  This  answer  enraged  the  haughty  king,  who 
was  incensed  particularly  against  the  Primate.  Overcome  by  the  argu- 
ments and  entreaties  of  his  friends,  Thomas,  at  last,  yielded,  promis- 
ing to  observe  the  "Customs,"  without  adding  the  obnoxious  clause. 

282.  The  king,  in  order  to  ratify  in  a  solemn  compact  the  conces- 
sion extorted  from  the  bishops,  summoned  a  Council  of  the  kingdom 
to  Clarendon,  in  1164.  Sixteen  ordinances,  known  as  '^'the  Gonditu- 
tions  of  Clarendon,"  and  purporting  to  declare  the  Ancient  Customs  of 
the  Realm,  were  submitted  to  the  assembly,  as  the  "  Laws  of  the  Eealm," 
for  the  settlement  of  the  relation  between  Church  and  State,  in  mat- 
ters of  jurisdiction.  These  constitutions,  by  restraining  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  bishops  and  bringing  the  clergy  under  secular  jurisdic- 
tion, by  inhibiting  canonical  censures,  appeals  to  the  Pope,  and  all 
intercourse  with  the  Holy  See,  save  with  the  royal  permission,  and  by 
other  odious  provisions,  tended  to  destroy  all  ecclesiastical  liberty 
and  to  reduce  the  English  clergy  to  perfect  subjection  to  the  Crown, 
in  even  spiritual  matters. 

283.  After  a  fruitless  resistance,  Thomas  was  persuaded  to  follow 
the  judgment  of  his  weak  brother  bishops,  and  assented  to  the  king's 
constitutions.  Soon  after,  however,  he  repented  of  his  condescension; 
he  withdrew  his  assent,  suspended  himself  from  the  celebration  of 
Mass,  and  solicited  the  pardon  of  the  Pope  for  his  weakness.  Alex- 
ander, in  his  answer,  consoled  the  Saint  and  gave  him  the  desired  ab- 
solution. Henry,  extremely  mortified  at  the  repentance  of  the  Prim- 
ate, cited  him  before  a  Council  at  Northampton,  to  answer  for  the 
charge  of  high  treason;  he  next  endeavored  to  break  the  spirit  of  the 
Saint  by  confiscations  and  amercements. 

284.  In  this  struggle  for  the  liberties  of  the  Church,  Thomas  stood 
alone;  he  was  deserted  by  even  his  brother  bishops.  Seeing  that  the 
king  was  determined  to  crush  him,  he  appealed  to  the  Pope,  and  then, 
secretly  leaving  the  kingdom,  fled  to  France  for  shelter.  Henry  con- 
fiscated the  property,  and  banished  all,  the  kindred  of  the  fugitive 
archbishop.  King  Louis  of  France  received  the  exiled  prelate  with 
great  veneration,  and  promised  him  his  protection.  Meantime,  Henry 
had  sent  a  deputation  to  Alexander,  who  at  the  time  resided  at  Sens 
to  obtain  from  him  the  confirmation  of  the  "Customs,"  and  a  recom- 
mendation to  the  English  bishops  to  observe  them.  The  embarrassed 
Pope,  though  solicitous  not  to  estrange  the  English  monarch,  and 
turn  him  and  his  kingdom  to  the  side  of  the  antipope,  yet  at  once  sup- 
ported the  cause  of  the  outraged  archbishop.  He  received  the  Saint 
with  every  mark  of  respect  and  veneration,  declined  his  offer  of  re- 


THE  CHUBCH  IN  ENGLAND.  .     437 

signing  the  archbishopric,  and  pronounced  his  unqualified  condemna- 
tion on  the  Constitutions  of  Clarendon. 

285.  Anxious  to  end  the  quarrel,  Pojoe  Alexander  made  every 
possible  effort  to  accomplish  a  reconciliation  between  the  English  king 
and  the  Primate.  He  had  repeatedly  written  to  Henrj^  exhorting 
him  to  renounce  his  arrogant  pretensions,  and  make  peace  with  the 
ecclesiastical  authorities.  The  French  king,  too,  at  the  request  of 
the  Pope,  interposed  his  mediation  for  pacification.  Henry  expressed 
a  willingness  to  allow  Thomas  to  return  to  his  see,  but  absolutely  re- 
fused to  renounce  his  "Customs."  The  Primate  himself,  from  Pon- 
tigny,  where  he  abode  during  the  first  two  years  of  his  exile,  in  a  Cis- 
terian  Abbey,  addressed  three  letters  to  Henry,  couched  in  the  mildest 
terms,  endeavoring  to  regain  the  royal  favor,  and  to  enlighten  the  king 
on  the  inalienable  rights  of  the  Church.  Finding  all  efforts  fruitless, 
the  Pope,  at  last,  gave  permission  to  the  archbishop  to  employ  the 
weapon  of  ecclesiastical  censures  against  his  persecutors.  According- 
ly, at  Vezelay,  in  1166,  the  Primate  solemnly  condemned  the  Constitu- 
tions of  Clarendon,  and  excommunicated  all  advisers  and  supporters 
of  these  articles,  and  all  invaders  of  Church  property. 

286.  In  1170,  Henry  caused  his  eldest  son  to  be  crowned  by  Arch- 
bishop Roger  of  York,  although  the  Pope  had  forbidden  that  prelate 
to  perform  the  coronation  ceremony.  This  being  a  violation  of  his 
primatial  rights,  Thomas  threatened  to  lay  the  kingdom  under  an  in- 
terdict, which  the  Pope  now  empowered  him  to  pronounce.  Fearing 
the  execution  of  this  menace,  Henry  began,  at  last,  to  show  a  sudden 
desire  for  peace.  Several  meetings  took  place  between  him  and  the 
archbishop;  an  apparent  reconciliation  was  effected,  the  king  prom- 
ising to  receive  the  Primate  into  his  royal  grace  and  make  restitution 
to  the  see  of  Canterbury.  Thomas  then  returned  to  England,  where 
he  was  greeted  by  the  people  with  transports  of  joy. 

287.  Thomas  had  received  letters  from  the  Pope  suspending  the 
archbishop  of  York,  and  excommunicating  the  bishops  of  London  and 
Salisbury.  The  conduct  of  these  prelates  obliged  him  to  carry  out 
the  Pope's  intentions.  When  Henry  heard  of  this,  he  broke  out  into 
one  of  his  usual  fits  of  passion,  saying:  '*Is  there  no  one  to  rid  me  of 
that  troublesome  priest?"  Four  knights,  acting  on  these  words,  im- 
mediately set  out  for  England,  and  murdered  the  holy  archbishop  in 
his  church,  Dec.  29,  1170.  The  martyrdom  of  the  saintly  prelate  made 
a  deep  impression  in  the  popular  mind,  and  caused  a  great  sensation 
throughout  Christendom.  Seized  with  remorse,  Henry  shut  himself 
in  his  chamber,  and  for  three  days  refused  all  nourishment.  He  dis- 
patched ambassadors  to  the  Pope  to  exculpate  himself  from  all  par- 


438       '  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

ticipation  in  the  crime,  disclaiming  cognizance  of  what  its  brutal  per- 
petrators had  designed  to  do.  Alexander  pronounced  excommunica- 
tion against  the  murderers  and  all  their  abettors  and  advisers,  while 
the  martyred  archbishop  was  enrolled  by  him  among  the  canonized 
saints,  in  1173. 

288.  What  all  the  efforts  of  St. ^Thomas  could  not  accomplish 
during  his  life,  was  now  obtained  by  his  death.  His  martyrdom  was 
the  triumph  of  the  cause  he  so  nobly  championed — the  liberty  of  the 
Church.  Henry,  in  1172,  in  the  cathedral  of  Avranches,  before  the 
papal  legates,  bishops,  and  barons,  took  an  oath  that  he  was  innocent 
of  the  murder  of  the  archbishop,  and  solemnly  promised  to  make 
ample  reparation  for  his  previous  injustice  and  violence,  and  to  abol- 
ish the  "  Customs,"  which  he  had  introduced  against  the  liberties  of 
the  Church.  To  atone  for  the  persecution  of  the  holy  martyr,  the 
king  two  years  later  visited  the  tomb  of  the  Saint,  and  there  of  his 
own  accord  subjected  himself  to  a  public  penance.  He  redeemed  his 
promise  at  the  great  Council  of  Northampton,  in  1176,  where  he  made 
a  formal  renunciation  of  the  much  debated  "  Customs." 


SECTION   LVI.      THE   CHURCH   IN   ENGLAND,   CONTINUED CONFLICT   OP  KING  JOHN,. 

SURNAMED    LACKLAND,    "W^TH    THE    CHURCH. 

Archbishop  Richard — His  Canon  of  Celibacy — Contest  between  the  Bishops, 
and  the  Monks  of  Canterbury — Richard  I. — His  Character— Election  of 
Stephen  Langton — Resistance  of  King  John — England  under  Interdict — 
Sentence  of  Deposition — John's  Submission — Magna  Charta — The  Holy 
See  and  Henry  III. — St.  Edmund  Rich — Bishop  Grostete — Oppression  of 
Edward  I. — ^Archbishops  Peckham  and  Winchelsey — Statute  of  Prae- 
munire. 

289.  Three  years  after  the  assassination  of  St.  Thomas  a  Becket, 
Richard,  prior  of  Dover,  was  chosen  to  fill  the  vacant  see.  His  elec- 
tion was  ratified  by  the  Pope,  notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the 
younger  Henry.  Up  to  this  time,  married  priests  had  been  tolerated, 
even  under  St.  Anselm  and  St.  Thomas,  in  remote  country  parishes. 
This  toleration  was  now  withdrawn.  A  synodal  constitution  of  Arch- 
bishop Richard  prohibited  marriage  to  all  who  were  in,  or  above,  the 
grade  of  subdeaconship :  married  ecclesiastics,  within  that  grade,  were 
either  to  separate  from  the  marital  union,  or  to  forego  their  benefices. 

290.  On  the  death  of  Richard,  a  violent  controversy  arose  between 
the  monks  and  suffragan  bishops  of  Canterbury,  on  the  right  of  elect- 
ing the  archbishop.  Under  St.  Augustine,  and  afterwards  under  St. 
Dunstan,  many  episcopal  sees  had  been  converted  into  monastic  estab- 


THE  CHURCH  IN  ENGLAND.  439 

lisliments.  The  monks,  in  those  cases,  generally  exercised  the  rights 
of  chapters,  which  included  the  right  of  electing  the  bishop.  The 
bishops  soon  began  to  claim  this  right  for  themselves,  and,  generally, 
they  were  supported  in  their  claim  by  the  kings,  whose  object  was  to 
bring  episcopal  elections  wholly  under  their  control.  Despite  the 
claims  of  the  monks  of  Canterbury,  Baldwin,  bishop  of  Worcester,  was 
chosen  by  the  bishops  of  the  province,  to  succeed  Richard  in  the  see 
of  Canterbury.  Baldwin  sorely  oppressed  the  monks,  whom  he  sought 
to  deprive  of  their  rights  as  well  as  their  property. 

291.  The  controversy  revived  under  King  Eichard  I.,  whose  martial 
prowess  in  the  East  gained  him  the  surname  of  "Coeur  de  Lion,"  or, 
"Lion-hearted."  On  his  return  from  the  Holy  Land,  Richard  was 
seized  by  Duke  Leopold  of  Austria,  at  the  command  of  the  em- 
peror Henry  VL  and,  in  spite  of  the  remonstrances  of  Pope  Celestine 
m.,  kept  in  confinement  till  1194,  when  he  was  ransomed  by  his 
subjects.  "This  prince,"  says  Canon  Flanagan,  -'the  darling  of  rom- 
ance, was  in  sober  truth,  a  wayward,  headstrong  man ;  at  one  time, 
generous;  at  another,  ruthless  and  tyrannical;  enslaved,  in  a  word,  to 
all  the  fierce  passions  of  his  father ...  It  is  scarcely  to  be  wondered  at, 
that  such  a  man  knew  little  and  perhaps  cared  less,  about  ecclesiastical 
government."  Richard,  however,  showed  himself  always  respectful 
to  the  Holy  See,  the  support  of  which  he  repeatedly  invoked  against 
other  princes. 

292.  In  1205,  on  the  death  of  Archbishop  Hubert  Walter,  the 
successor  of  Baldwin,  the  dispute  about  the  right  of  election  for  the 
primacy  of  Canterbury,  waxed  more  violent  than  ever.  Pope  Innocent 
in.,  to  whom  the  case  was  referred,  decided  in  favor  of  the  monks 
and  against  the  bishops;  but  at  the  same  time  he  rejected  the  nom- 
inees of  both  parties,  and  caused  Cardinal  Stephen  Langton,  an 
Englishman,  eminent  both  for  learning  and  piety,  to  be  elected. 
Stephen  was  consecrated  at  Viterbo,  by  the  Pope  himself,  in  1207. 
King  John,  who  had  wished  to  raise  the  bishop  of  Norwich  to  the 
primatial  see,  refused  to  receive  Langton;  the  monks  of  Canterbury 
were  expelled  the  country,  and  their  property  was  seized  by  the  king. 

293.  Various  proposals  and  offers  for  a  settlement  were  made  by 
Innocent;  but  John  remained  obdurate.  Bj^  order  of  the  Pope,  there- 
fore, the  bishops  of  London,  Ely,  and  Worcester,  in  1208,  proclaimed 
the  interdict  over  England,  and  then  fled  to  France  to  join  Langton. 
The  interdict  was  strictly  observed  throughout  the  kingdom,  which 
caused  John  to  vent  his  wrath  upon  the  clergy  and  the  religious.  In 
1209,  Innocent  excommunicated  the  monarch,  by  name.  All  endeav- 
ors to  reconcile  the  king  with  the  Church  having  proved  unavailing, 


440  HI8T0BY  OF  THE  CHUECH. 

Innocent,  at  last,  in  1212,  released  the  English  from  their  oath  of  al- 
legiance, and  empowered  King  Philip  of  France  to  execute  the  papal 
decree  against  John,  in  case  the  latter  would  not  submit. 

294.  Seeing  no  hope  of  ultimate  success,  John  began  to  negotiate 
with  Pandulf,  the  legate;  he  finally  submitted  to  the  judgments  of 
the  Pope.  Langton  was  admitted  to  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury, 
the  exiled  bishops  were  recalled,  and  the  persecuted  clergy  and  religious 
restored  to  their  benefices.  The  king,  voluntarily,  as  he  declared,  and 
not  yielding  to  any  claim  made  by  Innocent,  surrendered  the  king- 
doms of  England  and  Ireland  to  the  Pope,  as  lord  superior,  with  a 
promise  of  a  yearly  tribute.^  Thereupon,  John  was  absolved,  and  the 
interdict  removed,  in  1214.  After  this,  the  Pope  forbade  the  French 
king  to  attack  England,  taking  the  kingdom  under  his  special  pro- 
tection. 

295.  By  his  oppression  and  tyranny,  John  had  raised  many  ene- 
mies against  his  rule,  especially  among  the  nobility.  The  barons  of 
the  realm  bound  themselves  to  make  a  combined  attempt  to  recover 
their  liberties,  and,  at  the  instance  pf  Archbishop  Langton,  who  was 
the  soul  of  the  whole  movement,  demanded  of  the  king  the  restoration 
of  the  Charter,  or  privileges,  of  Henry  I.  This  being  refused,  they 
took  up  arms  and  forced  the  king  to  make  the  grant,  known  as  the 
"  Great  Charter  of  Liberties  (Magna  Charta),"  which  laid  the  founda- 
tion of  the  free  constitution  of  England,  A.  D.  1215.'*  Notwithstand- 
ing the  papal  prohibition.  Prince  Louis  of  France  invaded  England 
and  entered  London.  He  was  excommunicated  by  the  papal  legate. 
King  John  died  shortly  after. 

296.  The  young  king  Henry  HI.  found  the  papal  protection  very 
useful  against  the  pretensions  of  the  French  Prince  Louis.  The  Pope, 
being  the  acknowledged  suzerain  of  England,  secured  through  his 
legate,  Gualo,  and  after  him,  through  Pandulf,  the  succession  and 
rights  of  his  royal  ward.  During  the  minority  of  the  young  king,  the 
papal  legates,  and  after  their  departure.  Archbishop  Langton,  strenu- 
ously exerted  themselves,  not  only  for  the  temporal  peace  of  the  king- 


1.  This  act  was  then  not  considered  degrading  and  had  many  precedents.  Cardinal  Hergen- 
roether  says,  that  "  the  feudal  superiority  given  over  to  the  Pope  was  intended  to  protect  the 
king  against  the  power  and  revenge  of  the  rebels,  to  free  the  kingdom  ftom  foreign  invasion,  and 
to  maintain  the  lawful  succession,  Tlie  proposed  feudal  sovereignty  gave  the  Pope  tlie  means 
of  protecting  the  dioceses  and  the  subjects  from  heavy  oppression." 

2.  "Two  great  men,  the  pillars  of  Church  and  Slate,''  says  Hallam,  "may  be  considered  as  entitled 
beyond  the  rest  to  the  glory  of  this  monument:  Steplien  Langton,  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and 
William,  earl  of  Pembroke.  To  their  temperate  zeal  for  a  legal  government,  England  was  indented, 
during  that  critical  period,  for  the  two  gi-eatest  blessings  that  patriotic  statesmen  could  confer: 
the  establishment  of  civil  liberty  upon  an  Immoveable  basis,  and  the  preservation  of  national 
Independence  under  the  ancient  line  of  sovereigns,  which  rasher  men  were  about  to  exchange  for 
the  dominion  of  France." — If  Innocent  III.  reproved  the  English  barons  for  anything  in  their  sum- 
mary doings  at  Ruunymede,  it  was  on  account  of  their  overt  contemptuous  treatment  (as  repre- 
sented to  the  Roman  Court)  of  their  sovereign  Joim,  and  not  because  of  their  otherwise  justifiable 
course  iu  seeking  to  regain  and  In  securing  their  rights. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  ENGLAND.  Ml 

dom,  but  for  its  renovation  in  ecclesiastical  discipline.  Langton,  in  a 
Synod  at  Oxford,  published  a  code  of  discipline,  in  forty-two  canons. 
He  died  in  1228. 

297.  The  second  successor  of  Langton,  St.  Edmund  Rich,  a  pre- 
late of  acknowledged  piety  and  learning,  manifested  great  zeal  in 
remedying  the  many  evils  that  were  brooding  over  the  Church  in  Eng- 
land. He  urged  the  king  to  reform  abuses  and  compelled  him  to  dis- 
miss his  foreign  ministers,  especially  Peter  des  Roches.  But  the  en- 
deavors of  the  Saint  for  reform  met  with  much  opposition.  Finding 
his  efforts  without  avail,  he  retired  into  France,  where  he  died  in 
1240.  Four  years  after  his  death,  he  was  canonized  by  Innocent  IV. 
Equally  zealous,  but  more  energetic,  was  the  intrepid  Bishop  Robert 
Grostete  of  Lincoln.  With  unremitting  zeal  Grostete  continued  his 
exertions  for  a  general  renovation  of  his  vast  diocese.  He  fearlessly 
condemned  every  abuse,  and  manfully  resisted  every  interference  of 
the  nobility  and  the  Crown  in  ecclesiastical  affairs.  The  visitation  of 
the  churches  and  monasteries  of  his  see,  though  hampered  by  the  op- 
position of  the  clergy  and  the  monks,  and  by  the  disfavor  shown  to 
him  ^t  court,  he  res61utely  and  canonically  performed.  The  condi- 
tion of  the  Church  and  kingdom  continued  to  be  deplorable.  The 
Council  of  Lambeth,  in  1261,  under  Archbishop  Boniface,  bewailed 
the  oppression  of  the  Church  by  the  laity,  and  the  frequent  inter- 
ference of  the  king's  tribunal  in  matters  purely  spiritual,  against 
which  it  was  forced  to  enact  stringent  laws. 

298.  Edward  I.  pressed  the  Church  heavily  by  arbitrary  legisla- 
tion and  onerous  taxation.  In  1279,  the  "Statute  of  Mortmain"  for- 
bade all  alienations  of  lands  to  religious  bodies.  The  remonstrances 
of  the  bishops,  who  convened  in  Synod  at  Lambeth,  in  1281,  under 
Archbisho]3  Peckham,  were  to  no  purpose.  The  many  wars,  in  which 
Edward  was  engaged,  were  carried  on  principally  by  money  extorted 
from  the  clergy.  In  1294,  he  demanded,  and  by  intimidation  ob- 
tained, half  their  annual  incomes.  In  1297,  the  demand  was  repeated. 
"When  Archbishop  "VVinchelsey  of  Canterbury,  in  the  name  of  the 
whole  order,  refused  the  grant,  Edward  met  the  refusal  by  a  general 
outlawry  of  the  clergy,  both  regular  and  secular,  and  by  seizing  their 
temporalities.  But  the  firmness  of  the  archbishop  compelled  the 
king  to  modify  his  demands.  The  exactions  and  other  abuses  of  the 
royal  power  against  the  Church,  though  they  were  less  oppressive, 
continued  during  the  reigns  of  Edward  II.,  and  his  son,  Edward  HE. 
The  former,  however,  restored  some  of  the  greater  privileges  to  the 
ecclesiastical  courts,  and  Edward  HE.  fully  recognized  the  jurisdiction 
of  the  Church  over  the  clergy,  in  criminal  cases. 


442  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

299.  It  was  in  the  reign  of  Richard  II.  that  the  enactments  of 
Edward  HI.  against  papal  reservations,  and  provisors — that  is,  per- 
sons appointed  to  English  benefices  by  papal  provision — were  com- 
pleted. Untaught  by  adversity,  Eichard  endeavored,  no  less  than  his 
grandfather,  to  secure,  what  was  claimed  to  be  "the  rights  of  the 
Crown,"  against  the  Holy  See.  To  give  greater  force  to  the  existing 
statutes  against  provisors,  an  Act  was  passed,  in  1593, — from  the 
phrase  " Praemunire  facias"  called  Statute  of  Praemunire — by  which  it 
was  provided  that,  if  any  person  pursue  or  obtain,  in  the  court  of 
Rome,  or  elsewhere,  excommunications,  bulls,  instruments,  or  other 
things,  against  the  king's  crown  and  regality,  or  bring  them  into  the 
realm,  or  receive  or  execute  them,  "such  person  or  persons  shall  be 
out  of  the  king's  protection,  their  goods  and  possessions  shall  be  for- 
feited to  the  king,  and  their  persons  shall  be  seized  wherever  they 
may  be  found."  The  scope  of  this  Praemunire  Act  was  still  further 
enlarged  under  the  subsequent  reigns.  It  was  by  reviving  the  statute 
of  Praemunire  that  Henry  VIII.  laid  the  whole  body  of  the  English 
clergy  at  his  mercy.  To  defend  the  Pope's  jurisdiction  in  England, 
or  to  refuse  the  oath  of  supremacy  was  declared  a  breach  of  the  "  Sta- 
tute of  Praemunire." 


SECTION   LVII.       THE   CHUKCH   IN   IRELAND. 

State  of  Society  and  Religion — Lanfranc  and  St.  Anselm,  Papal  Legates  for 
Ireland — Bishop  Gilbert  of  Limerick — Irish  Synods — St.  Malachy,  Prim- 
ate of  Armagh — His  Reforms — Gelasius,  Successor  of  St.  Malachy — 
St.  Malachy  in  Rome — Synod  of  Holmpatrick — Death  of  St.  Malachy— 
Christian  of  Lismore,  Legate  for  Ireland — Synod  of  KeUs — Cardinal 
Paparo. 

300.  The  condition  of  religion  in  Ireland,  in  the  beginning  of 
this  Epoch,  was  unsettled.  The  Danish  invasions  had  destroyed  her 
churches  and  monasteries,  and  the  lay  administrators  of  the  Church 
had  encroached  upon  the  rights  and  prerogatives  of  the  hierarchy. 
Unfortunately  for  Ireland,  her  princes  and  people  were  divided  among 
themselves.  Instead  of  uniting  in  efforts,  to  re-establish  order  and 
assuage  the  woes  of  their  much  afflicted  country,  they  expended  their 
energy  in  sundry  quarrels  and  party  strifes.  The  long  and  ruinous 
wars  between  the  petty  kings  were  attended  with  many  evils,  and 
weakened  the  strength  of  the  nation.  A  state  of  general  insecurity  and 
lawlessness  was  the  natural  consequence.  Gross  abuses  and  moral 
disorders  were  frequent;  simony,  usurpation  of  ecclesiastical  revenues 


rail 
lesaj 

J 


THE  CHURCH  IK  IRELAND.  443 

"by  laymen,  were  rife,  with,  here  and  there,  neglect  of  religious  pract- 
ices. Among  the  Danish  population,  especially,  immorality  was  pre- 
yalent,  and  sometimes  ran  to  unnatural  excesses. 

301.  The  archbishops  Lanfranc  and  Anselm  of  Canterbury,  as 
papal  legates  for  Ireland,  sought  to  reform  the  existing  abuses,  and 
to  procure  the  abolition  of  certain  usages  in  the  Irish  Church,  which 
ivere  prejudicial  to  the  maintenance  of  ecclesiastical  discipline.  The 
endeavors  of  the  English  Primates  were  earnestly  supported,  especial- 
ly, by  Gilbert,  bishop  of  Limerick,  who,  at  the  recommendation  of  An- 
selm, was  appointed  papal  legate  for  Ireland.  With  the  consent  of 
Pope  Paschal  II.,  Gilbert,  in  1111,  convened  a  national  Synod  at 
Aengus  Grove,  which  was  attended  by  Moelmurry,  archbishop  of 
Cashel — this  see  having  been  lately  advanced  to  archiepiscopal  rank — 
fifty  bishops,  three  hundred  priests,  and  about  three  thousand  per- 
sons of  the  clerical  and  religious  orders.  By  this  council,  wise 
rules  were  framed  regulating  the  life  and  manners  of  the  clergy  and 
people,  and  abolishing  certain  abuses  regarding  matrimony.  An 
obstacle  to  the  consolidation  of  the  Irish  Church  was  the  great  num- 
ber of  dioceses,  and  the  want  of  union  among  them.  There  existed  some 
sixty  independent  dioceses  in  Ireland.  In  1118,  another  great  synod 
was  held  at  Rath-Breasail,  presided  over  by  the  Apostolic  Legate, 
which  reduced  the  number  of  Irish  sees  to  twenty-four — twelve  of 
these  were  to  be  subject  to  Armagh,  and  twelve  to  Cashel — and  enacted 
regulations  respecting  the  spiritual  and  temporal  administration. 

302.  It  was  reserved,  however,  for  the  zeal  and  piety  of  St.  Malachy 
of  Armagh  and  of  St.  Laurence  O'Toole  of  Dublin,  to  complete 
the  work  of  reformation  begun  by  Gilbert.  Malachy,  born  about  the 
year  1095,  was  a  disciple  of  St.  Malchus,  bishop  of  Lismore  After  he 
had  rebuilt  the  great  abbey  of  Bangor,  which  by  his  care  again  became 
a  flourishing  seminary  of  piety  and  learning,  he  was  named  to  the 
bishopric  of  Down,  and  afterwards  elevated  to  the  primatial  chair  of 
Armagh.  This  latter  promotion  was  due  principally  to  the  influence 
of  Celsus,  the  worthy  primate  of  Armagh,  who,  to  put  an  end  to  the 
scandalous  usurpation  of  the  primatial  see  by  his  own  family,  that 
for  more  than  two  hundred  years  had  claimed  it  as  an  hereditary 
possession,  procured  the  election  of  St.  Malachy  as  his  successor. 
His  election  being  resented  as  an  obtrusion  by  the  assertors  of  the 
tribal  principle,  the  Saint,  for  the  sake  of  peace,  waited  five  years;  on 
the  death  of  Murchadh,  the  rival  claimant,  in  1133,  he  was  installed 
without  opposition. 

303.  While  in  this  high  station,  Malachy  introduced  many  reforms, 
and,  by  his  zeal  and  still  more  by  his  holy  example,  wrought  a  great 


444  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

change  throughout  the  Island.  In  113  7,  he  resigned  his  primatial 
dignity,  consecrated  Gelasius,  in  his  place,  another  bishop  for  Connor^ 
and  reserved  for  himself  the  small  see  of  Down.  To  procure  the 
papal  sanction  for  his  reforms,  and  also  to  obtain  the  pallium  for  the 
Metropolitans  of  Armagh  and  Cashel,  St.  Malachy  undertook  a  journey 
to  Rome,  in  1139.  Pope  Innocent  11.  received  him  with  marks  of  the 
highest  distinction,  and  appointed  him  Apostolic  Legate  for  Ireland, 
but  deferred  the  concession  of  the  palliums  to  a  future  period. 

304.  After  his  return  St.  Malachy  discharged  his  office  of  legate 
with  characteristic  devotedness,  which  resulted  in  much  fruit,  visiting 
every  part  of  the  Island  and  holding  synods.  "With  the  aid  of  the 
monks  who  had  taken  the  Cistercian  habit  at  Clairvaux,  he  founded 
the  Cistercian  abbey  of  Mellifant,  in  Louth,  which  was  the  first  of  that 
order  in  Ireland.  In  1148,  he  held  the  great  Synod  of  Holmpatrick, 
which  decreed  to  make  fresh  application  for  tlie  archiepiscopal  pal- 
liums, and  Malachy  undertook  a  second  journey  to  Rome  to  obtain 
them.  But  he  came  only  as  far  as  Clairvaux,  where  he  died  the  same 
year  in  the  arms  of  his  illustrious  friend,  St.  Bernard,  who  also  deliv- 
ered  the  sermon  at  his  funeral  and  became  his  biographer. 

305.  Christian,  bishop  of  Lismore,  succeeded  St.  Malachy,  as 
papal  legate  for  Ireland.  In  1152,  the  great,  or  national.  Synod  of 
Kells  was  held,  at  which  Cardinal  Paparo,  as  the  legate  of  Pope  Eu- 
genius  HE.,  presided.  In  addition  to  those  already  established  at 
Armagh  and  Cashel,  Dublin  and  Tuam  were  advanced  to  the  rank  of 
metropolitan  sees,  while  the  primacy  over  "  All  Ireland "  was  reserved 
to  Armagh.  The  other  proceedings  of  the  Synod  were  some  enact- 
ments against  usury,  simony,  and  clerical  incontinence. 


SECTION   LVm.       THE   CHURCH   IN   IRELAND,  CONTINUED. 

St.  Laurence  O'Toole — His  Earlier  Life — Is  appointed  Archbishop  of  Dubl 
and  Legate  Apostolic  for  Ireland — His  Patriotism — His  Death — Invasion 
of  Ireland  by  the  English— Character  of  the  English  Clergy— Synods  at 
Cashel  and  Dublin — Alleged  Bull  of  Hadrian  lY. — English  Misrule— Irish 
Sympathy  for  the  Bruces — State  of  the  Irish  Church — Monastic  Institu- 
tions— Election  of  Bishops. 

306.  The  history  of  St.  Laurence  O'Toole  is  closely  interwoven 
with  that  of  the  Invasion  of  Ireland,  by  the  English.  The  scion  of  a 
princely  family,  Laurence  in  his  youth  had  been  held  in  captivity  as  a 
hostage,  by  Dermot  M'Murrough,  king  of  Leinster.  At  the  age  of 
twenty-five,  he  was  chosen  abbott  of  Glendaloch,  and  on  the  death  of 
archbishop  Gregory,  in  1162,  was  promoted  to  the  metropolitan  see 


THE  CHUBCH  IN  IRELAND.  445 

of  Dublin.  He  was  consecrated  by  Gelasius,  successor  of  St.  Malachy 
in  the  primatial  see  of  Armagh.  His  first  care  was  to  reform  the  man- 
ners of  his  clergy  and  to  furnish  his  church  with  worthy  ministers. 
He  was  so  rigid  in  enforcing  ecclesiastical  discipline,  that,  though  he 
had  the  necessary  faculties  himself,  he  frequently  obliged  grievous 
sinners  to  journey  to  Eome  for  absolution.  His  patriotic  zeal  for  the 
independence  of  his  country  was  evinced  by  the  efforts  he  made '  to 
unite  the  Irish  princes  against  the  English  invaders,  and  rescue  his 
native  land  from  foreign  domination. 

307.  In  1179,  the  Saint  with  some  other  Irish  prelates,  attended 
the  Third  General  Council  of  Lateran,  and  was  appointed  Legate 
Apostolic  for  Ireland,  by  Alexander  III.  On  his  return  to  Ireland, 
he  at  once  commenced  to  discharge  his  legatine  power,  by  making 
wholesome  regulations  and  introducing  much  needed  reforms.  The 
privileges  and  exemptions,  Laurence  had  obtained  for  the  Irish 
Church  from  the  Holy  See,  and  his  pronounced  activity  for  preserving 
the  liberties  of  his  native  country,  so  displeased  King  Henry  11.  of 
England,  that  he  forbade  our  Saint,  when  visiting  Normandy,  to  return 
to  Ireland.  After  a  glorious  and  most  useful  episcopate  of  eighteen 
years,  St.  Laurence  O'Toole,  who  was  styled,  as  St.  Bernard  tells  us, 
"the  Father  of  his  country,"  died  in  the  year  1180.  He  was  canonized 
in  1225,  by  Honorius  III. 

308.  The  fruitful  soil  and  proximity  of  Ireland  had  long  tempted 
the  ambition  of  Henry  II.  of  England.  The  treachery  of  Dermot 
M'Murrough,  the  vicious  king  of  Leinster,  enabled  him,  at  last,  to 
carry  out  his  ambitious  design.  By  his  enormities  M'Murrough  had 
made  himself  personally  obnoxious;  he  was  deposed  and  expelled  the 
country.  The  dethroned  prince  repaired  to  England;  paid  homage 
to  Henry  for  the  kingdom  of  Leinster;  and  begged  and  obtained  the 
aid  of  the  English.  Under  the  plea  of  rescuing  the  Irish  from  the 
evils  that  afflicted  their  country,  and  of  attaching  Ireland  more 
closely  to  the  Holy  See,  the  English  monarch,  in  1171,  entered  Ire- 
land, and,  skillfully  availing  himself  of  the  feuds  which  divided  the 
Irish  leaders,  succeeded  in  establishing  his  dominion  over  the  greater 
part  of  the  Island.  Of  the  native  princes,  some  acknowledged  his 
supremacy,  while  others  dared  not  resist  his  superior  force. 

309.  "  Of  the  English  clergy,  who  then  settled  in  this  country," 
writes  Dr.  Carew,  "there  were  many,  whose  lives  were  a  reproach  to 
their  sacred  calling.  These,  we  are  assured,  had  scarcely  taken  up 
their  abode  in  Ireland,  when  several  of  them  were  found  to  live 
in  the  violation  of  the  solemn  obligations  which  are  annexed  to  the 
Priesthood.     That,  under  the  pretence  of  introducing  a  more  strict 


446  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

morality  into  Ireland,  the  country  should  have  been  made  tributary 
to  England,  was  of  itself  sufficiently  mortifying  to  the  Irish  Clergy. 
But,  that  such  spiritual  instructors,  as  had  been  imported  by  the  in- 
vaders, should  be  employed  to  enlighten  the  piety  of  the  Irish  people, 
provoked  their  utmost  indignation." 

310.  While  the  English  were  invading  and  ransacking  the  Island, 
a  synod  was  held  at  Armagh.  By  this  assembly  a  decree  was  passed, 
which  declared  every  slave  throughout  Ireland  free.  Immediately 
after  the  Invasion,  or  in  1172,  a  Council  was  held  at  Cashel,  by  order 
of  the  English  king,  at  which  were  present  the  archbishops  of  Cashel, 
Dublin,  and  Tuam.  But  neither  the  Primate  of  Armagh,  nor  any  of 
his  suffragans,  were  in  attendance.  The  decrees  passed  by  this 
Council  declared  church  property  to  be  exempt  from  the  exactions 
of  the  princes,  enjoined  the  payment  of  tithes,  and  regulated  all  mat- 
ters of  ritual  and  discipline,  according  to  Roman  usage.  In  the  same 
year,  a  provincial  synod  was  held  at  Tuam;  and  a  few  years  after,  an- 
other council  was  convened  in  Dublin,  and  a  still  more  liberal  con- 
cession made  to  the  Irish  clergy,  in  order  to  reconcile  them  to  the 
pretensions  of  the  English  Sovereign. 

311.  Very  soon  after  King  Henry  had  left  Ireland,  it  became  the 
scene  of  reactionary  movements;  the  Irish  rose  in  arms  against  their 
common  enemy,  ^t  this  critical  moment,  the  English  monarch  re- 
solved to  employ  the  papal  authority  as  a  means  of  enlisting  the 
Irish  clergy  in  his  service  and  of  reducing  the  Irish  people  to  sub- 
mission to  his  rule.  In  1175,  he  caused  an  alleged  Bull  of  Pope  Hadrian 
rV.,^  purporting  to  grant  the  kingdom  of  Ireland  to  the  English  king, 


1.  The  statement,  tliat  the  Bull  of  Hadrian  was  published  in  a  synod,  held  in  Waterford,  in 
1175,  is  unwarranted.  There  is  no  record  in  tne  Irish  Annals  of  a  synod  being  held  in  that  place, 
in  1175.  The  pretended  synod,  according  to  Cardinal  Moran,  was  probably  nothing  more  than  a 
■convention  of  the  Anglo-Norman  clergy  of  Waterford  under  their  bishop,  who  had  but  recently 
been  appointed  to  that  see  by  King  Henry.— Besides  what  has  been  noted  elsewhere  in  relation  to 
this  spurious  bull,  it  should  now  be  stated,  in  the  light  of  exhaustive  researches,  recently  made 
in  the  Vatican  I^ibrary,  that  the  document  adduced  as  a  papal  bull  to  Henry  II.,  was  only  a  plau- 
sibly drafted  transcript,  with  much  adroitly  and  invidiously  changed  phraseology,  of  a  genuine 
letter  of  the  Pope  to  King  Louis  VII.  of  France,  who  was  instigated  by  Henry  to  have  Hadrian  IV. 
approached  on  the  subject  of  the  Invasion  of  Ireland.  This  was  done  by  Rotrardus,  bishop  of 
Evreux,  in  1158,  and  that  prelate's  petition  was  answered  by  a  joint  communication  from  the 
Poi)e,  addressed  to  Louis  only,  but  intended  for  Henry  also.  Therein  permission  to  invade  Ireland 
was  positively  withheld  in  these  words:  "  We  counsel  your  Majesty,  to  acquaint  yourself,  first 
of  all,  through  the  princes  of  the  country,  with  the  exigencies  of  the  land;  to  consider  attentively 
the  whole  situation  of  anairs:  to  inform  yourself  diligently  as  to  the  will  of  that  church  (of  the  ^ 
bishops),  of  the  princes,  and  of  the  people,  and  to  await  their  counsel  and  judgment  in  the 
matter."  Yet,  in  the  face  of  these  wise  restrictions,  respecting  the  underhandedly  postulated 
Irish  Expedition,  the  covetous  Henry,  whose  unenviable  character  is  otherwise  sufflciently  ex- 
hibited in  his  treatment  of  St.  Thomas  h  Becliet  and  his  attitude  toward  the  Holy  See,  made  active 
preparations  for  that  object.  Of  him  and  his  royal  greed,  the  annalist  D'Anchim,  who  continued 
Sigeljert's  Chronicles,  writing  in  1174.  says:  "This  prince  arrogated  to  himself  what  was  not 
conceded ;  but  rising  in  his  pride,  usurping  what  was  not  granted,  and  aspiring  to  what  he  was 
not  entitled,  prepares  ships,  and  equips  knights  to  subjugate  Ireland.  ' 

Furthermore,  the  pretended  bull  to  Henry,  which  was  doubtless  constructed  by  the  notorious 
John  of  Salisbury,  very  cautiously  bears  no  date,  mentions  no  name  of  prince,  but,  very  incauti- 
ously for  a  skilful  forger,  it  gives  the  name  of  the  country  in  full,  which  was  not  the  custom  in 
such  papal  documents!— as  in  the  letter  to  Louis  VII.,  thus  tampered  with,  a  simple  H.  designates 
the  country  referred  to,  but  which,  from  the  context,  plainly  means  Hibemia,  and  not  Hispania, 
or  another  country.— Ficile  *'  Correspondence  de  Rome,  1882." 


i 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SCOTLAND.  447 

■and  a  confirmatory  brief  of  Pope  Alexander  III.  to  the  same  prince, 
to  be  for  the  first  time  publicly  announced  to  the  Irish  people. 

312.  Their  pretended  object,  the  reformation  of  the  Irish  people, 
was  not  pursued,  much  less  attained,  by  the  invaders.  On  the  con- 
trary, everything  possible  was  done  by  them  to  enslave  the  Irish  na- 
tion and  corrupt  the  Church  in  Ireland.  The  tyranny  and  continual 
injustice  which  the  English  practiced  against  the  Irish,  were,  quite 
naturally,  the  cause  of  frequent  insurrections.  The  invasion  by  the 
Scots  under  Edward  Bruce,  in  1315,  only  increased  the  existing  con- 
fusion. The  mutual  animosity  between  the  natives  and  the  English 
colonists,  or  Anglo-Irish,  produced  a  lamentable  estrangement  even 
among  the  clergy  of  the  two  nationalities.  The  sympathy  of  the  Irish 
clergy  for  the  Bruces  was  made  a  pretext  under  the  color  of  dis- 
loyalty, of  excluding  Irishmen  from  the  higher  dignities  and  benefices. 
Such  was  the  practice,  especially  within  the  "Pale,"  or  that  part  of 
Ireland,  which  was  really  subject  to  English  rule. 

313.  Notwithstanding  the  evils  which  the  English  Invasion  had 
wrought,  Ireland  produced  ecclesiastics  of  great  merit,  and  prelates 
distinguished  for  their  many  virtues  and  deep  erudition.  The  relig- 
ious spirit,  which  before  had  called  forth  countless  monastic  institu- 
tions, was  not  exhausted.  About  a  hundred  and  seventy  monasteries 
were  founded  in  the  twelfth  century;  about  fifty -five  in  the  thirteenth; 
and  about  sixty  in  the  fourteenth.  And  while  almost  every  country 
of  Europe  was  painfully  agitated  by  the  struggles  about  investitures 
and  for  the  freedom  of  episcopal  elections,  Ireland  was  not  disturbed 
by  such  conflicts.  "In  the  election  of  a  bishop,"  says  Dr.  P.  J.  Carew, 
*'the  wishes  of  the  temporal  prince  were  not  disregarded,  but  the 
choice  of  the  person,  who  was  to  fill  the  vacant  See,  belonged  princi- 
pally to  the  metropolitan  of  the  province,  to  his  suffragans,  and  to 
the  clergy  of  the  diocese  for  which  a  chief  pastor  was  to  be  appointed." 

SECTION   LIX.       THE    CHURCH   IN   SCOTLAND. 

State  of  the  Scottish  Church — Monastery  of  lona — Church  Government — 
Queen  Margaret — Reforms— David  I.— Ecclesiastical  Foundations— Epis- 
copal Sees — Metropolitan  Authority  of  York  over  Scotland — The  Septs 
appeal  to  Rome  for  Protection  against  the  English — Patriotism  of  the 
Scottish  Clergy — Foundation  of  Universities. 

314.  For  a  long  series  of  years,  after  the  establishment  of  the 
Scottish  Church,  its  history  is,  through  want  of  records,  obscure  and 
uninteresting.  The  system  of  Church  government  was  monastic,  as 
in  Ireland;  the  bishops  resided  in  cloisters,  or  in  other  religious  es- 


44»  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

tablishments,  and  the  administration  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  lay  in 
the  hands  of  abbots,  to  whom  the  bishops  were  subordinate.  The  mo- 
nastery founded  by  St.  Columba  on  the  island  of  lona,  continued  the 
centre  of  the  national  Church,  and,  during  nearly  two  centuries,  lona,, 
retained  an  uncontested  authority  over  all  the  monasteries  and 
churches  in  the  country.  Before  the  union  of  the  Picts  and  Scots  in 
one  kingdom,  in  843,  there  were  no  fixed  bishoprics  in  Scotland.  King 
Kenneth,  the  conqueror  of  the  Picts,  in  849,  founded  the  bishopric  of 
Dunkeld.  The  bishop  of  Dunkeld  appears  to  have  enjoyed  a  kind  of 
jurisdiction  over  the  various  Scottish  churches,  which  toward  the  end 
of  the  ninth  century  passed  over  to  the  see  of  St.  Andrews. 

315.  The  Scottish  clergy  consisted  chiefly  of  monks  and  of  Culdees. 
The  latter  (Keledei,  in  Celtic  Ceile  De,  in  Latin  Cultores  Dei,  that  is, 
"Servants  of  God,"  or  according  to  another  interpretation,  "men  liv- 
ing in  a  community"),  are  first  mentioned  in  the  history  of  Scotland 
after  the  middle  of  the  ninth  century.  They  were  evidently  secular 
canons,  who  served  as  chapters  to  cathedrals.  The  Culdees  had  the 
privilege  of  electing  the  bishop;  those  of  the  metropolitan  see  of  St- 
Andrews  asserted  the  right  that,  without  their  consent,  no  bishop 
could  be  appointed  to  any  see  in  the  country. 

316.  The  chief  Culdee  communities  were  at  Lochleven,  St.  An- 
drews, Abernethy,  Dunkeld,  Brechin,  and  Dunblane.  By  degrees  the 
Culdees  gave  up  community  life  and  lived  in  separate  dwellings;  some, 
even  took  wives.  Hence,  from  the  twelfth  century,  the  Scottish 
bishops  and  monarchs  endeavored  to  reform  them;  in  several  in- 
stances, the  Culdees  were  replaced  by  regular  canons  coming  from 
England.  In  Ireland,  Culdees  are  for  the  first  time  mentioned  at 
the  beginning  of  the  ninth  century.  They  continued  in  the  Church 
of  Armagh  down  to  the  seventeenth  century. 

317.  The  reign  of  Malcolm  HI.  (1058-1093)  is  a  turning  point  in 
the  history  of  Scotland  and  the  Scottish  Church.  By  the  zealous  en- 
deavors of  his  queen,  St.  Margaret,  a  general  renovation  of  the  king- 
dom was  inaugurated,  and  the  Scottish  Church  was  brought  into  con- 
formity with  the  rest  of  Christendom.  From  1076,  several  synods 
were  held.  Simony,  usury,  incestuous  marriages,  and  other  disgrace- 
ful abuses  were  abolished,  and  the  ecclesiastical  laws  concerning 
marriage,  the  observing  of  fasting  days  and  the  Christian  Sabbath, 
the  celebration  of  Mass,  the  time  of  beginning  Lent  and  the  receiv- 
ing of  Holy  Communion  at  Easter,  were  enforced. 

318.  The  reforms  begun  by  St.  Margaret  were  fully  carried  out 
by  her  son  David  I.  Most  of  the  ecclesiastical  foundations,  and  some  of 
the  finest  remains  of  Gothic  architecture  date  from  the  reign  of  this 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SCOTLAND.  449 

3>ious  monarch.  He  founded,  or  restored,  the  six  bishoprics  of  Dun- 
blane, Brechin,  Aberdeen,  Eoss,  Caithness,  and  Glasgow;  he  built 
several  monasteries,  providing  amply  for  their  support.  Among  his 
foundations  were  the  cathedrals  of  Aberdeen  and  Dunkeld,  and  the 
abbeys  of  Holy  Eood,  Kelso,  and  Melrose.  Malcolm  IV.,  and  his 
brother  William  (surnamed  the  Lion),  were  also  founders  of  monas- 
teries. William,  in  consequence  of  his  refusal  to  permit  John  Scot  to 
be  consecrated  bishop  of  St.  Andrews,  was  excommunicated  by  Pope 
Alexander  m.,  and  his  kingdom  was  laid  under  an  interdict,  which 
was,  however,  removed  by  Lucius  m.,  in  1182. 

319.  The  Scottish  Church  was,  from  early  times,  subject  to  the 
archbishop  of  York.  This  led  to  many  disputes,  especially  in  the 
eleventh  and  twelfth  centuries,  when  the  kings  of  England  made  use 
of  the  ecclesiastical  subordination  of  Scotland  to  bring  about  its  polit- 
ical dependence.  At  the  Synod  of  Koxburgh,  in  1125,  at  which  Car- 
dinal John  of  Crema,  the  papal  legate,  presided,  the  Scottish  bishops 
objected  against  the  claim  of  the  archbishop  of  York  to  metropolitical 
jurisdiction  over  their  churches.  But  Innocent  11.,  in  1131,  confirmed 
the  metropolitan  authority  of  York  over  Scotland.  However,  in  1192, 
Pope  Celestine  HI.,  at  the  prayer  of  King  William,  declared  the  in- 
dependence of  the  Scottish  Church,  which  he  placed  directly  under 
the  Koman  See. 

320.  The  English  monarchs  continually  sought  to  extend  their 
feudal  supremacy  over  Scotland.  The  Scotch,  in  order  to  avert  the 
dependence  of  their  country  on  England,  had  recourse  to  the  protec- 
tion of  the  Holy  See,  and  declared  that  their  kingdom  belonged  of 
right  to  the  Church  of  Kome,  of  which  it  was  a  fief.  When,  on  the 
death  of  the  Maid  of  Norway,  in  1290,  disputes  arose  about  the  suc- 
cession to  the  Scottish  Crown  between  the  families  of  Bruce  and 
Baliol,  Edward  I.  of  England  sought  to  compass  the  absolute  depend- 
ence of  Scotland.  The  Scotch  appealed  to  the  Pope,  as  to  their 
acknowledged  liege-Lord.  Pope  Nicholas  lY.  and,  after  him,  Boni- 
face Yni.,  admonished  the  English  monarch,  not  to  prosecute  the 
war  against  Scotland  which,  they  claimed,  on  the  strength  of  a  volun- 
tary surrender  by  the  Scotch  rulers,  belonged,  in  full  ecclesiastical 
right,  to  Kome.* 

321.  During  the  war  for  Independence,  the  Scottish  hierarchy  was 
strongly  opposed  to  English  annexation;  and  it  was  in  great  measure 


1.  The  origin  of  this  claim  is  obscure,  but  it  had  been  asserted  before  this,  on  more  than  one 
occasion.  Compare  Lingard's  note,  Vol.  Ill,  c.  3,  in  which  the  learned  author  clearly  shows 
that  it  is  certainly  more  ancient  than  Boniface  VIII.  and  was  first  advanced  by  the  Scots 
themselves,  when  they  appealed  to  the  Roman  See  for  aid  against  the  English. 


450  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

due  to  the  patriotic  support  of  the  clergy,  that  Bruce  was  in  the  end 
successful.  The  Scottish  bishops,  such  as  "William  Lamberton  of  St. 
Andrews,  Robert  Wishart  of  Glasgow,  and  David  Moray  of  Moray 
(founder  of  the  Scot's  College  at  Paris),  acted  a  principal  part  in  aid- 
ing that  patriotic  chief  to  restore  the  independence,  and  the  violated 
rights  and  liberties  of  his  country.  During  the  following  period, 
which  was  a  time  of  almost  continued  struggle  between  the  Crown 
and  the  baronage,  the  clergy  quite  invariably  sided  with  the  king. 

322.  Scotland  was  without  a  metropolitan  see  until  1470,  when 
St.  Andrews  was  raised  to  the  dignity  of  an  archbishopric;  Glasgow 
received  the  same  honor  somewhit  later.  tTt^/Ipt.  ■o'or':^ri"^  """tt  ^  f^pre 
were  nine  bishoprics;  under  Hadrian  IV.,  ten.  But  in  consequence 
of  the  protracted  wars  and  intestine  strifes,  the  estates  of  the  Church 
were  laid  waste,  and  some  episcopal  sees  remained  vacant  for  a  long- 
time. During  this  period  the  Church  did  much  to  promote  the  civil-^ 
ization  and  instruction  of  the  people.  Schools  were  attached  to 
cathedrals  and  monasteries,  in  which  statesmen,  as  well  as  ecclesiastics^ 
of  those  days  had  received  their  education. 


CHAPTER  m. 


CATHOLIC  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE. 


SECTION   LX.       FOUNDATION   OF   UNIVERSITIES. 

Intellectual  Awakening— Endeavors  of  the  Popes  to  promote  Learning- 
Origin  of  Universities — University  of  Paris  —  Other  French  Univers- 
ities—Foundation of  Universities  in  Italy— In  Germany— In  Spain— Uni- 
versities of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  —  Scottish  Universities— Sorbonne — 
Influence  of  Universities. 

323.  At  the  commencement  of  the  present  epoch,  a  great  increase 
of  intellectual  activity  was  noticeable  throughout  Christendom.  This 
was  owing  principally  to  the  reformatory  efforts  of  the  Popes,  who 
sought,  in  every  possible  way,  to  establish  law  and  order,  and  to  pro- 
mote every  study  that  could  improve  and  elevate  the  mind.  The 
clergy,  with  their  benefices  and  even  with  their  patrimony,  continued  : 
to  foster  education  in  every  branch,  as  well  as  to  advance  all  profit- 
able industries.     In  the  schools  connected  with  the  cathedrals  and. 


I 


FOUNDATION  OF  UNIVERSITIES.  451 

religious  houses,  gratuitous  instruction  was  imparted  to  all  thirsting 
for  knowledge.  The  cathedral  and  cloister  schools  in  the  larger 
cities,  were  the  germs  from  which  grew,  under  the  patronage  of  the 
Church,  the  grammar  schools  and  universities  of  later  times. 

324.  But  not  only  in  their  germ,  but  in  their  incorporation  and 
full  status  also,  are  Universities*  ecclesiastical  in  their  origin;  their 
foundation  was  due  to  the  zeal  of  the  Popes,  and  to  the  activity  and 
liberality  of  churchmen.  Almost  in  every  instance  the  founder  was 
either  a  Pope,  or  one  of  the  various  Church  dignitaries.  The  sovereign 
Pontiffs,  both  by  word  and  example,  encouraged  the  founding  of  in- 
stitutions of  learning.  "Of  the  many  blessings,"  sair)  Pope  Pine  TL, 
"which  mortal  men  can,  by  the  grace  of  God,  obtain  in  this  life, 
knowledge  is  not  the  least.  The  pearl  of  knowledge  makes  a  man 
like  to  God,  leads  him  to  investigate  the  secrets  of  nature,  is  an  aid 
to  the  unlearned  and  raises  one  of  humble  birth  to  the  highest  distinc- 
tion. 'V\^erefore,  the  Holy  See  has  ever  encouraged  the  cultivation 
of  the  sciences  and  of  letters,  and  opened  institutions  of  learning,  in 
order  to  bring  the  boon  of  knowledge  within  the  reach  of  all."  The 
Popes  granted  to  universities  special  charters  of  privileges,  and  even 
provided  them  with  chancellors  and  professors.  "From  Kome,  as 
from  a  centre,  as  the  Apostles  from  Jerusalem,"  observes  Cardinal 
Newman,  "went  forth  the  missionaries  of  knowledge,  passiug  to  and 
fro  all  over  Europe." 

325.  Of  the  universities,  that  of  Paris  is  perhaps  the  oldest;  it 
was  celebrated  for  Philosophy  and  Theology.  "  The  reputation  of  the 
school  of  Paris,"  says  Fleury,  "increased  considerably  at  the  com- 
mencement of  the  twelfth  century  under  William  Champeaux  and  his 
disciples  at  St.  Victor's.  At  the  same  time,  Peter  Abelard  went  thither 
and  lectured  with  great  applause  on  the  Humanities  and  the  Aristotel- 
ian Philosophy.  Alberic  of  Rheims,  Peter  Lombard,  Hildebert,  Robert 
Pullus,  or  Pulleyn,  the  abbot  Rupert,  Hugh  of  St.  Victor,  Albertus 
Magnus,  and  the  'Angelic  Doctor,'  also  taught  there."  The  University 
oi  Paris  was  regarded  as  the  model  and  rule  in  learning,  for  other 
universities.  The  other  French  universities  were  those  at  Montpel- 
lier,  Toulouse,  Lyons,  Avignon,  Bordeaux,  Valence,  Nantes,  and 
Bourges. 

326.  Li  Italy,  Salerno  was  famous  for  Medicine;  while  Bologna 
became,  under  L-nerius,  or  Werner,  the  great  Law-school  of  Christen- 


1.  The  term  "  universitasy  which,  In  Roman  Law,  is  synonymous  with  collegium,  was.  in-  the 
Middle  Ages,  appropriated  to  a  corporation  of  either  masters  (universitas  magistrorum),  or  of 
scholars  (universitas  scholarium).  According  to  others,  a  university  was  so  called  from  its  pro- 
fessing to  teach  all  sciences.  The  place  of  teaching  was  called  "  Schola,-^  or  ''Studium  Generate.^'' 


452  mSTOBY  OF  THE  OHUMCE. 

dom.  Besides  the  Italian  youths,  at  times  no  fewer  than  ten  thousand 
foreign  students  frequented  the  University  of  Bologna.  In  1262,  there 
were  at  this  university  20,000  students.  The  other  Italian  universities 
at  Eome,  Padua,  Naples,  Piacenza,  Perrara,  Perugia,  Pisa,  Pavia,  Pa- 
lermo, Turin  and  Florence,  were  also  in  a  flourishing  condition.  The 
college  in  Kome,  called  the  Sapienza,  founded  by  Innocent  IV.,  in 
1244,  was  richly  endowed  and  elevated  in  rank  by  Boniface  Vm., 
from  whose  time  it  was  known  as  the  Roman  University. 

327.  The  oldest  German  university  is  that  of  Prague,  which  was 
founded  by  Emperor  Charles  IV.,  in  1348.  Its  fame  attracted  students 
even  from  Norway,  Ireland,  Spain,  Naples,  and  Cyprus.  Besides  the 
Universities  of  Vienna,  Heidelberg,  Cologne,  and  Erfurt,  which  arose  in 
the  fourteenth  century,  nine  more  were  founded  in  the  course  of  the 
fifteenth  century.  In  the  Scandinavian  Kingdoms,  we  find  the  Uni- 
versities of  Copenhagen  and  Upsala,  and  in  Poland,  the  University  of 
Cracow,  which,  in  1496,  counted  as  many  as  15,000  students.  The 
oldest  and  most  celebrated  Spanish  university  was  Salamanca,  founded 
about  the  middle  of  the  thirteenth  century.  There  were,  besides,  in 
Spain  and  Portugal,  the  Universities  of  Valladolid,  Coimbra,  Valencia, 
Saragossa,  Avila,  Alcala,  and  Seville. 

328.  In  England,  the  Universities  of  Oxford  and  Cambridge  were 
modeled  on  the  University  of  Paris.  Oxford  began  to  be  largely  fre- 
quented in  the  reign  of  Stephen;  in  1231,  it  is  said  to  have  numbered 
as  many  as  30,000  students.  The  first  Scottish  university  was  founded 
at  St.  Andrews,  in  1411,  by  Cardinal  Henry  Wardlaw.  This  was  fol- 
lowed by  the  foundation  of  the  Universities  of  Glasgow,  in  1450,  by 
Bishop  Turnbull,  and  of  Aberdeen,  in  1494,  by  Bishop  Elphinston.  The 
establishment  of  the  University  of  Dublin  was  begun  by  Archbishop 
Leach,  who,  in  1311,  obtained  of  Clement  V.  a  brief  for  the  under- 
taking. 

329.  In  connection  with  the  universities,  colleges,  or  HaUs,  and 
"burses,  or  Gonvictoria,  were  founded  for  the  maintenance  of  poor 
scholars.  One  of  the  oldest  colleges  attached  to  the  University  of 
Paris  was  the  "  Sorbonne."  It  took  its  name  from  the  founder,  Robert 
de  Sorbon,  aulic  chaplain  to  St.  Louis  IX.,  who,  in  1250,  founded  a 
college  for  the  maintenance  of  theological  students.  Throughout 
Christendom,  the  universities  were  held  in  the  highest  regard.  The 
most  important  questions  were  submitted  to  them  for  arbitration,  by 
even  kings  and  emperors.  "The  multiplication  of  literary  institu- 
tions," observes  Archbishop  Kenrick,  "filled  with  crowds  of  eager 
students,  is  an  incontrovertible  proof  of  a  high  esteem  for  learning, 
which  was  plainly  the  result  of  the  reiterated  efforts  of  successive 


i 


SCHOLASTIC  AND  MYSTICAL    THEOLOGY.  453 

Pontiffs.  The  light  which  long  glimmered,  and  seemed  almost  ex- 
tinct, was  kindled  anew  by  their  breath,  until  it  grew  into  a  flame, 
illumining  the  nations  that  had  long  sat  in  darkness." 


SECTION   LXI.       SCHOLASTIC   AND    MYSTICAL   THEOLOGY. 

Era  of  Scholasticism — Scholastic  Theology — Its  Aim  and  Chief  Business — Re- 
lation of  Theology  to  Philosophy — Doctrine  of  Universals — Nominalists — 
Reahsts,  extreme  and  moderate — Mystical  Theology — Not  Antagonistic 
to  Scholastic  Theology. 

330.  The  literary  revival,  a  movement  of  immense  import,  awak- 
ened the  most  intense  interest,  especially  in  speculative  researches. 
In  this  age  was» constructed  what  is  called  "Scholastic"  theology. 
Scholastic  theology  meant  speculative  theology,  or  theology  scientific- 
ally demonstrated  and  illustrated.  In  the  preceding  ages  theologians 
occupied  themselves  chiefly  with  investigating  the  proofs  of  Catholic 
doctrine  in  Scripture  and  tradition;  if  we  except  some  of  the  earlier 
Fathers,  little  was  done  for  a  systematic  and  scientific  treatment  of  the 
great  verities  of  revelation.  From  this  time,  however,  theologians, 
pursuing  a  more  methodical  process  of  thinking,  endeavored  to  ar- 
range the  doctrines  of  the  Church  into  a  scientific  system,  mainly  ac- 
cording to  the  rules  and  methods  of  the  Aristotelian  philosophy. 

331.  Scholastic  theology,  in  its  general  j)rinciple,  is  an  alliance 
between  faith  and  reason.  The  aim  of  the  Scholastics  in  their  in- 
vestigations was  to  expound,  illustrate,  and  clear  from  objections  the 
doctrines  of  natural  and  revealed  religion,  in  a  dialectical  method  and 
by  dint  of  philosophical  reasoning.  Hence,  the  chief  business  of 
Scholastic  theology  is:  1. — To  clearly  define  the  meaning  of  the  re- 
vealed truths,  point  out  their  essential  and  logical  connection,  and 
illustrate  and  confirm  them  by  philosophy;  2. — To  defend  faith  against 
infidels  and  heretics,  and  answer  the  objections  drawn  from  other 
sciences;  and  3. — To  exhibit  the  relations,  and  demonstrate  the  har- 
mony existing  between  faith  and  reason. 

332.  To  the  Scholastics,  theology  and  philosophy  were  two  distinct 
and  independent  sciences,  each  having  its  own  province.  Theology, 
however,  they  considered  superior  to  philosophy,  because  divine  rev- 
elation, as  a  principle  and  source  of  knowledge,  surpasses  reason,  and, 
also,  because  the  revealed  truths  are  themselves  of  a  higher,  that  is 
supernatural,  order,  many  of  which,  such  as  the  mysteries,  are  above 
reason.  The  Scholastics,  therefore,  regarded  philosophy  as  the  hand- 
maid of  theology.    "Philosophia  Theologiae  ancilla."    For,  philosophy 


454  mSTOBY  OF  THE  CHUBCH. 

prepares  the  way  for  faith  by  proving  from  reason  the  truths  of  na- 
tural religion,  such  as  the  spirituality  and  immortality  of  the  soul,  the 
existence  of  God,  and  the  like;  and  further  shows  that  the  revealed 
truths,  though  beyond  the  comprehension  of  the  human  mind,  yet  by 
no  means  are  contrary  to  reason.  Hence,  whenever  the  philosopher 
finds  his  conclusions  at  variance  with  theology,  he  must  correct  them 
by  the  higher  and  infallible  teachings  of  faith.  It  is  a  Scholastic 
axiom,  "  that  nothing  can  be  true  in  philosophy  which  is  false  in  theol- 
ogy," since  God,  who  is  the  author  both  of  revelation  and  reason,  can- 
not contradict  himself. 

533.  Gictxo  advantages,  indeed,  accrued  to  theology  from  the  ap- 
plication of  philosophy  to  religion.  Still,  philosophical  questions, 
necessarily  awakened  sharp,  and  often  difficult,  controversies.  The 
earlier  Scholastics  were  wholly  occupied  with  the  ij;itricate  question 
relating  to  universals  and  their  objective  value.  The  dispute,  it  is  true, 
was  of  high  antiquity,  taking  its  rise  in  the  schools  of  Plato  and 
Aristotle;  but  it  was  now  revived  with  uncommon  ardor.  The  great 
philosophical  question  of  the  day  turned  upon  the  "reality  of  uni- 
versals". An  universalia  sint  realia? 

334.  There  were  the  Nominalists,  like  Koscelin,  who  affirmed  that 
universals  had  no  reality  whatever;  (Universalia  nee  ante  rem  nee  in 
re) ;  that  they  were  but  empty  names  (nomina,  flatus  vocis),  and  noth- 
ing more  than  mere  conceptions  of  the  mind  (which  is  Conceptualism), 
and  mental  abstractions  from  individual  things.  There  were  the  ex- 
treme Realists,  who  asserted  not  only  the  reality  of  universals  in 
things,  but  also  that  they  have  an  existence  independently  of  the  in- 
tellect, whether  considered  in  the  mind  of  the  Creator,  or  in  individual 
beings  (Universalia  post  rem).  Lastly,  there  were  the  orthodox,  or 
moderate  Realists,  like  St.  Anselm,  and  St.  Thomas,  who  held  that  uni- 
versals have  no  subsistence  for  themselves,  but  are  inherent  in  things 
(Universalia  in  re),  whence  they  are  derived  by  the  mental  process  of 
abstraction. 

335.  The  same  age  also  saw  the  rise  of  Mystical  theology.  While 
Scholastic  theology  is  speculative.  Mystical  theology  is  contemplative 
and  experimental.  "The  essence  of  Mysticism,"  says  the  illustrious. 
Gerson,  "is  to  know  God  by  the  experience  of  the  heart.  By  means 
of  love,  which  raises  the  soul  to  God,  we  attain  to  an  immediate  union 
with  the  Divinity.  While  the  object  of  speculative  theology  is  truth, 
Mystical  theology  aims  at  goodness  and  holiness  itself.  Scholasticism 
and  Mysticism  correspond  to  the  faculties  by  which  the  soul  knows 
and  desires,  comprehends  and  loves;  and  by  all  these  means  may  lead 


DISTINGUISHED  SCHOOLMEN.  455 

to  God.     Scholasticism  must  guide  and  maintain  Mysticism  within  the 
boundaries  of  truth." 

336.  It  is  an  error  to  suppose  that  Mysticism  was  antagonistic  to 
Scholasticism.  The  Mystics  were  often  severe  logicians,  and  the  Scho- 
lastics had  all  the  fervor  of  Mystics.  "While  Scholasticism  consists  in 
speculation  and  tends  to  acquire  knowledge,  Mysticism  consists  in 
contemplation  and  tends  to  improve  divine  love.  Mysticism  employed 
the  same  dialectic  methods  in  use  among  the  Scholastics;  at  the  same 
time,  it  aimed  at  holy  and  intimate  union  with  God,  disposing  the  soul 
for  all  the  other  means  of  Grace.  The  great  representative  expound- 
ers of  true  Mysticism  were  St.  Bernard,  St.  Anselm,  St.  Thomas  Aqui- 
nas, St.  Bonaventure,  Hugh,  and  Richard  of  St.  Victor,  Gerson,  and 
Tauler. 

SECTION   LXII.       ST.    ANSELM ABELARD ST.    BERNARD PETER    LOMBARD. 

Abbey  of  Bee— Its  Origin— Lanfranc— Distinguished  Pupils— St.  Anselm, 
''Father  of  Scholasticism" — Abelard — Biographical  Notice — His  Errors 
— His  Death — St.  Bernard — Founds  Clairvaux — His  Great  Influence — 
His  Writings — Gilbert  de  la  Poree — His  Tritheism — Peter  Lombard — His 
Four  Books  of  the  Sentences. 

337.  In  1040,  Herluin,  a  Norman  knight,  founded  the  abbey  of 
Bee,  in  Normandy,  which  soon  grew  into  a  famous  seat  of  learning. 
The  representation  of  this  school  was  owing  chiefly  to  the  learning  and 
efforts  of  Lanfranc  and  St.  Anselm,  its  first  masters.  Lanfranc,  a 
native  of  Pavia,  after  studying  in  various  schools,  in  1042,  entered  the 
new  monastery  of  Bee,  of  which  he  shortly  after  became  prior.  His 
fame  soon  attracted  pupils  from  all  parts  of  Europe.  Bee  may  be  con- 
sidered the  origin  of  universities,  which  soon  began  to  be  established 
in  every  country,  after  the  model  of  that  renowned  institution.  Many 
eminent  scholars  issued  from  this  school,  among  whom  were  Pope 
Alexander  11. ;  the  learned  Guitmund,  archbishop  Averse ;  Ives,  bishop 
of  Chartres,  the  restorer  of  Canon  Law  in  France;  and  the  celebrated 
St.  Anselm.  In  1062,  Lanfranc  became  abbot  of  the  new  monastery 
which  "William  I.  of  England  had  enabled  him  to  found  at  Caen; 
whence,  in  1070,  he  was  promoted  to  the  archbishopric  of  Canterbury. 

838.  Anselm  succeeded  his  master,  as  prior  of  Bee,  of  which,  on 
the  death  of  Herluin,  in  1078,  he  was  also  chosen  abbot.  His  adminis- 
tration imparted  a  high  intellectual  tone  to  the  whole  monastery,  and 
made  Bee  inferior  to  none  in  learning.  He  is  regarded  as  the  earliest 
of  the  Scholastic  theologians,  and  is  sometimes  called  the  "Father  of 
Scholasticism."     He  did  not,  indeed,   construct   a  complete  sum,  or 


456  HISTOBY  OF  THE  CHUBCH. 

system,  of  theology,  but  his  various  works  are  so  many  formal  treatises 
on  the  principal  parts  of  theological  science. 

339.  He  composed  elaborate  tracts  "On  the  Freedom  of  the  Will," 
"On  Original  Sin,"  "On  the  Fall  of  Satan,"  "On  the  Procession  of  the 
Holy  Ghost,"  and  "On  the  Agreement  of  Divine  Foreknowledge, 
Predestination,  and  Grace  with  Free  Will."  His  "  Monologium  "  and 
"Proslogium,"  respectively,  treat  of  the  Existence  of  God,  and  of  the 
Holy  Trinity  and  the  Divine  Attributes,  while  his  work,  entitled  "Why 
God  was  made  Man,"  is  a  learned  exposition  of  the  Incarnation  and 
Redemption.  Against  the  Nominalistic  theory  of  Roscelin,  which  was 
<3ondemned  by  the  Council  of  Soisson,  in  1092,  Anselm  wrote  his  work 
"  On  the  Belief  in  the  Trinity,  and  the  Incarnation  of  the  Word."  In 
the  works  of  St.  Anselm  is  found  the  celebrated  Ontological  argument 
(argumentum  ontologicum)  for  the  Existence  of  God,  deduced  from 
the  Idea  of  an  infinitely  perfect  Being.  His  extraordinary  erudition 
won  for  him  the  surname  of  "the  Augustine  of  the  Middle  Ages,"  and, 
in  1720,  the  honor  of  being  numbered  among  the  Doctors  of  the 
Church,  by  Pope  Clement  XI. 

340.  Of  quite  a  different  stamp  from  St.  Anselm,  was  the  highly- 
gifted,  but  proud  and  haughty,  Peter  Ahelard.  Born  near  Nantes,  in 
1079,  Abelard,  after  studying  under  Roscelin,  betook  himself  to  Paris, 
iind  became  the  pupil  of  the  learned  William  of  Champeaux,  founder 
of  the  celebrated  abbey  of  St,  Victor,  and  afterwards  bishop  of  Cha- 
lons. His  progress  was  so  rapid,  that  he  soon  outstripped  his  master. 
In  two  public  disputations,  which  he  held  with  William,  he  came  off 
triumphant.  Abelard,  though  then  only  twenty-two  years  old,  opened 
a  school  of  his  own,  at  Melun,  and,  subsequently,  at  Paris,  Corbeil, 
and  at  "  the  Paraclete,"  a  monastery  founded  by  him  near  Troyes. 

341.  Everywhere  large  numbers  of  scholars  thronged  to  his  lec- 
tures, as  his  eloquence  was  simply  wonderful.  He  surprised  his  con- 
temporaries by  the  brilliancy  of  his  genius,  the  ready  flow  of  his  lan- 
guage, and  the  subtlety  of  his  reasoning.  Among  those  who  sought 
his  instructions,  was  Eloise,  the  niece  of  Canon  Fulbert.  But  the  ac- 
quaintance with  this  accomplished  lady  proved  fatal  to  his  honor.  To 
cover  his  ignominy,  the  unhappy  man  retired  to  the  monastery  of  St. 
Denis,  and  became  a  monk,  while  Eloise  took  the  veil  at  Argenteuil. 
Abelard  opened  a  school  at  St.  Denis,  which  was  soon  frequented  by 
<;rowds  of  eager  students  from  all  parts.  But  his  novel  views  on  the 
subject  of  the  Holy  Trinity,  brought  him  into  conflict  with  the  Church. 
His  foremost  opponent  was  St.  Bernard. 

342.  Of  the  novel  doctrines  advanced  by  Abelard,  we  quote:  1. — 
The  Father  alone  is  All-powerful;  the  Son  is  inferior  in  power  to  the 


DISTINGUISHED  SCHOOLMEN.  457 

Father,  and  the  Holy  Ghost  is  inferior  to  the  Son;  2. — The  Holy  Ghost, 
proceeds  from  the  Father  and  the  Son;  but  He  is  not  of  their  sub- 
stance; He  is  the  soul  of  the  world;  3, — God  cannot  accomplish  more 
than  he  has  accomplished  and  intends  yet  to  accomplish;  4. — Christ 
assumed  flesh,  not  to  redeem  man  from  the  bondage  of  the  devil,  but 
to  instruct  him  by  word  and  example;  5. — Not  the  guilt,  but  only  the 
punishment,  of  the  sin  committed  by  Adam,  is  propagated  in  his  pos- 
terity; 6. — Man  can  do  good  by  his  own  free  will,  and  without  the  as- 
sistance of  Divine  Grace;  and  8. — No  sin  is  committed  through  con- 
cupiscence or  ignorance.  His  errors  were  condemned  by  the  Council 
of  Sens,  in  1140.  Abelard  appealed  to  the  Pope,  but,  on  his  way  to 
Kome,  he  took  sick  and  sought  refuge  with  Peter  the  Venerable,  abbot, 
of  Clugny.  Here  he  spent  his  last  days,  and  died  peacefully  and  re- 
conciled with  St.  Bernard  and  the  Church,  in  1 142. 

343.  The  great  St.  Bernard,  the  adversary  of  Abelard,  is  one  of 
the  most  remarkable  characters  in  the  history  of  the  Church.  Born, 
in  1091,  of  an  old  patrician  family,  he  entered,  in  his  twenty-second 
year,  with  some  thirty  of  his  kinsmen  and  friends,  the  order  of  Cite- 
aux,  of  which  he  is  sometimes  regarded  as  the  second  founder.  After 
two  years,  the  abbot,  St.  Stephen  Harding,  an  Englishman,  sent 
Bernard  to  found  a  new  abbey  at  Clairvaux,  which  soon  rose  to  great 
celebrity.  He  was  consecrated  abbot  by  "William  of  Champeaux,  the 
great  dialectician  and  teacher  of  Abelard.  The  fame  and  influence  of 
Bernard  spread  rapidly.  "He  united  in  himself,"  as  the  learned 
Hurter  well  observes,  "  the  qualities  of  the  most  perfect  contemplative 
monk  with  those  of  the  most  profound  politician  ....  His  judgment 
decides  who  is  the  rightful  successor  of  Peter;  and  he  it  is  who  shields 
the  Church  from  new  dangers  engendered  by  rash  teaching.  Popes 
follow  his  counsels  like  humble  monks.  He  is  offered  and  refuses 
bishoprics  and  archbishoprics;  but,  wherever  he  appears,  greater 
honors  are  shown  to  him  than  to  the  bishops  and  archbishops  of  the 
most  famous  sees."     Bernard  died  in  1153. 

344.  The  works  which  St.  Bernard  has  left  behind  him  are  as  var- 
ious, as  they  are  numerous,  and  consist  of  sermons,  epistles,  and  moral 
treatises.  His  letters,  which  are  no  less  than  404,  record  many  histor- 
ical facts,  interspersed  with  sage  reflections  and  apposite  advice.  Of 
his  sermons  he  delivered  86  on  the  Book  of  Canticles  to  his  monks. 
His  most  famous  work  is  his  treatise  De  Consider atione,  addressed  to 
Eugenius  m.,  who  had  been  his  pupil,  in  which  he  states,  without 
disguise,  what  are  the  duties  of  the  chief  pastor,  and  urges  the  neces- 
sity of  reforms.     He  acquired  the  appellation  of  the  Mellifluous  Doctor 


458  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

{Doctor  mellifluus);  and,  on  account  of  the  value  of  his  writings,  he 
was  numbered  among  the  Doctors  of  the  Church,  by  Pius  Vm. 

345.  Gilbert  de  la  Poree,  bishop  of  Poitiers,  an  extreme  Kealist, 
fell  into  the  error  of  Tritheism,  asserting  a  real  distinction  between 
the  divine  Essence,  or  Being,  and  God,  and  the  three  Divine  Persons, 
whom  he  considered  as  numerically  distinct  units.  This  error  was 
censured,  at  the  instance  of  St.  Bernard,  in  a  Synod  held  at  Rheims, 
in  1148,  at  which  Pope  Eugenius  HE.  was  present  in  person.  Gilbert 
submitted  to  the  judgment  of  the  Church,  and  was  allowed  to  return 
to  his  diocese. 

346.  Among  the  numerous  scholars  of  Abelard,  Peter  Lombard 
acquired  the  highest  distinction  in  the  theological  schools  of  Europe. 
He  lectured  at  Paris  with  much  success  till  1259,  when  he  was  chosen 
bishop  of  that  city.  His  famous  "  Four  Books  of  the  Sentences,"  from 
which  he  is  denominated  the  Master  of  the  Sentences  (Magister  Senten- 
tiarum),  became  the  favorite  Manual  of  the  theological  schools  during 
the  Middle  Ages,  and  the  text  of  innummerable  commentaries.  The 
first  book  treats  of  God  and  the  Trinity;  the  second  of  the  Creation, 
and  rational  creatures;  the  third  of  the  Redemption,  of  virtues  and 
vices,  and  of  the  gifts  of  the  Holy  Ghost;  the  fourth  of  the  Sacra- 
ments and  of  the  last  things.  Peter  died  in  1164.  He  was  suc- 
ceeded, in  the  professorship  at  Paris,  by  Peter  of  Poitiers,  one  of  his 
most  distinguished  pupils,  who  also  edited  "Five  Books  of  Sen- 
tences." 

SECTION  LXin.   ALEXANDEE  OF  HALES — ALBEETUS  MAGNUS ST.  THOMAS  OF 

AQUIN ST.  BONAVENTURE DUNS  SCOTUS. 

Mendicant  Orders  —  Contributed  to  the  Study  of  Aristotelian  Philosophy- 
Versions  of  Aristotle— Alexander  of  Hales  — His  Sum  of  Theology— 
Albertus  Magnus — St.  Thomas  Aquinas  —  His  Authority  —  Biographical 
Sketch— His  Summa  Theologies- St.  Bonaveuture — His  Writings— Dis- 
tinguished Scholars  of  Aquinas— Duns  Scotus— Thomists  and  Scotists — 
Writings  of  Duns  Scotus— Other  Distinguished  Schoolmen. 

347.  Besides  the  establishment  of  new  schools  and  universities, 
the  foundation  of  new  monastic  orders  was  the  principal  means  by 
which,  in  this  epoch,  a  general  intellectual  improvement  was  inaugu- 
rated, and  an  increased  energy  was  given  to  scientific  pursuits.  The 
Mendicant  Orders,  especially,  greatly  contributed  to  diffuse  knowledge, 
and  promote,  in  particular,  the  study  of  the  Aristotelian  philosophy. 
Up  to  thi"  period,  the  only  works  of  Aristotle,  known  in  the  West, 
were  his  treatise  "  On  Categories,"  and  his  "  Organon,"  or  Logic,  which 


DISTINQUI8HED  SCHOOLMEN.  459 

had  been  translated  into  Latin  by  Boethius.  There  existed,  indeed, 
translations  of  Aristotle's  physical  and  metaphysical  writings,  from 
the  Arabic,  as  well  as  learned  commentaries  on  his  general  philosophy, 
by  the  famous  Arabian  philosophers,  Avicenna  and  Averroes;  but 
these  translations  being  adulterated  with  the  errors  of  the  Arabs  and 
Jews,  met  with  great  opposition,  and  their  use  was  repeatedly  forbid- 
den by  the  Church. 

348.  In  the  beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century,  however,  the 
works  of  Aristotle  having  been  translated  directly  from  the  original 
■Greek,  the  philosophy  of  the  Stagyrite  came  into  more  general  vogue 
and  acquired  a  high  estimation  among  Catholic  schoolmen.  Aristotle 
was  regarded  as  the  great  representative  of  human  reason.  The  great 
Scholastic  theologians,  Alexander  of  Hales,  Albert  the  Great,  St. 
Thomas  of  Aquin,  and  Duns  Scotus,  differing  as  they  did  on  many 
questions  of  philosophy,  were  all  Aristotelians. 

349.  Alexander  of  Hales,  born  in  Gloucestershire,  England,  was 
one  of  the  greatest  theologians  that  the  Middle  Ages  produced.  He 
was  reared  in  the  monastery  of  Hales,  whence  he  derived  his  surname, 
while  he  received  his  higher  education  at  Oxford  and  Paris.  In  1222, 
he  became  a  Franciscan  monk,  and  was  the  first  of  his  order  that  lec- 
tured at  the  University  of  Paris,  where  he  taught  philosophy  and 
theology  with  great  applause.  Of  the  Schoolmen,  Alexander  was  the 
earliest  acquainted  with  all  the  works  of  Aristotle,  whose  philosophy 
he  was  also  the  first  to  apply  to  the  treating  and  solving  of  theolog- 
ical questions.  Besides  his  commentary  on  the  Methaphysics  of  Aris- 
totle, the  first  of  the  kind  on  that  work,  he  constructed,  by  order  of 
Pope  Innocent  lY.,  a  Sum  of  Theology,  which,  having  been  examined  by 
a  committee  of  seventy  doctors,  was  recommended  by  the  Pope,  as  a 
comj)lete  manual  to  all  masters  and  students  of  theology.  On  account 
of  his  extensive  and  deep  erudition,  his  contemporaries  called  him  the 
''Irrefragable  Doctor"  (Doctor  irrefragabilis),  and  the  ''Monarch  of  the 
Theologians"     He  died  in  1245. 

350.  The  most  remarkable  man  in  his  time,  for  varied  acquire- 
ments, was  Albertus  Magnus,  the  celebrated  master  of  St.  Thomas  of 
Aquin.  He  was  of  a  noble  Swabian  family.  He  studied  at  Paris,  Pa- 
dua, and  Bologna.  Upon  entering  the  Dominican  Order,  he  was  em- 
ployed as  teacher  in  various  places,  especially  at  Cologne.  In  1260, 
he  was  unwillingly  promoted  to  the  bishopric  of  Eatisbon,  which  he 
relinquished  after  two  years,  when  he  returned  to  public  teaching. 
His  contemporaries,  marvelling  at  his  extensive  learning,  called  him 
the  "  Universal  Dotcor"  (Doctor  universalis),  and  the  "Second  Aristotle" 


460  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

He  died  in  1280,  leaving  numerous  works,  which  fill  twenty-one  folio 
volumes. 

351.  But  of  all  the  Scholastics,  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin  has  left  the 
greatest  name.  He  is  next  to  St.  Augustine  justly  reputed  the  greatest 
theologian  and  doctor  of  the  Church,  as  well  as  the  greatest  Christian 
philosopher.  Thomas  was  born  at  Rocca  Sicca,  near  Naples,  in  1225; 
his  family  was  connected  by  marriage  with  the  Hohenstaufens.  His 
early  education  was  entrusted  to  the  care  of  the  Benedictines  of  Monte 
Cassino.  After  completing  his  studies  at  the  University  of  Naples,  he 
entered  the  Dominican  Order,  and  became  the  scholar  of  Albertus  Mag- 
nus at  Cologne  and  Paris;  at  the  latter  place  he  received  his  academic 
degrees.  He  taught  with  universal  admiration  at  Cologne,  Paris,  Bo- 
logna, Naples,  and  other  places;  he  was  equally  famous  as  a  preacher. 
Ecclesiastical  honors,  including  the  archbishopric  of  Naples,  he  stead- 
fastly refused.  Called  by  Gregory  X.,  to  assist  at  the  Ecumenical 
Council  of  Lyons,  in  1274,  he  fell  sick  on  the  journey  and  died  in  the 
Cistercian  monastery  of  Fossanova,  before  he  had  completed  his  fif- 
tieth year.  He  was  solemnly  canonized  by  John  XXIL,  in  1323,  and 
ranked  among  the  great  Doctors  of  the  Church,  by  Pius  V.,  in  1567. 

352.  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin,  who  is  styled  the  "Angelic  Doctor" 
{Doctor  Angelicus),  and  the  "Prince  of  the  School,"  has  left  numerous 
works.  He  wrote  commentaries  on  the  works  of  Aristotle,  on  the 
Master  of  the  Sentences,  and  on  many  books  of  Scripture,  besides  a 
number  of  minor  works,  treatises,  hymns,  and  sermons.  The  crown  of 
all  his  work  is  his  celebrated  "  Summa  Theohgica,"  which  for  method, 
scientific  precision  and  depth,  and  purity  of  doctrine,  has  nothing  like 
it  among  the  productions  of  Scholastic  theologians.  This  wondrous 
masterpiece  is  divided  into  three  parts,  of  which  the  first  treats  of  God 
and  Creatures;  the  second,  which  is  a  kind  of  Moral  Theology,  in  its 
first  subdivision  (Prima  Secundae),  considers  the  moral  actions  and 
duties  of  man,  in  general,  while  the  second  subdivision  (Secunda  Secun- 
dae) explains  them  in  detail;  the  third  part  treats  of  the  Incarnation 
the  Sacraments,  and  the  last  things.  Next  in  excellence,  is  his  "  Sum- 
ma Fhilosophica,"  in  four  books,  an  apologetical  work,  written  at  the 
request  of  St.  Raymond  of  Pennafort. 

353.  Contemporary  with  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin  was  St.  Bonaven- 
ture,  also  a  native  of  Italy,  who  studied  with  him,  and  taught  with 
great  success  at  the  University  of  Paris.  Bonaventure  was  born  in 
1221,  and  was  a  pupil  of  Alexander  of  Hales.  He  entered  the  Order 
of  St.  Francis,  of  which,  in  1256,  he  was  chosen  General.  Gregory  X., 
in  whose  election  he  had  been  instrumental,  created  him  cardinal,  and 
bishop  of  Albano,  in  1273.     He  was  an  eminent  teacher  and  writer. 


I 


I 


DISTINGUISHED  SCHOOLMEN.  461 

and  his  soul  was  as  angelic  as  his  intellect  was  bright  and  profound. 
His  great  learning,  and,  still  more,  his  angelic  love  of  God,  obtained 
for  him  the  title  of  the  '^  Seraphic  Doctor"  (Doctor  Seraphicus).  The 
prominent  feature  of  his  writings  is  their  practical  tendency;  he  com- 
bines the  mystical  with  the  speculative  element.  Of  his  principal  works 
we  mention  his  "  Hexahemeron,"  his  ^'  Life  of  Christ,"  his  Commentary 
on  the  Sentences  of  Peter  Lombard,  his  "  Reductio  Artium  Liberalium 
ad  Theologiam,"  his  "  Centiloquium "  and  "Breviloquium."  The  last 
named  was  recommended  by  Gerson  to  young  theologians,  as  a  com- 
jjlete,  and  at  the  same  time,  a  rich  exposition  of  Catholic  dogma.  Bo- 
naventure  died  at  the  Council  of  Lyons,  in  12 V4,  a  few  months  after 
the  death  of  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin.  He  was  canonized,  in  148*2,  by  Sixtus 
rV.,  and,  in  1587,  he  was  declared  a  Doctor  of  the  Universal  Church, 
by  Sixtus  V. 

354.  Among  the  many  scholars  of  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin,  the  most 
distinguished  were  Peter  de  Tarentaise,  who  became  Pope  Innocent 
v.;  Aegidius  Colonna  (d.  1316),  an  Augustinian,  and  archbishop 
of  Bourges;  and  Hervaeus  Natalis  (d.  1323),  who  became  Master-Gen- 
eral of  the  Dominican  Order  and  Rector  of  the  University  of  Paris. 
Some  of  the  doctrines  advanced  by  St.  Thomas,  however,  called  forth 
animated,  and,  at  times,  violent,  controversies  among  the  learned.  The 
doctors  of  the  Sorbonne,  and  of  Oxford,  went  so  far  as  to  censure  sev- 
eral propositions  of  the  great  Master,  as  erroneous. 

355.  The  most  noted  opponent  of  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin  was  John 
Duns  ScotuSj  who  undertook  to  controvert  the  Angelic  Doctor,  on 
various  questions  of  philosophy  and  theology.  Of  the  Scholastic 
theology,  there  were  thenceforward  two  great  schools,  the  Thomist  and 
Scotist;  the  former  had  its  adherents  chiefly  in  the  Dominican,  the 
latter  in  the  Franciscan  Order.  Little  is  known  of  the  early  life  of 
Duns  Scotus.  He  was  probably  a  native  of  Ireland,  though  some 
affirm  he  was  an  Englishman;  others,  a  Scotchman.  The  date  of 
his  birth  is  variously  given  as  1265  and  1274.  He  became  a  Francis- 
can, and  succeeded  his  master,  William  Ware,  in  the  chair  of  philos- 
ophy and  theology,  at  Oxford.  He  taught  afterwards  at  Paris,  and 
then  at  Cologne,  where  he  died  suddenly,  in  1308. 

356.  Duns  Scotus  was  as  profound  as  he  was  acute,  both  as  a 
philosopher  and  as  a  theologian.  While  professor  at  Oxford,  he  pen- 
ned his  comments  (the  Oxonian  Commentaries)  on  the  "Four  Books 
of  the  Sentences"  of  Peter  Lombard;  and,  while  teaching  in  Paris,  he 
wrote  the  "  Reportata,"  which  is  a  revised  and  abridged  edition  of  the 
"  Opus  Oxoniense."  Duns  Scotus,  the  great  light  of  the  Franciscans, 
was  the   glorious   defender   of   the   Immaculate   Conception   of   the 


462  mSTOBT  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Blessed  Yirgin,  a  doctrine  of  wliich  his  order  was  ever  tlie  cliampion. 
Although  dying  before  his  fortieth  year,  his  works  comprise  twelve 
folio  volumes.  For  his  polemical  acuteness,  he  was  called  the  "  Suh- 
tile  Doctor "  (Doctor  subtilis).  The  "  Scotists  "  regarded  him  as  their 
leader,  in  their  disputations  with  the  "Thomists." 

357.  Of  the  other  men  celebrated  for  their  learning  and  their 
writings,  it  will  be  sufficient  to  name  Boger  Bacon,  the  "  Wonderful 
Doctor"  (Doctor  mirabilis,  d.  1294),  an  English  Franciscan,  whose  fame 
AS  mathematician  and  philosopher  was  widespread;  Eaymundus  Lul- 
lus,  the  "Enlightened  Doctor"  (Doctor  illuminatus),  whose  writings, 
though  excellent  and  learned  productions,  manifest,  however,  an  ex- 
cessive deference  to  reason;  Vincent  de  Beauvais  (d.  1264),  the  great 
compiler  and  cyclopaedist  of  his  age,  and  instructor  to  the  sons  of 
St.  Louis  IX.;  John  of  Salisbury  (d.  1180),  the  confidential  adviser 
and  biographer  of  St.  Thomas  of  Canterbury,  and  author  of  the  "Poli- 
craticus,"  in  which  he  attacks  the  vices  of  the  age,  particularly  those 
of  the  court  of  Henry  II.;  William  Durandus,  the  "Most  Resolute  Doc- 
tor" (Doctor  resolutissimus,  d.  1332),  professor  at  the  Sorbonne,  and 
subsequently  bishop  of  Meaux;  William  of  Ockham,  pupil  and  oppo- 
nent of  Duns  Scotus,  and  the  champion  of  the  Fratricelli,  or  Spirit- 
ualists; Thomas  Bradwardine,  called  the  "Profound  Doctor"  (Doctor 
profundus,  d.  1349),  who  became  chancellor  of  the  University  of  Ox- 
ford, and  archbishop  of  Canterbury;  John  Gerson,  who  was  known  as 
the  "Most  Christian  Doctor"  (Doctor  Christianissimus,  d.  1429);  and 
St.  Antoninus,  an  eminent  moralist  and  historian,  who  died  archbishop 
of  Florence,  in  1459. 


CHAPTEK  IV. 


HERESIES. 


SECTION   LXIV.       MINOR   SECTS. 

Else  of  Sects — Tanchelin  of  Antwerp  —  His  Abominations — Eudo  de  Stella 
— Peter  de  Bruys— His  Errors — Henricians — Arnoldists  — Waldenses— 
Their  Particular  Errors,  and  their  Condemnation— Amalricians— William 
Of  Paris,  and  David  Dinanto— Their  Pantheistical  Teachings— Brethren 
and  Sisters  of  the  Free  Spirit— Apostolical  Brethren. 

358.  This  epoch  mourned  the  rise  of  a  great  number  of  fanatical 
sects,  which  spread  abroad  in  the  West  under  the  various  names  of 
Petrobrusians,  Henricians,  Bogomiles,  Waldenses,  Cathari,  and  Albi- 
genses.     The  tenets  of  all  these  sects  were  of  a  most  pernicious  char- 


MINOR  SECTS.  463 

•acter;  they  infected  almost  all  classes  of  society  and  penetrated  even 
amongst  ecclesiastics  and  religious.  Under  the  pretext  that  the 
Church  had  lost  her  original  purity  and  simplicity,  these  sectaries  de- 
claimed against  her  power  and  wealth,  and  not  only  repudiated  her 
doctrines,  but  sought  to  undermine  all  authority,  both  secular  and  ec- 
clesiastical. 

359.  Tanchelin  of  Antwerp,  an  illiterate  and  fanatical  demagogue, 
became  the  founder  of  a  sect  in  the  Netherlands.  He  proclaimed  him- 
self the  Son  of  God  and  the  spouse  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  He  rejected 
the  priesthood  of  the  Church,  and  the  Sacraments,  especially  the  Holy 
Eucharist,  as  unnecessary  for  salvation.  He  was  guilty  of  all  sorts  of 
blasphemy  and  the  greatest  licentiousness,  seducing  many  women, 
who,  in  their  frenzy,  delivered  to  him  their  daughters.  He  sur- 
rounded himself  with  a  body-guard  of  three  thousand  armed  men,  and 
feasted  sumptuously  on  the  spoils  of  plundered  churches  and  monas- 
teries. Tanchelin  was  slain,  in  1124,  but  his  sect  survived  him.  St. 
Norbert  preached  against  the  sectaries,  and  succeeded  in  bringing 
back  the  deluded  citizens  of  Antwerp  to  the  Church. 

360.  Another  wild  teacher  was  Eon,  or  Eudo  de  Stella,  an  uncouth 
rustic,  who  revolutionized  Bretagne  and  G-ascony,  about  the  middle  of 
the  twelfth  century.  He  also  gave  himself  out  as  the  Son  of  God,  and 
as  "he  that  should  come  to  judge  the  quick  and  the  dead."  He  as- 
sumed almost  kingly  power  and  was  accompanied  by  great  numbers 
of  followers,  who  perpetrated  great  outrages,  plundering  churches 
and  monasteries.  He  was  finally  seized  s-nd  cast  into  prison  where  he 
died  shortly  after. 

361.  About  the  same  time,  Peter  de  Bruys,  a  deposed  priest,  and 
Henry  the  Deacon,  an  apostate  monk  of  Clugny,  excited,  by  their  fanat- 
ical preaching,  the  populace  in  Vie  South  of  France.  Peter  the  Venerable, 
abbot  of  Clugny,  who  wrote  against  these  heresiarchs,  arraigns  Peter 
de  Bruys  as  rejectinof:  1. — Infant  Baptism;  2. — The  Real  Presence  in 
the  Holy  Eucharist;  3. — The  building  and  using  of  churches,  since 
God  might  be  worshipped  in  any  place,  even  in  stables;  4. — The  wor- 
ship of  the  Holy  Cross,  which,  he  said,  ought  to  be  rather  an  object 
of  horror  than  of  veneration;  and  5. — Prayers  and  oblations  for  the 
dead.      His   followers,   who   were   called    after    him  "  Fetrobrusians/' 

:  committed  many  enormities,  especially  against  priests  and  monks. 
<'The  people,"  writes  Peter  the  Venerable,  "are  rebaptized,  altars 
thrown  down,  crosses  burned,  meat  publicly  eaten  on  the  day  of  the 
Lord's  Passion,  priests  ill-treated,  monks  imprisoned,  or  compelled  to 
marry  by  violence  or  by  torture."  The  Council,  of  Toulouse,  in  1119, 
invited  the  civil  power   to   restrain  the   excesses   of   these   fanatics. 


464  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Peter  de  Bruys,  while  engaged  on  Good  Friday  at  St.  Gilles,  near 
Aries,  in  burning  a  pile  of  crucifixes,  was  seized  by  an  excited  multi- 
tude and  cast  into  the  flames,  which  he  had  lighted. 

362.  To  the  errors  of  Peter  Bruys,  Henry  the  Deacon,  "the  heir  of 
his  wickedness,"as  he  was  called  by  Peter  the  Venerable,  added  many 
more.  His  rude  eloquence,  and  his  ostensibly  ascetic  life  gained  him 
many  followers,  especially  among  the  nobility.  The  Henricians,  as 
his  adherents  were  called,  committed  many  acts  of  violence  against 
the  clergy.  At  the  request  of  Pope  Eugenius  III.,  St.  Bernard  and 
Peter  the  Venerable  hastened  to  the  assistance  of  the  oppressed  clergy,, 
and  succeeded  in  putting  down  the  heresiarch  and  in  restoring  reli- 
gion among  the  deluded  people.  St.  Bernard  found,  so  he  writes,, 
"  the  churches  without  people,  the  people  without  priests,  the  priests- 
without  respect,  the  Christians  without  Christ,  God's  holy  places  pro- 
faned, the  sacraments  no  longer  held  in  honor,  and  the  holy  days 
without  their  solemnities."  On  the  arrival  of  the  Saint,  Henry  took 
to  flight,  but  was  seized  and  delivered  over  to  the  papal  legate.  Car- 
dinal Alberic.     He  is  said  to  have  died  in  prison. 

363.  The  Arnoldists,  who  took  their  name  from  the  impetuous 
Arnold  of  Brescia,  are  said  by  some  writers  to  have  held  the  errors  of 
the  Petrobrusians  regarding  Infant  Baptism  and  the  Holy  Eucharist. 
Their  special  doctrine  was  that  secular  and  religious  power  ought  not 
to  be  invested  in  the  same  person;  that  salvation  was  impossible  to  a 
priest  holding  property,  to  an  ecclesiastic  exercising  temporal  power; 
and,  consequently,  that  church  property  might  be  lawfully  seized  by 
laymen.  They  were  branded  as  heretics  by  Pope  Lucius  in.,  and  al- 
so in  a  law  of  Frederick  II. 

364.  The  Waldenses  derive  their  name  from  their  founder,  Peter 
Waldo,  a  rich  merchant  of  Lyons.  The  sudden  death  of  a  near  relative 
caused  him  to  retire  from  the  world  and  dedicate  himself  to  a  life  of 
poverty  and  to  the  instruction  of  the  people.  He  conceived  the  de- 
sign of  bringing  back  the  Church,  which,  in  his  opinion,  by  its  wealth 
and  temporal  possessions,  had  become  corrupt,  to  primitive  and  apos- 
tolical simplicity.  He  gathered  disciples  around  him  and  sent  them 
two  by  two  into  the  neighboring  villages  to  preach  the  Gospel.  They 
were  known  as  the  "  Poor  Men  of  Lyons,"  while  they  styled  themselves 
the  "Humble  Ones,"  from  their  affected  humility. 

365.  The  earlier  Waldenses  probably  contemplated  no  secession 
from  the  universal  Church,  and  were  treated  at  first  as  Schismatics, 
for  usurping  the  functions  of  the  priesthood  and  refusing  obedience 
to  the  ecclesiastical  authorities.  Although  mere  laymen,  they  pre- 
sumed to  preach,  notwithstanding  they  had  been  interdicted  by  their 


MINOB  SECTS.  465 

lordinary,  and  by  Pope  Alexander  III.  Pope  Lucius  m.,  in  1184, 
formally  excommunicated  them,  together  with  other  heretics.  But 
they  refused  to  submit,  and  persisted  in  preaching,  claiming  that  they 
had  a  divine  mission  therefor,  and  that,  consequently,  they  must  obey 
Ood  rather  than  man ! 

366.  Their  rebellion  against  the  Church  naturally  led  the  "Wal- 
denses  into  heresy.  The  Church  of  Kome,  they  asserted,  ceased  to  be 
the  true  Church,  from  the  time  that  it  possessed  temporalities.  They 
repudiated  the  priesthood  and  the  entire  ritual  system,  except  Com- 
munion and  preaching,  rejected  prayers  for  the  dead.  Purgatory,  fes- 
tivals, and  the  invocation  of  the  Saints;  and  claimed  the  right  to 
preach  and  administer  the  sacraments  for  laymen,  and  even  for  women. 
They  devoted  much  of  their  time  to  the  reading  of  the  Bible,  of  which 
they  admitted  only  a  literal  interpretation.  Peter  Waldo  is  said  to 
have  labored  last  and  died  in  Bohemia.  His  sect  spread  through 
Southern  France,  Upper  Italy,  Bohemia,  and  even  Spain.  The  Wal- 
denses  have  maintained  themselves  in  the  mountains  of  Dauphine  and 
i;he  Piedmontese  Alps,  down  to  the  present  day.  In  the  sixteenth 
century,  they  united  in  Bohemia  with  the  Hussites,  and  in  France  with 
iihe  Calvinists. 

367.  The  Amalricians,  so  named  from  Amalric  of  Bena,  a  famous 
professor  at  the  University  of  Paris,  were  a  pantheistical  sect.  Fond 
of  new-fangled  opinions,  Amalric  taught  "  that  no  one  could  be  saved, 
imless  he  believed  himself  a  personal  member  of  Christ;"  for,  he  said, 
in  Qhrist  all  have  personally  suffered,  and  borne  the  death  of  the 
Cross.  The  University  of  Paris  condemned  his  teaching  and  deprived 
liim  of  his  professorship;  he  appealed  to  Rome,  but  Pope  Innocent  m. 
confirmed  the  sentence  and  obliged  him  to  retract.  He  died  shortly 
after,  of  grief. 

368.  The  pantheistical  views  of  Amalric  were  further  developed 
and  propagated  by  his  disciples,  William  of  Paris  and  David  Dinanto^ 
The  underlying  principle  of  their  teaching  was  that  "  all  things  are  one, 
and  one  is  all;  this  all  is  God;  ideas  and  God  are  identical"  God  the 
Father  assumed  flesh  in  Abraham;  God  the  Son  in  Mary;  and  the 
Holy  Ghost  daily  becomes  incarnate  in  every  Christian."  They  de- 
nied the  distinction  between  virtue  and  vice,  and  put  forward  the 
impious  assertion  that  "whosoever  lives  in  the  Holy  Spirit,  cannot 
stain  his  soul  with  the  guilt  of  sin,  even  though  he  should  be  a  forni- 
cator; each  of  us  is  Christ;  each  of  us  the  Holy  Spirit." 

369.  From  this  sect  sprung  a  party  of  fanatics  known  under  the 
name  of  "Spiritualists,"  or  Brethren  and  Sisters  of  the  Free  Spirit. 
They  spread,  in  the  thirteenth  century,  chiefly  through  France,  Italy 


iee  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

and  Germany.  Owing  to  their  professional  character  as  beggars,  they 
were  also  called  Beghards  and  Beguines.  They  denied  the  difference 
between  good  and  evil  works  and  maintained  that  the  soul,  which  is  a 
portion  of  the  divine  substance,  could  not  be  stained  by  sensual  ex- 
cesses. On  their  wanderings,  they  were  accompanied  by  women  called 
"  sisters,"  and  freely  indulged  in  the  grossest  abominations. 

370.  The  "Apostolical  Brethren,"  founded,  about  the  middle  of  the 
thirteenth  century,  by  Gerard  Segarelli  of  Parma,  were  a  kindred  sect. 
They  denied  the  meritoriousness  of  good  works,  and  rejected  marri- 
age, but  lived  in  licentious  intimacy  with  females,  their  so-called  "  sis- 
ters." After  the  execution  of  Segarelli,  in  1300,  Fra  Dolcino  of  Ver- 
celli  became  their  leader,  who,  together  with  his  female  companion, 
Margaret,  suffered  death  at  the  stake. 

371.  To  these  some  add  the  Flagellants,  so  called  from  the  scour- 
ges fjiagella),  with  which  they  lashed  their  naked  shoulders.  They 
first  appeared  at  Perugia,  in  1260,  and  thence  spread  with  rapidity 
over  the  rest  of  Italy,  and  into  France,  Germany,  and  Poland.  A  com- 
pany of  a  hundred  and  twenty  Flagellants  landed  in  London  in  the 
time  of  Edward  m.,  but  they  found  no  sympathy  among  the  English 
people.  Large  numbers  of  persons  of  every  age,  sex,  and  rank  marched 
two  by  two  in  procession  through  the  streets,  and  from  city  to  city, 
publicly  scourging  themselves,  or  each  other,  till  their  naked  backs 
streamed  with  blood — to  appease,  as  they  pretended,  the  divine  wrath. 
They  were  wont  to  scourge  themselves  twice  a  day,  for  thirty-three 
days,  in  honor  of  the  thirty-three  years  which  Christ  lived  upon  earths 
The  secular  magistrates,  finding  that  the  Church  did  not  sanction  the 
movement,  began  to  prohibit  the  Flagellant  processions.  After  the 
black  death,  which  ravaged  all  Europe  in  the  middle  of  the  fourteenth 
century,  they  again  appeared.  In  1349  Clement  VI.,  condemned  their 
practices.  But  they  refused  submission  and  gave  way  to  many  extra- 
vagances. As  Gerson  says,  "  contempt  of  the  priesthood,  rejection  of 
Sacraments,  extortion,  robbery,  and  all  manner  of  vices  marked  their 
presence." 

SECTION  LXV.    THE  NEW-MANICHEANS — OATHARISTS ^ALBIGENSES. 

New-Manichean  Sects — Paulicians— Bogomiles— Catharists,  or  Albigenses^ — 
Their  Tenets — Their  Idea  of  Moral  Perfection — Their  Hierarchy — Cor- 
ruption of  their  Morals — Endeavors  of  the  Popes  for  their  Conversion — 
Crusade  against  the  Albigenses — Simon  of  Montfort. 

372.  The  tenets  and  practices  of  the  ancient  Manicheans  were  re- 
vived and  propagated  in  the  East,  by  the  Bogomiles,  and  in  the  West, 
by  the  Catharists,  and  the  Albigenses.     They  all  owed  their  tenets  ta 


NEW'MANICHEANS.  467 

the  Paulician  sect,  organized  by  a  certain  Constantine  of  Samosata,  in 
the  seventh  century,  which  gradually  increased  its  numbers  and  ex- 
tended its  influence  westward  to  Thrace  anJ  Bulgaria,  and  thence 
passed  into  Italy  and  the  South  of  France. 

373.  The  Bogomi  is  had  for  their  founder  one  Basil,  a  Bulgarian 
monk,  who  lived  in  the  twelfth  century.  Their  tenets  resembled  very 
much  those  of  the  ancient  Manicheans.  They  believed  that  God  had 
two  sons,  Satanael,  the  seducer  and  chief  of  the  fallen  angels,  and  crea- 
tor of  the  material  world;  and  Christ,  whom  He  sent  into  this  world  to 
destroy  the  power  of  Satanael.  They  rejected  the  Old  Testament  and 
part  of  the  New,  abhorred  the  Holy  Eucharist,  condemned  the  Invoca- 
tion of  the  Saints  and  the  use  of  images  and  churches,  repudiated  mar- 
riage, and  would  not  recognize  any  liturgy,  except  the  Lord's  Prayer. 
They  were  detected  at  their  impious  work  in  the  Greek  Empire,  during 
the  reign  of  Alexius  Comnenus,  by  whom  Basil  was  condemned  to  the 
flames,  in  1119. 

374.  From  the  East,  the  New-Manicheans  flocked  into  Western 
Europe,  where  they  appeared  under  a  variety  of  names,  such  as  Bul- 
garians, Puritans,  Paterines,  Good  Men,  and  above  all,  Catharists.  The 
Catharists  were  very  numerous  in  Upper  Italy  and  Southern  France, 
especially  among  the  nobility.  In  the  latter  country,  they  became  con- 
spicuous under  the  name  of  Albigenses,  a  word  derived  from  the  town 
of  Alby,  in  Languedoc,  where  a  Council  was  held  in  1176,  which  con- 
demned their  teachings.  From  France,  they  reached  along  the  banks 
of  the  Rhine  into  Germany,  and,  about  the  middle  of  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury, they  turned  up  in  England. 

375.  The  tenets  of  the  Catharists,  or  Albigenses,  may  be  reduced 
to  the  following  heads:  1.  They  asserted  the  co-existence  of  two 
eternal  principles,  or  supreme  beings;  the  one  good,  the  other  evil; 
the  former,  the  creator  of  the  invisible  spiritual  world  and  author  of 
the  New  Testament;  the  latter,  the  creator  of  the  material  world  and 
author  of  the  Old  Testament. — 2.  The  source  of  all  evil,  consequently, 
of  sin,  in  this  world,  is  matter,  which  they  called  a  production  of  the 
evil  principle. — 3.  The  prince  of  darkness  seduced  a  number  of  the 
heavenly  spirits,  who,  in  punishment  of  their  sin,  were  imprisoned  in 
material  bodies  and  form  now  the  human  race  ! — 4.  The  Catharists 
denied  all  the  fundamental  doctrines  of  the  church,  as  the  Trinity,  In- 
carnation, Redemption,  Resurrection,  and  the  Sacraments. — 5.  They 
denied  also  the  Humanity  of  Christ,  whom  they  called  a  spirit  subject 
to  the  good  God,  and  who  was  not  born  of,  but  merely  passed  through, 
the  angel  Mary,  and  appeared  in  a  body  which  he  had  brought  down 
from  heaven ! 


468  HISTOBY    OF  THE  CUUBCE. 

376.  The  members  of  the  sect  were  divided  into  two  classes:  the 
"Perfect,"  who  professed  a  higher  perfection;  and  the  "Believers,"  or 
common  Christians,  who  composed  the  great  majority  of  the  sect.  The 
highest  moral  perfection  they  placed  in  the  freedom  from  matter; 
hence,  in  the  want  of  earthly  goods,  in  abstaining  from  all  animal  food, 
and  from  marriage.  But  only  the  Perfect  were  bound  to  these  laws 
and  practices :  the  Believers  could  live  in  marriage,  possess  temporal- 
ities, and  even  give  themselves  to  a  lawless  and  licentious  life,  pro- 
vided they  would  receive,  before  their  death,  what  they  called  the 
"  Consolamentum"  (Consolation.)  They  laid  great  stress  on  the  "  Con- 
solamentum,"  which  seems  to  have  been  their  distinctive  rite.  It  was 
imparted  by  the  imposition  of  the  hands.  By  means  of  this  rite,  the 
common  "  Believers  "  advanced  into  the  higher  class  of  the  "  Perfect." 

377.  The  hierarchy  of  the  Catharists,  or  Albigensians,  consisted  of 
deacons,  two  vicars-general — the  one  was  called  the  elder  son;  the 
other,  the  younger  (filius  major  et  filius  minor) — bishops,  and  a  college 
composed  of  seventy-two  ministers.  The  bishops  were  chosen  from 
the  class  of  the  Perfect.  They  had,  besides,  a  Supreme  Bishop,  or 
Pope,  who,  it  is  said,  dwelt  among  the  Bulgarians,  on  the  confines  of 
Croatia  and  Dalmatia.  In  1167,  Niquinta,  or  Niceta,  the  Albigensian 
Pope  presided  over  a  synod  of  his  sect,  at  Toulouse. 

378.  The  Albigensians  had  attained,  in  the  South  of  France,  a 
power  which  threatened  the  very  existence  of  the  Church  and  State. 
They  seemed  waging  with  the  Church  a  war  of  life  and  death.  Like 
highway  robbers,  they  overran  and  pillaged  the  country,  massacred  the 
Catholic  inhabitants,  violated  their  wives  and  daughters,  plundered 
and  burnt  the  churches  and  monasteries,  and  trampled  under  foot  the 
Holy  Eucharist.  All  endeavors  were  made  to  convert  them,  but  with- 
out success :  the  decrees  of  Councils  against  them  produced  little  or  no 
effect.  They  continued  to  multiply  and  spread,  and  found  powerful 
protectors  in  Count  Kaymond  VI.  of  Toulouse,  and  Viscount  Roger  11. 
of  Beziers. 

379.  Innocent  m.  sent  legates  and  missionaries  to  Languedoc,  to 
oppose  the  growth  of  the  heresy.  In  1206,  Bishop  Diego  of  Osma, 
and  his  sub-prior,  St.  Dominic,  also  engaged  in  a  mission  in  the  Albi- 
gensian territory,  the  result  of  which  was  the  conversion  of  vast 
numbers:  of  heretics.  The  murder  of  the  papal  legate,  Peter  de  Cas- 
telnau,  in  1208,  caused  the  Pope  to  proclaim  a  crusade  against  the  law- 
less sectaries.  The  command  of  the  war,  which  opened  in  1209,  was 
given  to  the  gallant  English  crusader,  Simon  de  Montfort.  The  cam- 
paign lasted  six  years  and  ended  with  the  total  defeat  of  the  Albi- 


INQUISITION.  469 

gensians/  The  conquered  territories  were  adjudged  to  Simon  de 
Montfort,  who  was  styled  "  the  gallant  champion  of  the  Cross  and  in- 
vincible defender  of  the  Catholic  Faith."  But  the  war  broke  out  afresh 
and  became  political;  in  its  progress  great  atrocities  were  committed. 
It  was  not  until  1227,  that  the  turbulent  fanatics  were  at  last  reduced 
to  submission,  to  which  the  preaching  of  St.  Dominic,  aided  by  the 
"  Devotion  of  the  Most  Holy  Rosary,"  instituted  by  him,  largely  contri- 
buted. 

SECTION  LXVI.    THE   PUNISHMENT   OF   HERESY SPANISH    INQUISITION. 

Conduct  of  Constantine  and  other  Emperors — Imperial  Inquisitors — Con- 
ciliar  Enactments  against  Albigensian  and  kindred  Sects — Laws  of 
Frederick  II. — Ecclesiastical  Inquisitors — Council  of  Toulouse — Estab- 
lishment of  Ecclesiastical  Inquisition — Spirit  of  Inquisitors — Spanish 
Inquisition — Wholly  diflfers  from  Ecclesiastical  Inquisition — Its  Object 
— Treasonable  Designs  of  the  Moors  and  Jews — Opposition  of  the  Popes 
— Autos-da-Fe— Burning  of  Witches. 

380.  In  the  first  ages  of  the  Church,  the  punishments  inflicted  on 
heretics  were  purely  ecclesiastical  and  spiritual.  Obstinate  heretics 
were  excommunicated,  or  banished  from  the  community  of  the  faithful. 
But  ever  since  the  conversion  of  the  Roman  Emperors  to  Christianity, 
apostasy  and  heresy  were  justly  reckoned  amongst  the  gravest  civic 
crimes,  and  were  punished  as  state  offences,  being  really  high  treason 
against  the  Divine  Majesty,  the  source  of  all  authority.  Constantine 
the  Great,  in  316,  issued  a  severe  edict  depriving  the  Donatists  of 
their  churches,  and  banishing  the  most  stubborn  of  their  leaders.  In 
325,  he  ordered  the  banishment  of  Arius  and  two  bishops  of  his 
party.  Severe  measures,  including  even  capital  punishment,  were  em- 
ployed by  later  Christian  emperors,  both  for  the  extermination  of 
heathenism  and  the  extirpation  of  heresy.  In  385,  Emperor  Maximus, 
in  order  to  suppress  the  Priscillionists,  commanded  their  leaders  to  be 
executed,  notwithstanding  Pope  Siricius  and  the  bishops,  St.  Martin 
and  St.  Ambrose,  loudly  condemned  the  shedding  of  the  blood  of 
heretics.  From  435,  death  was  the  penalty  decreed  for  those  who  led 
others  to  adopt  the  errors  of  any  sect. 

381.  Long  before  the  establishment  of  the  ecclesiastical  Inquisi- 
tion in  the  thirteenth  century,  Christian  princes  were  wont  to  appoint 


1.  Hurter,  the  learned  biographer  of  Innocent  III.  says:  "Although  great  excesses  may 
have  been  perpetrated  in  the  South  of  France  against  humanity  and  justice,  in  the  course  ol  these 
six  years,  and  although  the  forces  sent  thither  to  re-establish 'the  authority  and  the  faith  of  the 
Church,  carried  on  instead  a  war  of  indiscriminate  rapine,  stiir  Innocent  cannot  be  held  respons- 
ible for  either.  His  orders  were  not  carried  out,  and  he  was  led  by  false  reports  to  take  measures 
which  he  would  never  have  taken,  had  he  known  the  true  state  oi  affairs." 


470  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

"  Inquisitors/'  or  "  Inquirers/'  of  heretics.  Thus,  Theodosius  I.  com- 
manded the  Praetorian  Prefects  to  appoint  Inquisitors,  to  discover 
and  punish  the  Manichean  heretics.  For  several  centuries,  all  casea 
of  heresy  came  before  the  ordinary  civil  courts;  but  in  the  course  of 
time,  the  examination  of  the  charge  of  heresy  devolved  upon  the 
bishops.  The  Councils  specified  the  manner  of  treating  heretics,  as. 
well  as  the  punishment  to  be  inflicted  on  those  remaining  obdurate. 

382.  The  spread  of  the  Albigensian  and  kindred  sects,  in  the- 
twelfth  and  thirteenth  centuries,  justly  excited  the  alarm  of  the  civil 
as  well  as  the  ecclesiastical  authorities.  Popes  and  Emperors  united 
in  employing  stringent  measures  for  the  suppression  of  these  disturbers 
of  society.  The  Third  Lateran  Council,  in  1179,  and  the  Council  of 
Verona,  in  1184,  at  which  Emperor  Frederick  I.  was  present,  forbade 
the  support  and  defence  of  heretics  and  all  intercourse  with  them,  and 
further  enacted  that  those  convicted  of  heresy  and  remaining  obdurate 
should  be  delivered  over  to  the  secular  power  for  punishment.  In 
1215,  the  Twelfth  General  Council  renewed  the  decrees  of  former 
Synods,  and  particularly  enjoined  on  bishops  the  searching  out  of 
heresy  and  its  suppression  in  their  dioceses. 

383.  "  QucwsUores  Jidei,"  or  ecclesiastical  Inquisitors,  were  first  ap- 
pointed in  the  thirteenth  century,  by  Innocent  III.  In  1206,  this 
energetic  Pontiff  sent  several  Cistercian  monks,  among  them  Peter  of 
Castelnau,  as  his  legates  to  the  South  of  France,  in  order  to  oppose 
the  Albigenses,  and  charged  them  to  use  all  diligence  for  their  dis- 
covery and  conversion;  but,  if  the  obstinacy  of  the  sectaries  continued,, 
to  call  in  the  aid  of  the  civil  power.  The  laws  published,  in  1220,  by 
Frederick  II.  subjected  the  Albigenses  to  the  penalty  of  death;  and 
an  edict,  published  in  1224,  by  the  same  emperor,  gave  civil  force  to 
the  sentence  of  the  Inquisitors. 

384.  As  yet,  however,  a  tribunal  of  Inquisition  did  not  exist.  The 
Council  of  Toulouse,  held  in  1229,  maybe  regarded  as  having  estab- 
lished and  organized  what  is  called  the  Ecclesiastical  Inquisition. 
This  Council  provided  against  the  spread  of  heresy,  chiefly  by  the 
institution  of  special  tribunals.  It  ordered  that  in  every  parish  a 
priest  and  several  respectable  laymen  should  be  appointed  to  search 
out  heretics  and  denounce  them  to  the  civil  and  ecclesiastical  author- 
ities. In  order  to  guard  innocent  persons  against  false  and  slanderous- 
accusations,  it  provided,  that  no  one  should  be  punished  as  a  heretic 
before  having  been  declared  such,  by  the  bishop,  or  some  properly 
authorised  ecclesiastic. 

385.  The  means  employed  by  the  ecclesiastical  Inquisitors  were 
preaching,  exercises  of  piety,  and  other  ordinary  appliances  of  Christian 


INQUISITIOK  471 

zeal.  Comparatively  but  few  heretics,  and  such  only  as  had  oeen  con- 
victed of  acts  of  violence  and  open  rebellion,  were  made  to  exp^^rience 
the  extreme  rigor  of  the  law.  The  culprit,  when  found  guilty,  was 
handed  over  to  the  civil  authority,  with  the  invariable  prayer  +h  it  "  he 
might  be  spared  and  not  condemned  to  death."  It  is  quite  unti  ue  1  u  b  all 
those  condemned  for  heresy  and  delivered  up  to  the  civil  tribunal  vvere 
punished  with  death.  Very  many  were  liberated,  with  a  small  fine  or 
short  imprisonment,  and  the  amount  of  punishment  was  always  pro- 
portioned to  the  offence.  The  Inquisition  was  gradually  transferred 
from  the  bishops  to  the  Dominicans,  by  whom  it  was  introduced  into 
almost  all  parts  of  Europe.  As  a  matter  of  corrpf^.  the  institution  be- 
came very  odious  to  heretics,  which  not  unfrequently  resulted  in  the 
murder  of  the  Inquisitor.  Conrad  of  Marburg  was  assassinated  in 
1233;  and  St.  Peter  the  Martyr,  in  1252. 

386.  The  Inquisition  introduced  in  Spain,  by  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella,  was  wholly  different  from  that  established  by  the  Church. 
"While  the  former  was  a  purely  political  institution,  designed  for  the 
punishment  of  Jewish  and  Moorish  disloyalty,  the  latter  was  an  ecclesi- 
astical tribunal,  and,  in  fact,  a  court  of  equity,  protecting  the  innocent 
against  false  accusations,  and  offering  pardon  to  the  guilty  ones.  By 
their  immense  wealth,  by  their  alliances  with  the  most  influential 
families,  the  Jews  had  become  very  powerful  in  Spain.  A  great  part 
of  the  riches  of  the  country  had  passed  into  their  hands,  and  almost 
all  Christians  found  themselves  their  debtors.  They  possessed  ex- 
ceptional privileges,  such  as  the  Christians  did  not  enjoy;  they  formed 
a  people  within  another  people.  Besides,  proselytism,  carried  on  by 
the  Jews,  had  reached  an  alarming  degree. 

387.  All  this  naturally  aroused  the  hatred  of  the  people  against 
the  Jewish  nation.  The  well-founded  fear  of  a  union  between  the 
Jews  and  the  Moors,  the  enemies  of  the  monarchy,  or''y  heightened 
Spanish  animosity.  In  1473,  the  Jews  even  sought  to  obtain  posses- 
sion of  the  fortress  of  Gibraltar,  the  key  of  Spain.  Still  more  odious, 
than  the  real  Jews,  were  the  Judaizing  Christians,  or  "  Maranos  " — im- 
pure men — as  they  were  contemptuously  called  by  the  people.  A  great 
many  converts  from  Judaism  were  hardly  sincere;  they  remained  still 
secretly  attached  to  their  old  religion.  It  was  these  pretended  con- 
verts that  the  Inquisition  punished,  and  not  the  real  Jews.  Many  of 
them  were  found  among  the  priesthood:  even  episcopal  sees  are  said 
to  have  been  sometimes  usurped  by  these  audacious  hypocrites. 

388.  The  indignant  people,  justly  apprehensive  of  the  danger 
which  the  Jews  threatened  to  bring  upon  the  nation,  loudly  demanded 
of  the  government  to  proceed   with  severity  against  the  disguised 


472  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

enemies  of  their  country  and  religion.  In  1481,  Ferdinand  and  Isa- 
bella, after  vainly  trying  milder  means  to  arrest  the  progress  of  con- 
cealed Judaism,  established  the  Inquisition  throughout  the  Spanish 
dominions.  The  first  judges  of  the  tribunal  were  two  Dominicans. 
The  persons  appointed  inquisitors,  though  ecclesiastics,  were  em- 
ployed not  as  servants  of  the  Church,  but  as  functionaries  of  the 
State ;  they  received  from  their  sovereigns  their  appointment  and  in- 
structions. The  grand  inquisitors  Thomas  Torquemada  (1483-98)  and 
Didacus  Deza  (1498-1506)  relied  chiefly  upon  the  authority  of  the 
State. 

389.  The  expulsion  of  the  Jews,  in  1492,  and  of  the  Moors,  in 
1500,  furnished  the  Inquisition  with  abundant  occupation.  The  Jews 
had  provoked  their  banishment  by  their  brutalities  and  acts  of  viol- 
ence; they  were  accused  of  defacing  crucifixes,  profaning  sacred  hosts, 
and  even  of  infanticide.  Many  thousands  submitted  to  baptism;  but 
about  one  hundred  thousand,  preferring  exile  to  conversion,  left  the 
country.  On  account  of  their  repeated  revolts  the  Moors,  also,  were 
offered  the  alternative  either  to  become  Christians,  or  to  emigrate. 
The  greater  number  remained  and  were  baptized.  To  guard  the 
"new  Christians"  against  a  relapse,  both  the  "Maranos,"  and  "Mo- 
riscos,"  or  baptized  Moors,  were  placed  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Inquisition. 

390.  Pope  Sixtus  IV.  had  confirmed  the  establishment  of  the  In- 
quisition in  Spain;  but  he  soon  had  cause  to  complain  of  its  practices. 
The  Popes  uniformly  condemned  the  abuses  and  severity  of  the  tri- 
bunal; they  accepted  appeals  against  the  Spanish  inquisitors,  and  in 
many  instances  interposed  by  absolving  numbers  of  persons  who  fled 
to  their  clemency  from  the  national  judges.  The  cruelties  of  the 
Spanish  Inquisition,  however,  have  been  greatly  exaggerated,  and  the 
horrible  excesses  imputed  to  this  tribunal  by  the  lying  Llorente  *  were 
not  at  all  committed.  The  celebrated  Autos-da-Fe,  or  Acts  of  Faith, 
which  hostile  writers  have  represented  as  monstrous  fires,  kindled  for 
the  burning  of  heretics,  were,  on  the  contrary,  regarded  in  Spain  as 
acts  of  mercy,  rather  than  cruelty ;  they  were  a  form  of  reconciling 
culprits  to  the  Church,  and  were,  as  a  rule,  bloodless.  But  few  of  the 
inquisitorial  processes  terminated  with  the  death  of  the  accused. 

1.  •'  This  writer  was,  in  1789,  and  the  two  following  years,  secretary  of  the  Spanish  Inquisition; 
but  he  was  subsequently  deprived  of  his  office  and  sent  to  do  penance  in  a  convent,  for  breach  of 
confidence;  it  being  discovered  that  he  had  denunciated  to  some  philosophers  the  secrets  which 
he  was  sworn  to  keep.  On  the  invasion  of  the  French,  he  attached  himself  to  the  interests  of 
Joseph  Bonaparte,  who  placed  at  his  service  the  archives  of  the  Inquisition,  many  of  which  he 
burned — a  fact  which  betrays  an  apprehension  that  their  examination  would  expose  his  misstate- 
ments. His  history  of  the  tribunal,  although  professedly  composed  from  authentic  documents,  is 
a  most  malignant  misrepresentation  of  its  spirit  and  proceedings.  It  betrays  a  deadly  hatred 
against  the  Catholic  Church,  the  Pope,  the  religious  orders,  and  the  clergy  generally,  and  a  deep 
-sympattiy  with  the  deistical  clubs."    Kenrlck.  Primacy,  Oh.  IX. 


JOHN  WYCLIFFE.  473 

391.  If  we  remember  the  number  of  persons  burnt  as  witches  in 
Germany  alone,  the  number  of  criminals  of  various  kinds  condemned 
by  the  Inquisition  in  Spain  cannot  appear  extravagant.  These  unfor- 
tunate persons  were  persecuted  just  as  much  in  Germany  as  in  Spain, 
and  more  mercilessly  yet  by  Protestants  than  by  Catholics.  In  the  Pro- 
testant town  of  Nordlingen,  in  Bavaria,  the  population  of  which  was 
estimated  at  the  time  at  about  6000,  no  less  than  thirty-five  witches 
were  burnt  within  the  years  1590-94.  The  reformer  Beza  reproaches 
the  French  Parliaments  with  negligence  in  the  persecution  of  witches; 
and  Walter  Scott  owns  that,  the  more  Calvinism  extended  in  England, 
the  more  numerous  became  the  trials  for  witchcraft.  England  was 
the  last  country  in  Europe  to  abolish  the  barbarous  custom  of  burn- 
ing at  the  stake,  an  instance  of  which  occurred  yet  in  the  reign  of 
George  11.  No  witches  were  ever  burnt  in  Rome,  and  more  than  seventy 
years  before  the  Protestant  Thomasius  shook  the  belief  in  witches 
amongst  his  co-religionists,  the  Jesuits  Adam  Tanner  and  Frederick 
Spee  had  already  done  so  amongst  Catholics.  The  last  witch  burnt  in 
Europe  was  sentenced  in  the  Canton  Glarus  by  a  Protestant  tribunal, 
as  late  as  IV 83. 


SECTION   LXVn.       JOHN  WYCLIETE THE   LOLLAKDS. 

Precursors  of  the  Reformation— John  Wycliffe — Earlier  Events  of  his  Life — 
Animosity  of  Secular  Clergy  against  the  Mendicants — Wycliffe  inveighs 
against  the  Clergy — His  Poor  Priests — Is  summoned  before  the  Primate 
— His  Translation  of  the  Bible — His  Tenets  on  the  Scripture  and  the  Eu- 

^arist — Rising  of  the  Commons — Synod  at  Lambeth — Death  of  Wycliffe 
His  Doctrines — His  Condemnation — The  Lollards — Their   Petition — 
Measures  for  their  Suppression. 

392.  The  Englishman,  John  Wycliffe,  and  the  Bohemian,  .John 
Huss,  are  sometimes  styled,  the  Precursors  of  that  great  religious  re- 
volution, called  the  Protestant  Keformation.  For  not  only  were  they 
bitter  opponents  of  the  Church,  and  the  champions  of  pure  Presby- 
terianism,  but  their  tenets  regarding  the  Papacy,  hierarchy,  predes- 
tination, private  interpretation  of  the  Scripture,  Sacraments,  venera- 
tion of  the  Saints,  and  other  Catholic  doctrines  and  practices,  were 
nearly  the  same  as  those  propagated  by  the  Kef  ormers  of  the  sixteenth 
century.  English  Protestants  especially  trace  their  origin  to  Wycliffe, 
and  call  him  the  "Father  of  the  English  Keformation." 

393.     John  Wycliffe,  a  native  of  Yorkshire,  was  born  about  1324.. 
He  made  his  studies  at  Oxford  under  Thomas  Bradwardine,  became  a 


474  HISTOBY  OF  THE  CHUBCH. 

Fellow  of  Merton  College,  and  in  1361,  Master  of  Balliol  College,  and 
Warden  of  Canterbury  Hall,  founded  by  Archbishop  Islip.  Shortly 
afterwards  he  was  preferred  to  the  Kectory  of  Fylingham,  which,  in 
1368,  he  exchanged  for  that  of  Lutterworth,  where  he  remained  until 
his  death.  He  soon  made  himself  notorious  by  the  haughty  license 
with  which  he  censured  the  doctrines  of  the  Church  and  actions  of  his 
superiors.  His  rancor  is  said  to  have  arisen  from  disappointed  ambi- 
tion, Wycliffe  having  failed  to  obtain  the  vacant  see  of  Worcester. 

394.  Considerable  ill-feeling  was  exhibited  at  the  time  by  the  mas- 
ters and  doctors  belonging  to  the  secular  clergy  against  the  friars  of 
the  different  orders.  The  reputation  and  prosperity  of  the  new  Men- 
dicant orders  awakened  the  jealousy  of  their  rivals.  Fitz-Ralph,  Arch- 
bishop of  Armagh,  who  before  his  elevation  to  the  Irish  Primacy,  had 
been  chancellor  of  Oxford,  openly  accused  the  Mendicants  of  novel 
practices,  maintaining  that  the  poverty  of  Christ  was  not  like  that  of 
the  friars  voluntary.  Wycliffe  took  an  active  part  in  the  controversy 
and  went  so  far  as  to  maintain  that  a  life  of  mendicity  was  repugnant 
to  the  Gospel,  and  that  to  enter  a  Mendicant  Order  was  to  forego  all 
hope  of  heaven.  In  1366,  he  wrote  against  the  payment  of  the  annual 
tribute,  which  King  John  had  granted  to  the  Holy  See.  Some  years 
after  this,  he  went  as  one  of  the  Royal  Commissioners  to  Bruges  to 
settle  with  the  Papal  Envoys  the  disputed  question  of  "  Provisions." 

395.  In  1372,  having  been  made  doctor  of  Theology,  Wycliffe  be- 
^an  openly  to  attack  the  hierarchy,  particularly  the  Pope,  whom  he 
denied  to  be  the  Yicar  of  Christ  and  the  Head  of  the  Church  militant. 
He  inveighed  against  the  beneficed  clergy,  the  monastic,  and  now 
particularly,  the  Mendicant  orders.  He  asserted  that  the  laity  could 
lawfully  take  away  from  the  clergy  their  possessions  if  they  judged 
that  a  bad  use  was  made  of  them.  "  The  fanatical  reformer  led  appar- 
ently an  austere*  life,  was  meanly  clad,  and  went  even  barefoot.  He 
collected  a  body  of  fanatics,  whom,  under  the  name  of  "  Poor  Priests," 
he  sent  out  to  preach  his  doctrines  throughout  the  country  without  the 
license,  and  even  in  opposition,  to  the  authority  of  the  bishops. 

396.  Meantime  eighteen  propositions,  charging  the  author  with 
heresy,  had  been  selected  from  the  writings  of  Wycliffe,  and  were  laid 
before  Pope  Gregory  XL  Wycliffe  had  already  been  summoned  to 
answer  for  his  doctrines  before  Bishop  Courtenay  in  London.  When 
he  appeared,  he  was  accompanied  by  the  Duke  of  Lancaster,  and  Per- 
cy, the  Lord  Marshal.  The  insolent  bearing  of  these  two  noblemen, 
caused  the  assembly  to  break  up,  and  Wycliffe  was  allowed  to  with- 
draw. In  consequence  of  a  papal  command,  another  assembly  was 
held   at  Lambeth,  to  which  Wycliffe   was   cited.     But  nothing  was 


JOHN  WYGLIFFE.  476 

effected.     The  weak  primate,  Sudbury,  contented  himself  with  simply 
forbidding  the  heretic  to  lecture  or  write  on  the  subject  in  dispute. 

39*7.  But  Wycliffe  persisted  in  his  defiance  of  the  Church.  Though 
ignorant  of  the  Greek  and  Hebrew  languages,  he  undertook  the  dif- 
ficult task  of  translating  the  Vulgate  Bible  into  English.'  He  re- 
jected the  deutoro-canonical  books,  held  that  the  Holy  Scripture  was 
the  only  Rule  of  Faith,  and  asserted  the  right  of  every  Christian  to 
explain  and  interpret  its  meaning.  In  1387,  he  lectured  on  the  Eu- 
charist and  gave  great  offence  by  his  denial  of  Transubstantiation, 
which  he  declared  to  be  contrary  to  Holy  Writ,  and  propounded  in  its 
stead  the  tenet  of  "Consubstantiation."  The  chancellor,  William 
Berton,  called  a  council  of  twelve  doctors,  who  declared  the  doctrine 
of  Wycliffe  new  and  heretical.  AVycliffe  was  now  debarred  from 
teaching  in  the  university. 

398.  In  the  same  year  occured  the  terrible  rising  of  the  Commons. 
The  itinerant  preachers  of  Wycliffe,  by  their  fanatical  denuncia- 
tions had  considerably  aided,  if  not  produced,  the  general  insubord- 
ination. Sudbury,  the  archbishop,  was  murdered.  Courtenay,  the  new 
primate,  lost  no  time  in  proceeding  against  the  heresiarch.  A  pro- 
vincial synod  assembled  at  Lambeth,  in  1382,  formally  condemned 
twenty-four  propositions  extracted  from  the  writings  of  Wycliffe.  The 
sentence  was  confirmed  by  the  Pope,  and  Wycliffe  was  obliged  to  re- 
tire to  his  living  in  Lutterworth,  where  he  died  in  1384. 

399.  The  doctrine  of  Wycliffe,  as  set  forth  in  his  most  celebrated 
work,  iihe  Trialogus,  is  a  rude  compound  of  Pantheism,  Fatalism,  and 
Predestinarianism.  He  taught: — 1.  All  is  God;  every  creature  is 
God;  anything,  the  idea  of  which  exists  in  the  mind  of  God,  is  God 
himself. — 2.  Creation  was  but  a  necessary  emanation  of  God,  and 
whatever  did  take  place,  the  evil  as  well  as  the  good,  took  place  by  a 
law  of  necessity  to  which  God  himself  is  subject. — 3.  Some  men  are 
predestined  to  eternal  glory,  others  to  eternal  damnation.  The  prayer 
of  the  latter  availeth  nothing. — 4.  In  the  ancient  Church  there  were 
only  priests  and  deacons;  the  episcopacy  and  other  hierarchical  degrees 
are  the  device  of  clerical  ambition. — 5.  The  Church  of  Rome  is  the 
synagogue  of  Satan;  the  election  of  the  Pope  by  the  Cardinals  was 
introduced  by  the  devil. — 6.   No  bishop  or  priest  in  the  state  of  mortal 


1.  Wycliffe's  translation  of  the  Bible  was  not,  as  some  have  maintained,  the  first  ever 
attemptea.  "If  histories  be  well  examined,"  says  Foxe,  the  Martyrologist,  "we  shall  find  both 
before  the  Conquest  and  after,  as  well  before  John  Wycliffe  was  born  or  since,  the  whole  body  of 
the  Scriptures  by  sundry  men  translated  into  this  our  country  tongue."  And  the  celebrated  Sir 
Thomas  More,  an  unquestionable  authority,  writes:  "  The  whole  Bible  was,  long  before  Wycliffe's 
days,  by  virtuous  and  well  learned  men  translated  into  the  English  tongue  and  by  good  and  godly 
people  with  devotion  and  soberness  well  and  reverently  read."  Blunt.  The  Reformation  of  Eng- 
aud.    Vol.  I.  pp.  504,  505. 


476  histohy  of  the  church. 

sin  can  validly  administer  the  sacraments.  Laymen  may  confirm  as 
well  as  baptize.  Oral  confession  of  sin  is  unnecessary. — 7.  The  sub- 
stance of  the  bread  and  wine  is  not  changed  in  consecration,  and  the 
consecrated  bread  is  not  Christ's  Body. — 8.  Worship  of  images  is 
unlawful.  To  pray  to  the  Saints  is  superfluous ;  many  of  those  persons 
so  called  are  in  hell. 

400.  In  1411,  a  Council  held  in  London,  by  Archbishop  Arundel, 
condemned  forty-five  of  Wycliffe  's  propositions.  The  Council  of  Con- 
stance, at  which  the  great  English  Carmelite,  Thomas  of  Walden,  was 
present,  in  its  eighth  session  confirmed  the  condemnation  of  the  "Wyc- 
liffite  errors,  and  ordered  the  writings  of  the  heresiarch  to  be  burned 
and  his  remains  to  be  removed  from  consecrated  ground.  The  sen- 
tence was  ratified  by  Martin  V.  and  strictly  carried  out,  in  1428,  by 
Bishop  Flemyng  of  Lincoln. 

401.  The  "  Poor  Priests  "  founded  by  Wycliffe  continued  to  excite 
the  passions  and  prejudices  of  the  populace  against  the  Church  and 
the  clergy.  Among  these  men  Hereford,  Patrington,  Parker,  Swinderby 
and  Purvey,  were  conspicuous.  The  Lollards,  as  the  followers  of  Wyc- 
liffe were  called,  soon  became  very  turbulent  and  threatening.  They 
circulated  libels  against  the  clergy,  as  gross  as  they  were  vague.  In 
1394,  they  presented  to  Parliament  a  remonstrance  against  the  Papacy, 
celibacy,  transubstantiation,  auricular  confession,  pilgrimages,  and 
capital  punishment. 

402.  The  audacity  of  the  Lollards  had  the  effect  to  unite  both 
Lords  and  Commons  in  a  petition  to  the  king  for  legal  redress.  In 
1401,  the  Act  "De  Hseretico  Comburendo  "  was  passed,  which  made 
death  by  fire  the  penalty  for  heresy.  The  first  victim  of  this  severe 
enactment  was  William  Sawtre,  the  apostate  rector  of  Lynn.  John 
Oldcastle,  commonly  known  as  Lord  Cobham,  and  several  other  Lol- 
lard leaders,  were  tried  and  executed,  in  1417.  During  the  reign  of 
Henry  V.  (A.  D.  1413-22),  LoUardy  was  prosecuted  with  so  much  rigor 
as  to  become  almost  entirely  extinct.  The  remaining  Lollards  in  the 
sixteenth  century  united  with  the  Anglican  Church;  in  Bohemia  their 
tenets  were  adopted  by  the  Hussites. 


JOHN  HUSS.  477 

SECTION  LXVm.       JOHN  HUSS THE  HUSSITE  WAB. 

John  Huss— Influence  of  the  Principles  of  Wycliffe  in  Bohemia— University 
of  Prague — Feuds  between  the  Germans  and  Bohemians— Huss  Rector 
of  the  University— His  Excommunication — Former  Friends— Banishment 
of  Huss — At  Constance — His  Trial — His  Doctrines — Refuses  to  retreat — 
Condemnation  of  Huss — His  Execution  no  Breach  of  Faith — Jerome  of 
Prague— Hussite  Factions— Compact  of  Prague — ''Utraquists  and  Sub- 
unists  " — Bohemian  and  Moravian  Brethren — Other  Precursors  of  the  Re- 
formation— John  "VYesel — John  Wessel — John  van  Goch — Herman  Ruis- 
wick — Jerome  of  Savonarola. 

403.  From  England  the  heresy  of  "Wycliffe  was,  about  the  begin- 
ning of  the  fifteenth  century,  transplanted  into  Bohemia,  where  John 
Huss  became  its  chief  propagator.  Bom  about  1369,  at  Hussinecz,  a 
Bohemian  village,  he  was  a  man  of  great  eloquence  and  an  accomp- 
lished scholar.  He  became  professor  in  the  University  of  Prague, 
which  was  then  in  a  most  flourishing  condition,  confessor  to  Queen 
Sophia,  and  preacher  in  the  chapel  of  Bethlehem,  which  had  been 
founded,  especially  for  the  preaching  of  the  G-ospel  to  the  poorer 
classes.  Just  at  this  time  the  writings  of  Wycliffe  were  brought  from 
Oxford  to  Prague;  they  were  perused  with  delight  and  avidity  by  Huss 
and  his  disciples.  Among  the  most  ardent  advocates  of  the  Wycliffite 
teachings  were  Nicholas  Faulfisch  and  Jerome  of  Prague.  Huss  him- 
self transla|ted  Wycliffe's  Trialogus  into  Bohemian. 

404.  The  University  of  Prague  was  at  this  time  rent  with  feuds 
between  the  Germans  and  Bohemians :  but  hitherto  the  Grermans,  con- 
sisting of  three  nations — the  Saxon,  Bavarian,  and  Polish — had  main- 
tained the  ascendency.  At  their  instance  forty-five  articles  of  Wycliffe 
were,  in  1408,  condemned  by  the  University,  and  the  reading  of  his 
works  was  prohibited  by  Archbishop  Sbinko  of  Prague.  This  so  irri- 
tated the  Bohemian  party  that  every  means  was  employed  to  oust  the 
Germans  from  the  university.  At  length,  Huss  obtained  from  King 
Wenceslaus  an  ordinance  giving  special  privileges  to  the  Bohemian 
over  the  foreign  nations.  The  Germans,  to  the  number  of  thirty-thous- 
sand,  left  the  city;  a  great  part  wandered  to  Leipsic  and  founded  a 
rival  university.  Huss  became  Rector  of  the  University  of  Prague;  he 
now  preached  boldly  and  without  reserve  the  doctrines  of  Wycliffe — 
doctrines  subversive  of  all  order,  ecclesiastical  and  civil. 

405.  To  forestall  excommunication  from  the  rightful  Pope  Gregory 
XII.,  Huss  induced  the  king  to  recognize  the  authority  of  Alexander 
V. ;  Sbinko,  the  archbishop,  also  had  to  submit  to  the  Pisan  Pontiff. 
Having  obtained  a  bull  from  Alexander  V.  for  the  suppression  of  the 


478  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Wycliffite  doctrines,  Sbinko  ordered  two  hundred  volumes  of  the 
English  heresiarch  to  be  burnt,  then  suspended  and,  finally,  excommu- 
nicated Huss.  The  sentence  was  confirmed  by  John  XXIII.,  and  the 
city  of  Prague  was  placed  under  interdict  so  long  as  Huss  should  be 
allowed  to  remain  there.  But  to  this  Huss  paid  no  regard ;  he  ap- 
pealed from  the  Pope  to  a  General  Council,  and  continued  to  preach 
and  pour  forth  his  coarse  and  loose  invectives  against  the  Papacy,  the 
hierarchy,  and  the  clergy. 

406.  The  excesses  committed  by  the  partisans  and  at  the  instiga- 
tion of  Huss,  caused  many  of  his  former  friends  to  withdraw  from 
him.  Chief  among  them  were  Stanislaus  and  Peter  Znaim,  Stephen 
of  Palecz,  Andrew  of  Broda,  and  Michael  de  Causis,  who  now  turned 
against  him  and  became  his  accusers.  At  the  instance  of  King  Wen- 
ceslaus,  Huss  for  a  time  left  Prague;  he  withdrew  to  the  protection  of 
some  Bohemian  nobles  who  were  friendly  to  him,  and  employed  him- 
self chiefly  in  writing  various  works,  some  in  Latin,  some  in  his  native 
tongue  which  spread  with  rapidity.  His  retirement  served  only  to 
inflame  the  anger  of  his  partisans;  the  infection  of  his  errors  soon 
spread  throughout  Bohemia,  and  was  propagated  by  Jerome  of 
Prague  throughout  Poland  and  Moravia. 

407.  The  Council  of  Constance  having  meanwhile  assembled,  Huss, 
who  had  appealed  to  a  General  Council,  was  prevailed  upon  to  appear 
before  that  assembly  by  the  emperor  Sigismund.  Provided  with  a 
safe-conduct,  which  secured  to  him  protection  while  on  his  journey 
and  liberty  in  pleading  his  cause,  Huss  entered  Constance.  He  was 
welcomed  by  John  XXIII.,  who  even  absolved  him  from  excommuni- 
cation, restraining  him  only  from  preaching  and  saying  Mass.  For 
some  time  Huss  was  allowed  to  converse  freely  with  all.  But  as  he 
continued  to  say  Mass  and  to  preach  to  the  people,  he  was  finally 
placed  under  custody. 

408.  Huss  had  three  public  hearings  before  the  Council.  Thirty 
articles,  extracted  chiefly  from  his  "Treatise  on  the  Church,"  were 
condemned.  In  this  work  the  heresiarch  asserts  : — 1.  The  one  holy 
and  universal  Church  consists  wholly  of  the  predestined.  None  but 
the  elect  can  belong  to  the  Church  of  Christ. — 2.  Peter  never  was 
the  Head  of  the  holy  Catholic  Church.  The  Papacy  owes  its  origin  to 
imperial  favor  and  authority. — 3.  A  priest  though  excommunicated, 
provided  he  believes  the  sentence  unjust,  ought  to  continue  to  preach 
and  exercise  his  functions,  in  spite  of  the  ecclesiastical  prohibition- 
— 4.  The  claim  of  the  Church  to  the  obedience  of  her  members  is  a 
pure  invention  of  priests  and  contrary  to  Holy  Scripture. — 5.  No 
ruler,  spiritual  or  temporal,  has  any  power  and  jurisdiction,  if  he  be 


JOHN  HUSS.  479 

in  mortal  sin.  Huss  admitted  to  the  day  of  his  death  many  Catholic 
doctrines  which  Wycliffe  had  rejected,  such  as  the  Real  Presence,  the 
Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  and  some  others. 

409.  Huss  was  ^called  on  to  retract  his  doctrines.  His  former 
friends,  Stephan  Palecz  and  Michael  de  Causis,  cardinals  and  bishops, 
and  even  Emperor  Sigismund  earnestly  besought  him  to  make  at  least 
a  modified  disavowal  of  his  errors.  But  his  indomitable  obstinacy 
frustrated  every  well-meant  endeavor.  At  length  the  Council  solemnly 
declared  him  an  obstinate  heretic,  degraded  him  from  the  priesthood, 
and  transferred  him  to  the  civil  authorities.  In  accordance  with  the 
penalty  of  civil  law  which  jnade  heresy  punishable  with  death,  Huss 
was  burnt  at  the  stake,  July  6,  1415.  His  friend,  Jerome  of  Prague, 
met  with  a  similar  fate  the  following  year.* 

410.  The  news  of  the  death  of  Huss  incited  his  followers  in  Bo- 
hemia and  Moravia  to  a  furious  religious  war.  They  raised  an  insur- 
rection in  Prague  and  stormed  ihe  houses  of  Catholics  who  were  op- 
posed to  Huss;  they  ill-treated,  and  even  murdered  priests,  who 
refused  to  administer  the  chalice  to  the  laity.  Utraquism,  or  Com- 
munion under  both  kinds,  became  their  distinctive  characteristic,  and 
the  chalice  was  adopted  by  them  as  the  symbol  of  their  cause.  In 
1419,  they  rose  in  arms  against  the  imperial  government.  Nicholas 
Hussinecz  and  John  Ziska  placed  themselves  at  the  head  of  the  insur- 
rection. Terrible  excesses  were  committed  by  the  Hussites;  during  a 
war  whicl\  lasted  thirteen  years,  they  indiscriminately  murdered 
priests  and  monks,  and  laid  a  great  number  of  churches  and  convents 
in  ashes  and  many  cities  waste.  All  Bohemia  was  soon  in  the  hands 
of  the  rebels.  Several  crusades  were  sent  to  the  aid  of  the  emperor 
Sigismund,  but  with  no  result ;  the  imperial  troops  fled  in  dismay 
before  the  fury  of  the  fanatical  Hussites,  who  carried  their  ravages 
even  into  Austria,  Hungary,  and  Germany.  The  name  of  Ziska  became 
a  terror  to  the  neighboring  nations. 

411.  After  the  death  of  Ziska,  in  1424,  the  Hussites  became 
divided  into  four  conflicting  parties — the  Taborites  under  Procopius 
the  Elder;  the  Orphans  under  Procopius  the  Younger;  the  Horehites 

1.  The  execution  of  Huss  cannot  riglitly  be  looked  upon  as  a  breach  of  the  safe-conduct 
sgranted  to  him  by  the  emperor.  This  safe-conduct,  as  the  tenor  of  the  document  shows,  gua- 
ranteed protection  and  assistance  in  coming  to  Constance  and  a  fair  trial  before  the  Council;  but 
it  did  not,  nor  could  exempt  him  from  punishment  if  found  guilty.  It  was  never  understood  either 
by  the  emperor  or  by  Huss  himself,  to  bar  the  sentence  of  the  Council,  to  which  the  latter  had 
appealed,  and  to  whose  decision  he  had  expressea  his  willingness  to  submit  even  though  it  should 
decree  the  punishment  of  heretics.  Even  the  Hussite  nobles,  in  their  bitter  and  violent  address 
to  the  Council  of  Constance,  make  no  mention  whatever  of  any  violation  of  the  safe-conduct. 
It  was  only  at  a  later  period  that  this  charge  was  brought  forward  by  the  Hussites.— It  is  historic- 
ally untrue  that  the  Council  of  Constance  enacted  a  decree  declaring  that  no  faith  was  to  be  kept 
with  a  hpretic.  The  decree  referred  to,  only  declares  that  the  Church  has  an  inherent  and  wholly 
independent  jurisdiction  in  the  exercise  of  which  she  cannot  be  restrained  by  even  the  emperor's 
special  enactement,  adding,  however,  that  a  prince  is  bound  to  strictly  keep  his  promise  unless 
by  so  doing  he  would  violate  the  right  of  another. 


480  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

and  Galixtmes.  After  much  negotiation  the  Synod  of  Basle  succeeded 
in  reconciling  the  more  moderate  Calixtines.  By  the  Compact  of 
Prague,  in  1433,  the  Synod  conceded  to  them  Communion  under  both 
kinds,  besides  several  reforms  on  certain  points  of  discipline.  The 
Taborites  and  Orphans,  however,  rejected  the  Compact  and  continued 
their  incendiary  course  till  1434,  when  they  suffered  a  crushing  defeat 
near  Prague  and  the  two  Procopiuses  were  killed.  By  the  treaty  of 
Iglau,  in  1436,  the  greater  number  of  them  returned  to  the  unity  of 
the  Church.  The  united  Hussites  went  under  the  name  of  Utraquists, 
while  the  Catholics  who  adhered  to  the  old  discipline  of  the  Church, 
were  called  Subunists,  or  communicants  under  one  kind.  Nevertheless, 
a  great  number  of  the  Hussites  continued  in  their  separation  from 
the  Church  until  the  preaching  of  the  eloquent  St.  John  Capistran — 
between  1451  and  1453 — effected  a  general  reconciliation.  Only  a 
small  remnant  of  extreme  Hussites  persisted  secretly  in  their  schism, 
and  formed  the  sect  known  under  the  name  of  Bohemian  and  Moravian 
Brethren.  ;     ■ 

412.  There  were  other  heresiarchs  and  zealots  of  less  note  who 
are  sometimes,  though  some  of  them  unjustly,  reckoned  among 
the  forerunners  of  the  Reformation,  namely  John  Wesel,  John  Wessel, 
John  van  Goch,  Herman  Euiswick,  and  Jerome  of  Savonarola.  John 
Wesel,  a  professor  at  Erfurt,  inveighed  against  the  hierarchy,  rejected 
transubstantiation  and  indulgences,  and  denied  the  right  of  the 
Church  to  expound  the  Scriptures,  which,  he  asserted,  belonged  to 
Christ.  He  was  sentenced  to  confinement  in  the  Augustinian  mon- 
astery at  Mentz,  in  1479,  where  he  died  two  years  later.  His  contem- 
porary, John  Wessel,  a  native  of  the  Netherlands,  although  imbued 
with  principles  of  a  false  mysticism  and  often  inaccurate  and  ambi- 
guous in  his  expressions,  was  by  no  means  an  avowed  heretic.  The 
errors  imputed  to  him  must  be  ascribed  to  the  stubborn  persistence 
of  the  Protestants  in  claiming  him  as  a  forerunner  of  Luther. 

4.13.  Another  Netherlander,  John  van  Goch,  asserted  that  Christi- 
anity had  been  adulterated  by  error,  a  defect  which  it  was  his  mission 
to  correct.  He  rejected  tradition  and  religious  vows,  and  was  the 
first  to  advance  the  erroneous  doctrine  of  justification  by  faith  alone^ 
He  died,  in  1475.  Herman  Buiswick,  likewise  a  native  of  the  Nether- 
lands, asserted  the  eternity  of  matter,  and  denied  the  creation  of  the 
angels  by  God,  the  existence  of  hell,  and  the  immortality  of  the  human 
soul.  Christ  was  to  him  an  imj)ostor,  the  Christian  religion  a  fraud, 
and  the  Bible  a  book  of  fables.     He  was  burned  at  the  stake,  in  1512^ 

414.  The  well-meaning,  but  overzealous  and  eccentric  Jerome  of 
Savonarola,  a  Dominican,  does  not  at  all  deserve  to  be  numbered 


BELIQIOUS  LIFE.  481 

among  the  precursors  of  the  Eeformers.  A  severe  censor  of  morals, 
Savonarola  appears  to  have  been  actuated  by  the  best  of  intention  in 
denouncing  the  corruptions  of  the  age ;  but  his  eccentric  and  violent 
temper  carried  him  beyond  the  bounds  of  moderation.  He  never 
deviated,  in  the  least,  from  the  Catholic  faith,  and  always  maintained 
that,  whosoever  separates  himself  from  the  Koman  Church,  separates 
himself  from  Christ.  His  greatest  fault  was  disobedience  to  the 
Church  and  disregard  of  her  censures.  Savonarola,  with  two  other 
Dominicans,  was  sentenced  to  death  and  executed  by  order  of  the 
J'lorentine  Council,  in  1498. 


CHAPTEK  V. 


CONSTITUTION  AND  DISCIPLINE. 


SECTION  LXIX.      RELIGIOUS  LEFK 

Preachers  of  Penance — St.  Anthony  of  Padua — St.  Yincent  of  Ferrer — St. 
John  Capistran — St.  Bernardin  of  Siena — Scandals  and  Abuses — Morality 
of  Monasteries— The  Episcopacy— Monuments  of  the  Faith — Saints  of  this 
Epoch.  ( 

415.  Whenever  the  Church  found  herself  in  embarrassing  straits, 
she  always  received  the  promised  help  from  God.  Thus,  when,  in  this 
Epoch,  schism  and  numberless  heresies  seemed  to  threaten  her  very 
existence,  and  a  wide-spread  relaxation  of  morals  had  crept  in  amongst 
all  classes,  Divine  Providence  raised  up  powerful  preachers  of 
penance,  who,  travelling  from  place  to  place,  and  from  country  to 
country,  aroused  thousands  out  of  their  fatal  lethargy.  Among*  the 
most  eminent  preachers  of  those  times  may  be  reckoned  St.  Peter 
Damian,  St.  Yves  of  Chartres,  Hildebert  of  Mans,  Godfrey  of  Bor- 
deaux, Nicholas  de  Clemangis,  John  Gerson,  John  Tauler,  Henry  Su- 
so,  Gabriel  Biel,  but  above  all  St.  Bernard  of  Clairvaux,  and  the  great 
founders  of  Religious  Orders,  St.  Norbert,  St.  Francis  of  Assisi,  and 
St.  Dominic. 

416.  The  members  of  the  Mendicant  Orders,  especially,  devoted 
themselves  to  preaching  and  to  the  instruction  of  the  people.  St.  An- 
thony of  Padua  preached  with  wonderful  success  in  Italy,  France,  and 
Spain.  "  His  Sermons,"  says  his  biographer,  "  were  flames  of  fire,  im- 
possible to  withstand,  which  aroused  numbers  of  sinners  and  crimin- 


482  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

als  to  penance."  He  died  at  the  age  of  only  thirty-six,  in  1231.  St. 
Vincent  Ferrer,  a  Dominican,  was  the  most  conspicuous  preacher  of 
his  age.  He  travelled  not  only  through  Spain,  France,  Italy,  and  a 
part  of  Germany,  but,  at  the  invitation  of  the  English  king,  Henry  IV., 
he  preached  also  in  the  chief  towns  of  England,  Scotland,  and  Ireland^ 
Everywhere  enormous  crowds,  sometimes  as  many  as  80,000,  gathered 
around  him.  He  converted  a  prodigious  number  of  Jews  and  Moham- 
medans,  heretics  and  schismatics.  He  knew  only  Spanish  and  Latin, 
but,  when  preaching  in  his  native  language,  he  was  understood  by 
men  of  all  nations.     He  died  in  1419. 

417.  A  like  zeal  and  power  in  preaching  characterized  St.  John 
Capistran,  a  Franciscan.  He  traversed  Italy,  Austria,  Moravia,  Bo- 
hemia, Hungary,  Poland,  and  part  of  Germany,  everywhere  preaching 
with  wonderful  fruit.  He  received  the  abjuration  of  11,000  Hussites. 
To  his  zeal  and  eloquence  principally,  is  ascribed  the  great  victory, 
which,  in  1456,  the  Christians,  under  the  gallant  Hunniades,  gained  at 
Belgrade,  over  Mohammed  II.  St.  Capistran  died  the  same  year.  His 
contemporary,  St.  Bernardin,  of  Siena,  deserves  also  special  mention, 
as  a  preacher  of  penance.  He  preached  in  nearly  all  the  cities  of  Italy, 
and  the  effect  which  his  sermons  everywhere  produced,  is  said  to  have 
been  indescribable.     He  died,  in  1444. 

418.  Abuses  and  scandals  have  at  all  times  occured  in  the  Church.. 
They  existed  in  the  time  of  the  Apostles,  and  continued  to  exist  in 
every  subsequent  age.  Such  disorders,  however,  should  be  put  to  the 
charge  of  human  frailty  and  perversity;  they  can  furnish  no  argument 
against  the  Church,  whose  Founder  plainly  forwarned  His  followers 
that  "  Scandals  must  needs  come,  though  woe  to  those  by  whom  they 
come."  Scandals  and  abuses  can  never  justify  revolt  against  the 
Authority  of  the  Church  which  rests,  not  on  the  personal  merits  of 
those  who  exercise  it,  but  on  the  commission  of  Christ,  who  imparted 
it.  St.  Augustin  says :  "  When,  either  through  the  neglect  of  prelates^ 
or  by  some  necessity,  or  through  unknown  causes,  we  find  that  wicked 
persons  are  in  the  Church,  whom  we  cannot  correct  or  restrain  by 
ecclesiastical  discipline,  let  not  the  impious  and  destructive  presump- 
tion enter  our  heart  that  we  should  imagine  ourselves  obliged  to  sepa- 
rate from  them." 

419.  Notable  as  the  disorders  may  have  been  in  many  places, 
during  this  Epoch,  they  were  far  from  being  as  general  and  as  enor- 
mous as  they  have  been  represented.  There  were  many  illustrious 
examples  of  purity  and  perfection,  among  the  clergy  and  laity.  In  the 
cloister,  especially,  there  were  many  who  were  zealous  and  faithful  to 
their  vocation.    To  this,  even  Luther  bears  witness,  when  he  says:  "I 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  483 

have  seen  many  Popish  monks  who  with  much  zeal  did  great  and  hard 
works,  in  order  that  they  might  become  just  and  obtain  salvation." 

420.  We  meet,  it  is  true^  in  contemporai:y  ascetical  writers,  with 
many  severe  censures  of  the  lives  of  the  monks  in  those  times.  "But 
it  is  to  be  observed,"  says  Blunt,  a  learned  Protestant  historian,  in  his 
"Reformation  of  the  Church  of  England"  (Vol.  I.  p.  354)  "that  such 
censures  were  generally  aimed  at  something  very  different  from  what 
we  understand  by  immorality  or  irreligion.  T\Tien  ascetical  censors 
complained  that  the  monks  were  wanting  in  religion,  it  was  the  religio 
of  the  monastery  and  the  rule  of  the  Founder  that  they  had  in  view: 
when  that  they  were  wanting  in  devotion,  it  was  in  that  exalted  devo- 
tion of  Saints,  to  which  few  persons  in  ordinary  life  ever  attain:  when 
that  they  where  self-indulgent,  it  was  in  such  self-indulgence  as  fail- 
ing to  wake  for  the  choir  service  of  the  night-hours,  or  taking  a 
morsel  of  meat  during  long  bread-and-water  fasts:  when  that  luxury 
was  overwhelming  the  monastic  system,  it  was  because  the  guest- 
house was  too  sumptuous  in  its  hospitality,  or  the  straw  mattresses  of 
the  monk's  cells  made  somewhat  less  hard  than  formerly.  The  cen- 
sures of  ascetical  writers  must,  therefore,  be  understood  according  to 
their  original  intention,  and  laxity  in  respect  to  ascetic  discipline  must 
not  be  confounded  with  what  is  understood  by  the  Christian  world  at 
large,  as  luxury  or  laxity  of  morals.  "Bloated  monks"  are  a  common 
Protestant  ideal,  but  they  to  whom  the  term  was  applied  were  pro- 
bably no  more  commonly  degenerated  as  monks  than  the  "bloated 
aristocracy  "  of  a  republican  ideal  are  commonly  degenerated  as  gentle- 
men." 

421.  Wars,  civil  dissensions,  and  the  intrusion  by  secular  rulers 
of  unworthy  men  into  episcopal  sees,  had  concurred  to  produce  an 
alarming  decay  of  ecclesiastical  discipline  and  a  lamentable  relaxation 
of  morals;  many  ecclesiatics  were  found  wanting  in  those  virtues, 
which  their  sacred  calling  required.  But  in  spite  of  all  passions,  faith 
was  still  living:  there  still  existed  a  deep  reverence  for  religion  and 
its  ministers.  Notwithstanding  the  frequent  obtrusions  of  unworthy 
prelates  by  the  secular  rulers,  the  Church  possessed  within  her  pale  a 
great  number  of  excellent  bishops  who  were  faithful  shepherds  of 
their  flocks,  and  who,  by  their  many  virtues,  shed  great  lustre  upon 
the  episcopate.  This  was  particularly  the  case  in  the  fifteenth 
century. 

422.  We  meet  at  this  period  with  such  eminent  men  as  St.  Laur- 
entius  Justinian,  first  Patriarch  of  Yenice,  (d.  1455);  St.  Antoninus^ 
archbishop  of  Florence  (d.  1459);  Cardinal  Nicholas  de  Cusa,  bishop 
of  Brixen  (d.  1464);  John  von  Dalberg,  bishop  of  Worms;  John  Rhode, 


484  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

archbishop  of  Bremen;  Cardinal  Matthew  Lang,  archbishop  of  Salz- 
burg; Cardinals  John  Kempe  and  Thomas  Bourchier,  successively 
archbishops  of  Canterbury;  Cardinal  George  d'Amboise,  archbishop  of 
Rouen;  the  illustrious  Cardinal  Francis  Ximenes,  archbishop  of  Tole- 
do, and  a  host  of  others  who  were  models  of  faithful  pastors,  distingu- 
ishing themselves  by  their  piety  and  learning,  as  well  as  by  their  great 
zeal  for  the  furtherance  of  faith,  morality,  and  education. 

423.  To  see  in  what  manner  faith  influenced  men's  hearts,  and 
moved  them  to  great  deeds,  we  have  but  to  recall  the  numberless 
religious,  educational,  and  charitable  institutions  which  were  founded 
during  this  Epoch.  The  great  number  of  monasteries,  schools,  and  uni- 
Tersities  founded  everywhere  during  those  times  are  imperishable 
monuments  of  a  living  faith.  And  the  stately  basilicas  and  cathedrals 
of  Italy,  France,  Spain,  Belgium,  Germany,  and  England,  most  of  which 
were  built  or  commenced  in  this  Epoch;  the  interior  richness  of  the 
churches,  and  the  splendor  with  which  the  divine  offices  were  celeb- 
rated— all  this  must  excite  our  admiration,  as  bearing  witness  to  the 
deep  piety  and  living  faith  of  those  ages,  as  well  as  to  the  salutary 
and  fruitful  power  which  the  Church  then  possessed  over  the  minds 
of  men.  "If  we  consider,"  says  Hurter  in  his  Life  of  Pope  Innocent 
HI.,  "  the  number  of  such  buildings  that  were  begun  and  completed 
during  the  course  of  one  single  century,  principally  by  bishops  and 
their  chapters,  the  question  at  once  occurs  to  us :  How  was  it  possible? 
Where  could  the  money  have  come  from?  History  gives  us  the  answer: 
Through  cheerful  co-operation,  and  an  heroic  devotion,  of  which  faith 
was  the  moving  power.  He  that  could  give  nothing  else,  could  at 
least  give  himself,  that  is,  could  give  his  labor  freely." 

424.  But  the  most  glorious  proof  of  the  true  spiritual  life  in  this 
age  were  the  many  great  Saints  then  flourishing  in  the  Church.  In 
the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries,  we  find,  besides  those  men- 
tioned elsewhere,  St.  Andrew  Corsini,  bishop  of  Fiesoli;  St.  John 
Nepomucen,  who,  because  he  would  not  violate  the  seal  of  confession, 
was  drowned  by  order  of  the  Emperor  Wenceslaus,  in  1383;  St.  John 
Columbini,  founder  of  the  Jesuati;  St.  Agnes  of  Monte  Pulciano;  St. 
Juliana  Falconieri:  St.  John  Cantius,  a  secular  priest;  St.  John  of  Sa- 
hagun;  St.  Didacus;  St.  Casimir  and  St.  Ferdinand,  the  former  a  prince 
of  Poland,  the  other  of  Spain;  St.  Elisabeth,  queen  of  Portugal;  St. 
Joanna  of  Valois,  queen  of  France  and  foundress  of  the  order  of  the 
Annunciation;  with  a  bright  array  of  others,  in  every  state  of  life, 
whose  memories  adorn  the  sanctuary  of  the  Church. 

425.  The  power  of  divine  Grace  was  manifested,  in  a  special 
manner,  in  St.  Elisabeth  of  Thiiringen,  the  mother  of  the  poor  (d.  1231); 


ECCLESIASTICAL  LEGISLATION.  485 

in  the  holy  abbesses,  Hildegardis,  Mech tildes,  and  Gertrude;  in  St.  An- 
gela of  Foligni;  in  the  Seraphic  Catharine  of  Siena  (d.  1380);  St. 
Bridgit  of  Sweden,  foundress  of  the  Bridgittines,  or  Order  of  our 
Saviour  (d.  1373),  and  her  sainted  daughter  Catharine  of  Sweden;  in 
Joanna  d'Arc,  the  heroic  Maid  of  Orleans  (d.  1431);  in  St.  Colette,  who 
founded  a  stricter  branch  of  the  Poor  Clares  (d.  1435);  in  St.  Frances 
of  Kome,  foundress  of  the  Collatines,  or  Oblates  (d.  1440);  in  St.  Ca- 
tharine of  Bologna  (d.  1463),  and  in  St.  Catharine  of  Genua  (d.  1510). 
In  Switzerland,  the  Blessed  Nicholas  of  Fliie  (d.  1487)  led  a  life  so 
holy  and  so  nearly  emancipated  from  all  human  needs,  that  man's 
science  entirely  fails  to  explain  even  its  possibility. 

SECTION    LXX.       ECCLESIASTICAL    LEGISLATION PENITENTIAL     DISCIPLINE STUDY 

AND    VERSIONS    OF   THE    BIBLE. 

Decretum  Gratiani — Other  Collections  of  Decretals — Cessation  of  Public  Pen- 
ance— Indulgences — Jubilee — Annual  Confession  and  Communion  en- 
forced— Communion  under  one  Kind — Festival  of  Corpus  Christi — The 
Bible — Its  Reading  recommended — Perverted  Use  of  Vernacular  Bibles 
— Restrictions  with  regard  to  Vernacular  Versions — Early  and  Mediaeval 
Translations 


426.  As  the  jurisdiction  of  the  ecclesiastical  tribunals  extended 
to  a  variety  of  persons  and  causes,  it  became  necessary  to  establish  a 
uniform  system  for  the  regulation  of  their  decisions.  Hence,  Gratian 
a  Benedictine  monk  and  professor  of  Canon  Law  at  Bologna,  publ- 
ished, in  1151,  his  celebrated  Manual,  entitled  "  Concordantia  discord- 
antium  Canonum,"  but  which  is  now  commonly  known  as  the  Decretum 
Gratiani.  The  work  is  divided  into  three  parts,  treating  respectively 
of  ecclesiastical  persons,  ecclesiastical  judicature,  and  the  Liturgy  of 
the  Church.  Gratian's  collection,  though  never  receiving  the  formal 
approbation  of  the  Holy  See,  acquired  great  authority  in  the  Schools, 
and  superseded  all  other  collections  in  the  West.  It  fell  short,  how- 
ever, of  what  was  required,  in  the  progress  of  ecclesiastical  jud- 
icature. 

427.  Hence,  Pope  Gregory  IX.  caused  the  "Five  Books  of  De- 
cretals," which  bear  his  name,  to  be  published  by  St.  Kaymond  of 
Pennafort,  in  1233.  These  consist  almost  entirely  of  decretals,  issued 
by  the  Popes  from  the  time  of  Gregory  I.  to  that  of  Gregory  IX.  him- 
self. Boniface  VIIL,  in  1298,  added  a  "Sixth  Book  of  Decretals," 
containing  Papal  Constitutions,  promulgated  since  the  pontificate  of 
Gregory  IX.  New  collections  of  Papal  Constitutions  were  published 
l>y  subsequent  Pontiffs  under  the  name  of  "  Clementinae,"  containing  I 


486  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  decretals  of  Clement  V.,  and  of  "  Extravagantes  "  of  John  XXIL, 
which  contain  the  constitutions  of  that  Pontiff. 

428.  During  this  Epoch,  the  rigor  of  penance  was  greatly  relaxed; 
the  imposition  of  public  penance,  though  still  in  use,  became  less 
frequent,  till  at  length  it  wholly  disappeared.  The  ancient  penitent- 
iary discipline  was  no  longer  enforced.  If  a  penitent  gave  tokens  of  a 
sincere  sorrow,  he  was  granted  absolution  before  the  performance  of 
penance.  Kemission  of  the  canonical  penalties  was  freely  granted,  or 
such  penalties  were  commuted  into  works  of  piety,  e.  g.  prayers, 
fastings,  and  almsdeeds.  As  a  rule,  however,  those  remissions,  or 
Indulgences,  were  partial. 

429.  Plenary  Indulgences  were  first  granted  to  the  Crusaders. 
Thus,  Pope  Urban  11.  in  the  famous  assembly  at  Clermont,  offered  a 
general  remission  of  penance,  or  plenary  indulgence,  to  those  who 
joined  the  Crusade.  Later  on,  Plenary  Indulgences  were  given  also 
to  those  who,  in  making  pilgrimages  to  holy  places,  complied  with  the 
prescribed  conditions.  The  Great  Indulgence  of  the  Jubilee  was 
accorded  first  by  Boniface  Vm.,  in  1300.  On  this  occasion,  two 
hundred  thousand  pilgrims  are  said  to  have  visited  the  holy  shrines 
at  Home,  while  at  the  next  great  Jubilee,  granted  by  Clement  VL,  in 
1350,  the  number  of  pilgrims  is  reported  to  have  reached  a  million. 
Urban  VI.  in  1389,  reduced  the  cycle  of  the  Jubilee  to  thirty- three 
years,  and  Paul  11.,  in  1470,  to  twenty-five. 

430.  To  bring  out  more  clearly  the  Catholic  doctrine  of  the  Real 
Presence  in  the  Eucharist,  the  Fourth  Lateran  Council  adopted  the 
word  Transubstantiation,  defining  that  at  the  Consecration  of  the  Mass 
the  substance  of  bread  and  wine  is  entirely  changed  into  the  sub- 
stance of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ.  The  same  Council  made  annual 
confession  obligatory  on  all  Christians  having  attained  the  use  of 
reason,  and  established  the  rule  of  communicating  at  least  once  a 
year,  and  that  about  Easter  time.  To  guard  the  Blessed  Sacrament 
from  irreverence,  and  to  counteract  the  error  of  certain  heretics  who 
held  that  Christ  is  not  received  whole  and  entire  under  either  species^ 
the  custom  was  introduced,  in  the  Latin  Church,  of  administering 
Holy  Communion  under  the  species  of  bread  alone.  The  Council  of 
Constance,  to  meet  the  errors  of  the  Hussites,  made  this  custom  of 
universal  obligation  in  the  West. 

431.  The  revelation  made  to  B.  Juliana,  a  holy  religious  of  Liege, 
caused  Robert,  bishop  of  that  city,  to  institute  the  Festival  of  Corpus 
Christi,  which  he  ordered  to  be  kept  throughout  his  diocese.  Moved 
by  the  miracle  of  Bolseno,  and  by  the  desire  to  promote  the  devotion 
to  the  Blessed  Eucharist,  Urban  IV.,  in  1264,  commanded  the  celebra- 


ECCLESIASTICAL  LEGISLATION.  487 

tion  of  the  Festival  throughout  the  Church;  and  Clement  V.,  in  1311, 
assigned  its  observance  to  Thursday  following  Trinity  Sunday.  At 
the  bidding  of  the  Pope  Urban  TV.,  St.  Thomas  of  Aquin  composed 
the  beautiful  Office  of  the  Blessed  Sacrament,  which  is  still  used  in  the 
Church. 

432.  Believing  the  Sacred  Scriptures  to  be  divinely  inspired  writ- 
ings, the  Church,  at  all  times,  repommended  their  perusal  and  study 
to  the  people.  In  no  instance  did  the  Church  ever  prohibit  the  read- 
ing of  the  Bible  in  the  original  text,  or  in  authentic  versions;  neither 
did  she  ever  forbid  translations  to  be  made  into  the  language  of  any 
country.  But  when  the  heresies  of  the  Waldenses  and  Albigenses 
arose,  there  was  danger  from  corrupt  translations.  These  heretics 
appealejd  to  the  Bible,  in  justification  of  their  assaults  upon  civil  and 
ecclesiastical  authority,  and  insisted  that  the  people  should  judge  the 
Church  by  their  own  interpretation  of  the  Scripture.  These  evils  elic- 
ited restrictions  from  the  Councils  of  Toulouse  (1229)  and  Tarragona. 
(1234)  with  regard  to  vernacular  versions.  "The  lawless  political 
principles  of  Wyckliffe,"  says  Blunt,  "  and  the  still  more  lawless  ones 
of  his  followers,  created  a  strong  prejudice  against  vernacular  trans- 
lations of  th^  Scriptures,  on  the  part  of  the  rulers  of  England,  both  in 

.  Church  and  State.  The  Bible  was  quoted  in  support  of  rebellion  and 
of  the  wildest  heresy." 

433.  That  the  Bible  was  scarce,  or  its  reading  neglected,  is  his- 
torically untrue.  "  There  has  been  much  wild  and  foolish  writing," 
the  same  author  observes,  "  about  the  scarcity  of  the  Bible  in  the  age, 
preceding  the  Reformation.  It  has  been  taken  for  granted  that  Holy 
Scripture  was  almost  a  sealed  book  to  clergy  and  laity,  until  it  was 
printed  in  English  by  Tyndale  and  Coverdale,  and  that  the  only  real 
source  of  knowledge  respecting  it,  before  them,  was  the  translation 
made  by  "Wyckliffe.  The  facts  are  that  the  clergy  and  monks  were 
daily  reading  large  portions  of  the  Bible,  and  had  them  stored  up  in 
their  memory,  by  constant  recitation  :  that  they  made  very  free  use^ 
of  Holy  Scripture  in  preaching,  so  that  even  a  modern  Bible-reader  is 
astonished  at  the  number  of  quotations  and  references  contained  in 
mediaeval  sermons  :  that  countless  copies  of  the  Bible  were  written 
out  by  the  surprising  industry  of  cloistered  scribes :  that  many  glosses 

^  or  commentaries  were  written  which  are  still  seen  to  be  full  of  pious 
and  wise  thoughts:  and  that  all  laymen  who  could  read  were,  as  a  rule, 
provided  with  their  gospels,  their  psalters,  or  other  devotional  por- 
tions of  the  Bible The  clergy  studied  the  word  of  God,  and 

made  it  known  to  the  laity:  and  those  few  among  the  laity  who  could 


488  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

read  had  abundant  opportunity  of  reading  the  Bible  either  in  Latin 
or  in  English,  up  to  the  Reformation  period." 

434.  It  has  been  asserted  by  Protestants  that  Wycliffe's  and 
Luther's  translations  of  the  ScrijDtures  first  made  them  accessible  to 
the  laity.  This  is  not  true.  Long  before  these  publications,  there 
existed  translations  of  the  Bible  in  almost  every  language  spoken 
in  Christendom.  The  celebrated  Sir  Thomas  More  assures  us  that 
there  were  English  versions  of  the  Bible,  long  prior  to  Wycliffe  and 
Tyndale.  Between  the  invention  of  printing  by  John  Guttenberg, 
about  the  middle  of  the  fifteenth  century,  and  Luther's  outbreak,  no 
less  than  fifteen  editions  of  the  whole  Bible,  to  say  nothing  of  portions, 
were  issued  in  High  German,  and  five  in  Low  German.  In  Italian, 
eleven  complete  editions  of  the  Bible  appeared  before  the  year  1500; 
and  more  than  forty  editions  are  reckoned  before  the  appearance  of 
the  first  Protestant  Italian  version.  An  equally  large  number  of 
translations  in  the  French  language  appeared  during  the  same 
period. 

SECTION   LXXI.       NEW   RELIGIOUS   ORDERS. 

New  Orders — Decree  of  Fourth  Lateran  Council — Congregation  of  Cluny — 
Peter,  the  Venerable — Order  of  Grammont— Carthusians— St.  Bruno — 
Cistercians— St.  Robert — St.  Bernard— Premonstratensians — St.  Norbert 
— Order  of  Fontevrault. 

435.  No  period  in  ecclesiastical  history  witnessed  the  rise  of  so 
many  new  religious  orders  as  the  present  one.  These  in  part 
adopted  the  Rule  of  St.  Benedict,  or  that  of  St.  Augustine,  adding 
to  it  particular  constitutions;  or  chose  for  themselves  another  rule 
suited  to  the  needs  of  their  age  and  the  special  end  for  which  they 
were  founded.  The  large  number  of  orders  already  existing  caused 
the  Fourth  Lateran  Council,  in  1215,  to  forbid  the  founding  of  any 
new  orders.  Yet  the  same  period  gave  birth  to  a  new  class  of  orders, 
the  Mendicants — Franciscans,  Dominicans,  Carmelites,  and  Augustin- 
ian  Hermits — who  were  destined  to  sustain  by  example,  preaching, 
and  education  the  cause  of  the  Church,  which  then  was  menaced  by 
numerous  heresies. 

436.  The  Congregation  of  Cluny,  this  celebrated  branch  of  the 
Benedictine  Order,  began  rapidly  to  decline  under  the  lax  rule  of 
Abbot  Pontius ;  but  his  successor,  Peter,  the  Venerable,  the  contem- 
porary and  friend  of  St.  Bernard,  restored  it  to  its  primitive  rigor  and 
reputation.  Two  thousand  monasteries  recognized  him  as  their  su- 
perior.    Popes  Gregory  VII.,  Urban  11.,  and  Paschal  11.  had  been 


RELIGIOUS  ORDERS.  «» 

monks  of  Cluny.  The  schismatic  attitude  of  Abbot  Hugh  m.,  who 
was  a  partisan  of  the  antipope  Octavian,  led  to  much  confusion  and 
relaxation  of  discipline.  The  famous  monastery  of  Monte  Cassino, 
whence  proceeded  so  many  distinguished  men  and  eminent  ecclesias- 
tics, also  had  lost  much  of  its  former  rej^utation. 

437.  Order  of  Grammont.  The  Order  of  Grammont,  so  called 
from  "Grand  Mont,"  near  Limoge,  in  France,  whence  it  took  its 
origin,  was  founded  by  St.  Stephen  of  Tigemo,  in  Auvergne.  It  re- 
ceived the  approbation  of  Pope  Gregory  YII.  Stephen,  who  died  in 
1124,  adopted  for  his  order  the  Benedictine  Kule;  he  enjoined  more- 
over the  observance  of  absolute  poverty,  forbidding  the  community 
to  receive  or  hold  any  estates  or  possessions  whatever.  Stephen  of 
Lisiac,  the  fourth  prior,  framed  for  the  order  a  new  rule,  which  was 
approved  by  Clement  m.,  in  1188.  In  1317,  Pope  John  XXII.  re- 
formed the  rule  and  raised  Grammont  to  the  rank  of  an  abbey,  which 
then  had  under  it  thirty-nine  priories. 

438.  Carthusians.  The  founder  of  the  Carthusian  Order  was  St. 
Bruno  of  Cologne.  With  six  companions,  Bruno  retired  into  the 
desert  of  Chartreuse,  near  Grenoble,  and  there  laid  the  foundation 
of  his  new  order.  This  was  in  1086.  Following  the  Benedictine  Rule, 
the  Carthusians  were  known  for  the  severity  of  their  discipline.  They 
lead  a  contemplative  life  and  devote  a  portion  of  their  time  to  manual 
labor.  Bruno  was  summoned  to  Rome  by  Urban  II.,  who  had  been 
his  pupil.  After  founding  two  new  convents  in  Calabria,  he  died  in 
1101.  Guigo,  the  fifth  prior  of  the  Chartreuse,  made  a  collection  of 
the  customs  and  statutes,  observed  by  the  Carthusians. 

439.  Cistercians.  Of  the  illustrious  Order  of  Cistercium  (Citeaux) 
St.  Robert  of  Molesme  is  regarded  the  founder.  Robert  left  the  mon- 
astery which  he  had  founded  at  Molesme,  and  with  twenty  zealous 
monks  retired  into  the  thick  forest  of  Citeaux,  where  he  foi-med  a  new 
order.  This  was  in  1098.  Being  recalled  after  a  time  to  Molesme,  he 
left  Citeaux  under  the  direction  of  Alberic.  After  Alberic's  death  in 
1109,  Stephen  Harding,  an  Englishman,  became  abbot.  It  was  he 
who  drew  up  the  first  code  of  Cistercian  statutes  which  received  the. 
approbation  of  Cahxtus  11.,  in  1119.  The  austerities  practised  at 
Citeaux  seemed  at  first  to  threaten  the  community  with  extinction. 
The  accession  of  St.  Bernard  with  thirty  young  men,  mostly  of  noble 
birth,  gave  it  new  life.  The  order  now  began  to  flourish.  Within 
the  next  three  years,  the  four  famous  monasteries  of  La  Ferte,  Pon- 
tigny,  Clairvaux,  and  Morimond  were  fcninded.  By  the  middle  of  the 
twelfth  century,  the  number  of  abbeys  had  increased  to  five  hundred; 


490  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

&  century  later  to  eighteen  hundred.    A  monastery  of  Cistercian  nuns 
was  founded  by  Abbot  Stephen,  in  1125.     St.  Robert  died,  in  1110. 

440.  Premonstratensians.  About  the  same  time,  1119,  St.  Norbert 
founded  his  order  of  regular  canons,  in  the  valley  of  Premontre,  near 
Laon.  Norbert  gave  to  his  followers  the  white  habit  and  the  Rule  of 
St.  Augustine,  with  certain  constitutions  framed  by  himself,  and  en- 
joined on  them  study,  the  office  of  preaching,  and  the  care  of  souls. 
The  order,  which  was  approved  by  Pope  Honorius  II.,  in  1126,  ex- 
tended itself  throughout  Europe,  and  its  labors  were  especially  blessed 
in  Germany  and  the  Northern  kingdoms.  There  were  at  one  time  a 
thousand  Premonstratensian  abbeys.  St.  Norbert  died  archbishop  of 
Magdeburg,  in  1134. 

441.  Order  of  FontevrauU.  This  order  was  founded  by  Robert  of 
Abrissel,  in  1094.  Robert  was  professor  of  theology  at  Paris,  and 
coadjutor  to  the  bishop  of  Rennes;  but  divesting  himself  of  these  em- 
ployments, he  retired  into  the  forest  of  Craon  and  built  a  monastery 
at  La  Roe.  Urban  11.  confirmed  his  institution  and,  appointing  him 
apostolic  missionary,  ordered  him  to  preach  the  First  Crusade.  In 
1100,  Robert  founded  at  Fontevrault,  on  the  Vienne,  two  monasteries 
— one  for  men,  the  other  for  women — and  gave  their  inmates  the  Rule 
of  St.  Augustine  for  their  guidance.  He  dedicated  his  order  to  the 
glory  and  honor  of  the  Blessed  Virgin;  and  following  the  example  of 
our  Lord,  who,  when  dying,  committed  St.  John  to  the  care  of  His 
Mother,  he  placed  all  his  convents,  including  those  of  men,  under  the 
jurisdiction  of  the  abbess  of  Fontevrault.  The  order  was  approved  by 
Pope  Paschal  II.,  in  1113,  and  soon  spread  over  the  continent  of 
Europe.  It  numbered  several  thousand  monks  and  nuns  at  the 
death  of  the  founder,  in  1117. 

SECTION   LXXII.       MENDICANT   ORDERS. 

Mendicants— St.  Dominic — His  Mission  to  the  Albigenses— His  Order  of 
Preachers — Tertiary  Order  of  St.  Dominic — St.  Francis  of  Assisi-^His 
Order— Poor  Clares— Third  Order  of  St.  Francis— Carmelites— Augustin- 
ian  Hermits-  Servites — St.  Juliana  Falconieri — Minims — St.  Francis  of 
Paola. 

442.  To  crush  the  dangerous  errors  of  the  Albigenses  and  other 
sectaries,  who  contemned  the  authority  of  the  Church,  declaring  her 
sinful  and  corrupt,  apostolic  men  were  needed,  who  should  by  word 
and  example  win  back  the  erring,  and  who,  to  outward  poverty  and 
austerity  of  life,  should  unite»  the  most  perfect  faith  and  loyalty  to  the 
Church.    Such  men  God  now  sent  by  means  of  the  Mendicant  Orders. 


I 


MENDICANT  ORDERS.  491 

These  are  distinguished  from  the  earlier  orders  by  their  object  as  well 
as  by  their  rule.  To  a  life  of  contemplation  they  unite  an  active  course 
of  teaching  and  preaching;  and  not  the  individual  members  only,  but 
the  communities  also  live  on  alms,  whence  they  are  called  Mendicant, 
or  begging,  orders. 

443.  Dominicans.  The  founder  of  this  celebrated  order,  St.  Do- 
minic, was  bom,  in  1170,  in  Spain.  After  completing  his  studies,  he 
was  ordained  a  priest  by  Diego,  bishop  of  Osma.  Soon  after  being 
appointed  canon,  he  preached  with  great  power  and  success  in  many 
places.  In  1104,  he  accompanied  his  bishop,  who  was  a  man  of  great 
earnestness  and  piety,  on  a  mission  to  France.  The  southern  provinces 
of  that  country  were  then  infected  with  the  heresies  of  the  Albigenses. 
With  the  sanction  of  Pope  Innocent  III.,  Diego  and  Dominic  devoted 
themselves  to  the  conversion  of  these  heretics.  The  former  being 
obliged  to  return  to  his  diocese,  Dominic  continued  the  mission  alone 
with  much  zeal  and  fruit.  It  was  then  that  our  saint  propagated  the 
use  of  the  Holy  Rosary,  which  was  revealed  to  him  in  a  vision  by  the 
Blessed  Virgin. 

444.  Mteij  spending  ten  years  in  this  toilsome  mission,  St.  Domi- 
nic, in  1215,  founded  a  new  order,  the  chief  object  of  which  should  be 
to  furnish  to  the  Church  zealous  preachers  and  missionaries  for  the 
instruction  of  the  faithful,  and  the  conversion  of  the  heretics.  He 
selected  the  Rule  of  St.  Augustine  for  the  use  of  his  order,  adding 
certain  statutes,  which  were  borrowed  chiefly  from  those  of  the  Pre- 
monstratensians.  The  habit  which  he  gave  to  his  religious*  was  a 
white  tunic  and  scapular,  with  a  long  black  mantle  from  which  they 
were  called  "  Black  Friars."  Pope  Honorius  III.,  in  1216,  approved 
the  new  society  under  the  title  of  "  Preaching  Friars  "  {Fratres  Praedi- 
catores).  The  same  Pontiff  appointed  Dominic  "Master  of  the  sacred 
Palace  "  (Magister  sacri  Palatii  "),  which  office  to  this  day  is  held  by 
a  member  of  the  order. 

445.  About  this  time  also  St.  Dominic  founded  an  order  for  wo- 
men, to  whom  he  gave  the  rule  of  the  Friars,  and  a  Tertiary  Order 
{Ordo  militiae  Christi)  for  people  living  in  the  world.  St.  Catharine 
of  Siena,  and  St.  Rosa  of  Lima  both  belonged  to  this  Third  Order. 
The  order  of  the  Preaching  Friars  spread  everywhere;  in  1221,  it 
numbered  already  sixty  convents,  which  were  divided  into  eight  pro- 
vinces. Whilst  missionaries  of  this  order  were  preaching  the  Gospel 
with  much  zeal  and  fruit  to  both  Christians  and  heathen,  many  of 
their  brethren  were  laboring  as  professors  and  teachers  in  the  univer- 
sities and  public  schools.  St.  Dominic  died,  in  1221,  leaving  his  order 
firmly  planted  in  Europe.     This  order  has  contributed  to  the  Church, 


492  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

besides  countless  Saints,  three  Popes,  sixty  cardinals,  about  a  hundred 
and  fifty  archbishops,  and  upwards  of  eight  hundred  bishops. 

446.  Franciscans.  This  order  is  named  after  its  founder,  St.  Fran- 
cis of  Assisi,  who  was  born  in  1182.  When  twenty-five  years  old, 
Francis  left  his  father's  house  to  embrace  a  life  of  strict  poverty.  Many 
disciples  soon  gathered  around  him,  and  their  number^  induced  him 
to  draw  up  for  them  a  common  rule  of  life,  of  which  absolute  poverty 
is  the  essential  principle.  Not  only  were  the  individual  members  for- 
bidden to  hold  any  property  whatever,  but  neither  could  they  hold  any 
as  a  community,  and  were  wholly  dependent  for  their  subsistence  on 
the  charity  of  the  Christian  people.  The  habit  which  Francis  gave  his 
followers  was  a  gray  gown  of  coarse  cloth,  with  a  cowl  attached  to  it, 
whence  they  were  also  called  "  Gray  Friars."  Honorius  III.  solemnly 
confirmed  the  order,  in  1223. 

447.  The  new  order  founded  by  St.  Francis  made  wonderful 
progress.  The  little  chapel  of  our  Lady  of  the  Angels,  called  Porti- 
uncula,  near  Assisi,  became  its  central  house.  From  this  humble  be- 
ginning thousands  of  monasteries  were  planted  in  all  parts  of  Chris- 
tendom. At  the  first  general  chapter,  held  at  Assisi  in  1219,  upwards 
of  five  thousand  friars  were  present.  Besides  his  order  for  men,  St. 
Francis  founded  one  also  for  women,  commonly  called  Poor  Glares,  after 
St.  Clara  of  Assisi,  who  was  the  first  of  her  sex  to  embrace  this  manner 
of  life.  In  1224,  St.  Francis  gave  a  written  rule  to  St.  Clara  and  her 
community,  which  was  approved  by  Innocent  IV,  in  1246.  "Within  a 
few  y^ars  the  order  had  spread  in  Italy,  France,  and  Spain.  In  ad- 
dition to  these  two  orders,  St.  Francis  founded  the  Third  Order,  for 
persons  living  in  the  world  and  desirous  of  sharing  the  privileges  and 
graces  of  the  religious  state.  St.  Louis  IX.  of  France,  and  St.  Elisa- 
beth of  Hungary  both  belonged  to  this  order.  St.  Francis,  after  re- 
ceiving the  sacred  stigmata,  or  marks  of  our  Lord's  Passion,  died  in 
1226. 

448.  Carmelites.  A  crusader,  Berthold  of  Calabria,  is  regarded  as 
the  founder  of  the  Carmelite  Order.  With  a  few  companions,  he  re- 
tired, in  1156,  to  the  Mount  of  Carmel,  in  Palestine,  where  they  lived 
as  hermits  in  separate  cells.  The  increasing  number  of  his  followers 
made  it  necessary  to  build  a  monastery.  The  rule  composed  for  the 
use  of  the  order  by  Albert,  patriarch  of  ^Terusalem,  was  approved  by 
Pope  Honorius  III.,  in  1226.  The  conquest  of  Palestine  by  the  Sara- 
cens, made  it  impossible  for  the  Carmelites  to  live  there  in  peace ;  they 
passed  into  Europe  and  established  themselves  in  various  countries. 
In  1247,  Innocent  TV.  confirmed  them  as  a  Mendicant  Order  under  the 
title  of  "Order  of  Friars  of  our  Lady  of  Mount  Carmel."     From  their 


MENDICANT  ORDERS.  493 

white  cloak  and  scapular,  they  became  popularly  known  as  "  White 
Friars."  Under  St.  Simon  Stock,  an  Englishman,  its  sixth  General, 
the  order  was  rapidly  extended.  To  this  saint  is  ascribed  the  intro- 
duction of  the  Scapular. 

449.  Augustinian  Hermits.  These  Hermits  regard  the  great  St. 
Augustine  of  Hippo  as  their  patron  and  the  composer  of  their  rule,  if 
not  as  their  founder.  In  1256,  Pope  Alexander  IV.  united  several  ex- 
isting religious  communities  under  the  title  of  "  Hermits  of  St.  Augus- 
tine," giving  to  them  the  rule  ascribed  to  that  Father.  Lanfranco  Sep- 
tola  of  Milan  became  their  first  General.  They  were  regarded  as  fri- 
ars, and  Pius  V.  aggregated  them  to  the  other  Mendicant  Orders,  in 
1567. 

450.  Servites.  The  "Order  of  the  Servants  of  the  Blessed  Virgin," 
commonly  called  Servites,  owes  its  origin  to  the  zeal  and  piety  of  seven 
Florentine  merchants.  After  distributing  their  goods  to  the  poor, 
they  retired  to  Monte  Senario,  near  Florence,  where  they  dwelt  in 
cells  as  hermit^.  This  was  in  1233,  which  is  regarded  as  the  date  of 
the  foundation '  of  the  order.  They  subsequently  became  a  monastic 
community  under  the  special  patronage  of  the  Blessed  Virgin.  They 
ivdopted  the  Augustinian  Rule,  and  for  their  habit  a  black  tunic  with 
a  scapular  and  cape  of  the  same  color.  Under  St.  Philip  Beniti,  the 
tifth  general,  the  order  spread  rapidly,  chiefly  in  Italy  and  Germany. 
St.  Juliana  Falconieri  is  regarded  as  the  foundress  of  the  Servite  Third 
Order.  The  Servites  were  approved  by  Alexander  r\^,  in  1255.  Inno- 
cent Vili.  declared  the  Servites  a  Mendicant  Order,  bestowing  on 
them  the  privileges  enjoyed  by  the  other  Mendicants. 

451.  MiniTYis.  This  name  is  commonly  given  to  the  religious  of 
the  order  of  ^linim-Hermits.  founded  by  St.  Francis  of  Paola,  about 
the  year  1436.  The  rule  of  this  order  surpasses  even  that  of  the 
jVIinorites,  or  Franciscans,  in  austerity;  to  the  usual  three  monastic 
vows,  St.  Francis  added  as  a  fourth,  perpetual  Lent  and  abstinence, 
not  only  from  meat,  but  also  from  eggs  and  milk.  In  1473,  Pope 
Sixtus  IV.  gave  his  sanction  to  the  new  congregation,  and  named 
Francis  its  first  superior-general.  In  1495,  Pope  Alexander  VI.  form- 
ally confirmed  the  community  as  a  Mendicant  Order  under  the  title  of 
"  iMinim-Hermits,"  giving  it  all  the  privileges  possessed  by  the  Mendi- 
cant Friars.  Notwithstanding  its  extreme  severity,  the  order  spread 
rapidly  through  Italy,  France,  and  Sj^ain;  within  a  few  years  it  num- 
bered four  hundred  and  fifty  convents  for  men,  and  fourteen  for 
women.  St.  Francis,  who  died  in  1507,  was  canonized  in  1519  by 
LeoX. 


494  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

SECTION    LXXni.       MILITARY   ORDERS OTHER   RELIGIOUS   CONGREGATIONS. 

Knights  of  St.  John — Templars — Teutonic  Knicchts — Brotliers  of  the  Sword 
— Order  of  Calatrava — Order  of  San  Ja«2:o — Trinitarians — Order  of  Mercy 
—  Antonines — Hospitallers — Cellites  —  Gilbertines  —  Humiliati— Celestin- 
ians — Bridgittines — Olivetans — Oblates — Beguines — Jeronymites — Clerks 
and  Brothers  of  the  Common  Life. 

452.  Knights  of  St.  John.  The  crusades  gave  rise  to  the  establish- 
ment of  the  religious  military  orders,  which  were  formed  in  Palestine, 
and  became  one  of  the  chief  bulwarks  of  the  Christian  power  in  the 
East.  The  Knights  of  St.  John,  otherwise  called  Hospital  er,<j  received 
their  name  from  a  convent  and  hospital  which  had  been  founded,  in 
1048,  by  some  Italian  merchants  in  honor  of  St.  John  the  Baptist,  for 
the  benefit  of  Christian  pilgrims  visiting  the  Holy  Places.  Their 
vocation  was  at  first  confined  to  the  care  of  the  sick  and  poor  pilgrims. 
But  after  the  taking  of  Jerusalem  by  the  Christians,  knights  began 
to  join  the  brotherhood  ;  and  Eaymond  du  Puy,  its  second  Master,  in 
the  rule  which  he  drew  up  for  the  brothers,  added  to  their  other  re- 
ligious obligations  that  of  wielding  the  sw^ord  in  support  of  the 
Christian  cause  against  the  Moslems. 

453.  By  this  rule,  which  was  confirmed  by  Calixtus  II.,  in  1120, 
the  members  of  the  brotherhood  were  divided  into  three  classes — 
knights,  who  were  all  nobles,  priests,  or  chaplains,  and  serving  broth- 
ers, who  attended  the  knights  in  their  exp)editions.  They  were  gov- 
erned by  a  Grand-Master,  Commanders,  and  Chapters  of  Knights. 
Soon  nobles  from  all  parts  of  Europe  thronged  into  the  order,  to 
devote  their  lives  to  the  holy  war.  After  the  taking  of  Jerusalem  by 
Saladin,  in  1187,  the  Knights  of  St.  John  removed  to  Acre;  on  the 
fall  of  that  city,  in  1291,  they  withdrew  to  Cyprus;  later  to  Rhodes, 
and,  in  1530,  to  Malta,  whence  their  name  of  "Knights  of  Rhodes," 
and  "  Knights  of  Malta  "  They  remained  at  Malta,  a  powerful  bul- 
wark of  Christendom  against  the  Turks,  till  1798,  when  the  island  was 
taken  by  Napoleon  Bonaparte.  The  dress  of  the  order  was  a  black 
mantle  with  a  white  cross  (Maltese  cross)  on  it. 

454.  Templarx.  The  famous  "Order  of  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem," 
commonly  called  "The  Templars,"  was  founded  about  the  year  1118 
by  some  pious  French  knights  for  the  protection  of  Christian 
pilgrims.  It  was  a  half -military,  half -monastic  order:  its  members 
took  the  three  vows  of  religion,  to  which  they  added  as  a  fourth 
that  of  defending  the  Holy  Sepulchre  and  protecting  the  pilgrims 
to  the  Holy  Land.  St.  Bernard  drew  up  a  rule  for  the  order  which 
was  confirmed  by  the  Council  of  Troyes,  in  1127.     Their  habit  was 


I 


MILITARY  ORDERS.  495 

%  white  mantle  with  a  red  cross  on  the  shoulder.  For  a  time  the  order 
was  very  poor,  and  in  danger  of  becoming  extinct;  but  eventually  it 
attained  to  great  wealth  and  power.  A  century  after  its  establish- 
ment, it  controled  a  well-trained  army  of  15,000  warriors.  After  the 
loss  of  Palestine  by  the  Christians,  the  Templars  established  them- 
selves in  Cyprus.  The  Council  of  Vienne,  in  1311,  decreed  the  entire 
dissolution  of  the  order;  but  whether  on  account  of  real  or  supposed 
crimes,  remains  to  this  day  a  question  difficult  to  decide. 

455.  Teutonic  Knights.  This  order  was  instituted  in  Palestine 
about  the  year  1190.  Its  members  at  first  confined  themselves  to  the 
care  of  the  sick,  for  whom  a  hospital  had  been  founded  by  some 
German  merchants.  The  order  was  confirmed  by  Celestine  III.  Henry 
of  Walpot  became  its  first  Grand-Master.  In  the  course  of  the  thir- 
teenth century  the  Teutonic  Knights,  also  styled  "  Knights  of  our 
Lady,"  conquered  Prussia,  Livonia,  Courland,  and  other  adjoining 
territories,  and  succeeded,  though  by  the  force  of  arms,  in  estab- 
lishing Christianity  in  these  countries.  When,  in  1525,  Albert  of 
Brandenburg,  Grand-Master  of  the  Teutonic  Knights,  embraced  Pro- 
testantism, the  order  established  itself  at  Mergentheim,  in  Swabia. 
The  Peace  of  Vienna,  in  1809,  deprived  the  Teutonic  Order  of  its 
last  possessions.* 

456.  Other  military  orders,  distinctly  religious  and  Catholic,  were: 
1.  The  Brothers  of  the  Sivord,  in  Livonia,  who  were  affiliated  to  the  Teutonic 
Order,  in  1237;  2. — The  Order  of  Calatrava,  founded  in  Castile,  in  1158, 
for  the  protection  and  extension  of  the  Christian  cause  in  that  king- 
dom; 3. — The  Order  of  Alcantara,  founded  in  Castile,  in  1177,  for  the 
subjugation  and  conversion  of  the  Moors;  4. — The  Order  of  San  Jago, 
instituted  in  1170,  for  the  protection  of  Christian  pilgrims  to  Compos- 
tella.  All  these  military  orders,  especially  the  three  first  named, 
accomplished  in  their  time  real  good  work,  and  rendered  great  serv- 
ices to  Christendom,  thus  bearing  witness  to  the  power  which  religion 
has  of  enkindling  and  fostering  a  spirit  of  true  heroism. 

457.  Trinitarians.  In  the  wars  with  the  Moslems  many  Christians 
had  been  taken  prisoners  by  the  infidels.  In  their  captivity,  which 
was  equivalent  to  slavery,  these  unfortunates  not  only  suffered  great 
hardships  but  were  also  in  jDeril  of  losing  their  faith.  The  dangers 
which  beset  the  Christian  captives  were  what  occasioned  the  found- 
ing of  special  orders  for  their  relief.  In  1198,  St.  John  of  Matha  and 
Felix  of  Valois  founded  the  Order  of  the  Trinitarians,  for  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  Christian  captives  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Mohammedans. 
The  order,  which  followed  the  Eule  of  St.  Augustine,  was  confirmed  by 
Innocent  III.     It  spread  rapidly  through  France,  Spain,  Italy,  Eng- 


486  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUBCH. 

land,  Germany,  and  Hungary;  at  one  time  it  numbered  as  many  as: 
two-hundred  and  fifty  houses.  It  is  said  to  have  rescued  over  30,000 
Christian  captives. 

458.  For  the  same  object  St.  Peter  Nolasco,  in  1223,  founded  the 
"  Order  of  our  Lady  of  Mercy,  for  the  redemption  of  Captives,"  com- 
monly called  the  Order  of  Mercy.  It  was  instituted  with  the  co-oper- 
ation of  the  king  of  Arragon  and  of  St.  Raymond  of  Pennafort,  and 
was  approved  by  Gregory  IX.,  in  1230.  These  religious,  who  adhered 
to  the  Rule  of  St.  Augustine,  were  often  called  "Maturins  "  from  their 
house  at  Paris  which  was  near  the  chapel  of  St.  Maturin.  Between 
the  years  1492  and  1691,  this  order  alone  rescued  about  17,000  Chris- 
tian captives. 

459.  Antonines.  This  order  was  founded,  in  1095,  by  Gaston,  a 
wealthy  French  nobleman,  to  serve  the  sick,  especially  those  ill  of  St. 
Anthony's  fire,  which  was  then  causing  great  mortality  in  some  parts 
of  France.  These  religious  were  confirmed  as  canons-regular  under 
the  Rule  of  St.  Augustine  by  Boniface  YIIL,  in  1297.  To  the  same  class 
belonged  the  Hospitallers,  founded  by  Guido  of  Montpellier  and  con- 
firmed by  Innocent  IIL,  in  1198;  the  Cellites,  from  their  patron^  St. 
Alexius,  popularly  known  as  Alexian  Brothers,  who  were  confirmed  in 
1460  by  Pius  II.  under  the  Rule  of  St.  Augustine;  and  the  Jesuats, 
founded  by  St.  John  Columbini  of  Siena,  and  approved  by  Urban  V. 
in  1367. 

460.  Gilhertines.  So  called  from  their  founder  St.  Gilbert,  parish- 
priest  of  Springham,  in  England.  They  embraced  canons-regular  and 
nuns,  the  former  following  the  Rule  of  St.  Augustine,  the  latter  that 
of  St.  Benedict.  The  order,  which  spread  rapidly  through  England, 
was  approved  by  Eugenius  HI.  The  Hmniliati  were  at  first  an  associa- 
tion of  laj^men,  established  for  purposes  of  religion  in  the  twelfth  cen- 
tury. Innocent  III.  in  1200,  approved  them  as  a  religious  order  under 
the  Rule  of  St.  Benedict.  A  plot  formed  by  some  of  its  members 
against  the  life  of  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  caused  Pope  Pius  Y.  to  sup- 
press them,  in  1571. 

461.  Celestinians.  This  austere  order,  which  adhered  to  the  Riile 
of  St.  Benedict,  was  instituted,  about  1254,  by  the  holy  hermit,  Peter 
of  Morone,  who  afterwards  Itecame  Pope  Celestine  V.  The  Bridgittines, 
so  named  from  St.  Bridgit  of  Sweden,  by  whom  they  were  founded 
about  the  year  1344.  They  followed  the  Rule  of  St.  Augustine  and 
the  particular  constitutions  which  their  holy  foundress  is  said  to  have 
received  by  divine  revelation.  The  order  was  confirmed,  under  the 
title  of  "Order  of  the  Saviour,"  by  Urban  V.,  in  1370.  The  founder  of 
the  Olivetans  was  John  Tolomei,  a  wealthy  nobleman  of  Siena,  in  the 


I 


MILITAEY  OB  DEBS.  497 

beginning  of  the  thirteenth  century.  They  observed  the  Kule  of  St. 
Benedict,  and  were  approved  by  Pope  John  XXII.  in  1324,  under  the 
title  of  "  Congregation  of  our  Lady  of  Mount  Olivet."  Similar  to  these 
were  the  Oblates,  a  community  of  religious  women,  established  in  1433 
by  St.  Frances  of  Rome,  which  was  approved  by  Eugenius  lY. 

462.  Of  the  other  religious  congregations  established  during  this 
Epoch  we  mention  yet: — 1.  The  Beguines,  an  association  founded  about 
1180  for  pious  widows  and  single  women  desu'ous  of  consecrating 
their  lives  to  God.  They  did  not  take  vows  and  had  no  convents  pro- 
per, but  abode  in  small  houses,  within  the  same  enclosure,  with  the 
church  or  chapel  in  the  centre — to  which  the  name  of  "Beguinage  " 
was  given — and  devoted  themselves  to  works  of  piety  and  mercy.  The 
institution  was  approved  by  Urban  III.  Beguine  communities  still 
exist  in  Belgium,  France,  and  the  Netherlands.  Similar  associations 
existed  for  laymen  who  were  called  "Beghards." — 2.  The  Jeronymite8. 
In  the  course  of  the  fourteenth  and  fifteenth  centuries  four  religious 
congregations  were  established  in  Italy  and  Spain,  under  the  patro- 
nage of  St.  Jerome.  These  religious  lived  at  first  as  hermits,  but  after- 
wards embraced  a  cenobitic  life,  following  either  the  Eule  of  St. 
Augustine,  or  a  rule  which  was  collected  from  the  writings  of  St* 
Jerome. — 3.  Clerks  and  Brothers  of  the  Common  Life.  This  remarkable 
institute  was  established  by  Gerhard  Groot,  who  died  in  1384.  It 
spread  widely  in  the  Netherlands  and  Germany,  and  produced  a  num- 
ber of  distinguished  men,  among  them  Thomas  A.  Kempis,  the  fam- 
ous author  of  the  "  Imitation  of  Christ." 


THIRD   PERIOD. 


Modern  Church  History. 


FROM    THE    BEGINNING    OF  THE    SIXTEENTH   CENTURY    TO    THE   ECU- 
MENICAL   COUNCIL    OF    THE    VATICAN, 
OR, 
FROM    A.     D.     1500    TO    A.     D.     1870. 


FIRST   EPOCH. 


FROM  THE  BEGINNING   OF   THE   SIXTEENTH   CENTURY  TO   THE   MIDDLE 

OF    THE    SEVENTEENTH, 

OR, 

FROM    A.     D.     1500    TO    A.     D.     1650. 


INTRODUCTORY   REMARKS. 


Review  of  the  Preceding  Period — Achievements  of  the  Church — Her  influ- 
ence on  Social  and  Political  Life — A  United  Christendom  —Third  Period 
— The  Reformation — Evil  EfiFects  and  Consequences — Imputations  against 
the  Church — The  Reformation  not  justified — St.  Augustine — Destiny  of 
the   Church. 

1.  We  have  now  reached  the  third  and  last  Period  of  Church 
History.  With  untiring  zeal  and  perseverance  the  Church,  ever  since 
her  foundation,  had  labored  in  reforming  and  elevating  man,  and 
astonishing  were  the  results  she  had  achieved  for  civilization.  Dur- 
ing the  preceding  Period,  which  narrow-minded  and  bigoted  men  are 
wont  to  call  the  "  Dark  Ages,"  she  successfully  laid  the  foundations 
of  all  the  institutions  that  society  now  enjoys.  Idolatry  had  disap- 
peared, with  its  cruelties  and  abominations,  and  everywhere  men 
knelt  before  the  altars  of  the  One  True  God.  The  wild  barbarian 
had  been  tamed,  his  savage  heart  brought  to  yield  to  the  humanizing 
influences  of  the  Christian  Religion.  Slavery  was  almost  everywhere 
abolished;  the  marriage  tie,  that  strong  bond  of  home  and  of 
society,  was  hallowed  by  a  sacrament ;  and  woman,  who  under  Pagan- 
ism was  the  slave  or  the  toy  of  man,  found  herself  raised  to  all  the 
honor  with  which  Christianity  invests  human  nature. 


INTR  OD  UCTOR  T  REMARKS.  499 

2.  By  her  superior  intelligence  and  virtue,  the  Church  ruled  the 
State,  modified  its  action,  and  compelled  rulers  to  respect  the  rights 
of  man  ;  she  protected  the  poor  and  friendless  against  the  encroach- 
ments of  the  rich  and  noble  ;  the  feeble  and  defenceless  against  the 
tyranny  of  the  powerful.  All  Europe  was  converted  to  the  doctrine 
of  Christ;  an  entire  unity  of  faith  closely  bound  together  all  the 
nations  of  the  West,  who,  although  in  all  else  retaining  their  national 
independence,  looked  upon  each  other  as  brethren  and  formed  one 
great  family  which  possessed  in  the  successor  of  St.  Peter,  the  Vicar 
of  Christ,  a  common  Head  and  Father.  Surely,  no  more  glorious 
monument  could  be  devised  than  that  which  the  Church  had  thus 
raised  to  herself. 

3.  The  new  Era,  however,  which  now  began,  had  in  store  many 
severe  afflictions  and  great  losses  for  the  Church.  The  most  import- 
ant event  which  occurred  during  the  present  Period  is  that  great 
religious  revolution  which  in  irony  may  be  called  the  "  Reformation," 
though  it  is  more  properly  termed  the  "Apostasy  of  the  Nations." 
The  revolt  excited  by  the  "Reformers"  in  the  Sixteenth  Century 
was  a  calamity,  the  consequences  of  which  were  disastrous  to  both 
Church  and  State.  It  destroyed  the  unity,  just  referred  to,  sowing 
the  seeds  of  civil  discord  and  religious  dissension  among  the  peoples 
of  Europe  ;  it  tended  to  sever  the  close  alliance  which  formerly 
existed  between  the  spiritual  and  temporal  orders;  it  largely  changed 
the  political  and  religious  conditions  of  nearly  every  State  in  Europe, 
and  effected  the  separation  of  entire  nations  and  countries  from  the 
time-honored  Catholic  Church.  In  some  countries  the  introduction 
of  Protestantism  was  attended  by  a  change  of  dynasty;  in  Ireland 
and  Poland,  even  by  the  loss  of  national  independence. 

4.  In  justification  of  their  revolt  from  the  Catholic  Church, 
the  leaders  of  the  Reformation  alleged,  what  they  called,  the  exorbi- 
tant claims  of  the  Papacy;  the  abuses  which  the  Church,  owing  to  the 
perversity  of  men  and  the  interference  of  secular  rulers,  had  thus  far 
labored  in  vain  to  reform  ;  the  scandals  which  unfortunately  existed 
among  some  of  the  clergy;  the  corruption  which,  they  charged,  was 
prevailing  to  a  frightful  extent  in  monastic  institutions;  and,  lastly, 
the  numerous  errors  and  superstitious  practices,  falsely  attributed  to 
the  Catholic  Church. 

5.  But  even  allowing  the  disorders^  to  have  been  as  general  and 

1.  Enlightened  and  impartial  Historical  Criticism,— the  faithful  censor  of  g-enuine 
history— is  yearly  rejecting  as  calumnies  many  of  the  abuses  heretofore  alleged  to  have 
existed  in  Church  circles  in  the  past,  as  well  as  correcting  the  exaggerations  with  which 
acknowledged  scandals  have  so  often  been  presented.  If,  at  the  epochs  referred  to, 
holy  churchmen  inveighed  so  strongly  and  promiscuously  against  scandals,  the  following 


000  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

enormous  as  they  are  represented  by  the  friends  of  the  Reformation, 
they  were  never  authorized  and  consequently  afforded  no  sufficient 
cause  for  separation  from  the  Church.  Moreover,  it  is  to  be  observed, 
that,  if  at  the  period  of  the  Reformation  there  were  priests  and 
monks  whose  conduct  was  a  cause  of  regret  to  Christians,  their  num- 
ber was  not  larger  than  it  had  been  in  previous  times ;  that  the  . 
scandals  which  then  afflicted  the  Church,  were  owing  chiefly  to  the 
royal  or  princely  obtrusion  of  worldly  and  licentious  men,  generally 
of  high  birth,  into  ecclesiastical  offices,  which  were  coveted  only  for 
the  wealth  and  power  which  they  bestowed;  and  that  the  religion 
which  is  said  to  have  been  corrupted  by  the  teachings  of  the  Roman 
Church,  was  the  Only  Christian  religion  in  the  world  for  fifteen  hun- 
dred years  after  the  death  of  Christ. 

6.  In  regard  to  any  disorders  and  crimes  which  history  attests  to 
have  occurred  in  the  Church,  we  have  to  say  with  St.  Augustine : 
*'  The  Church  is  not  defiled  by  the  sins  of  men,  since  being  spread 
throughout  the  whole  world,  according  to  the  most  faithful  prophecies, 
she  awaits  the  end  of  the  world,  as  the  shore,  on  reaching  which,  she 
is  at  length  rid  of  the  bad  fish,  which  being  contained  within  the 
nets  of  the  Lord,  she  bore  their  annoyance  without  fault,  as  long  as 
she  could  not  rid  herself  of  them  without  impatience." 

7.  Amid  the  ever  changing  scenes  of  this  earth,  the  Church 
steadfastly  looks  on  Christ,  her  Divine  Model.  His  life  is  the  type  of 
her  own.  In  His  mortal  course  we  see  sorrow,  humiliations,  and 
sufferings,  alternating  with  honor,  glory,  and  triumph.  Such  also  is 
the  destiny  of  His  Church.  She  has  her  ages  of  tribulation;  she 
has  her  years  of  honor  and  glory;  these  again  to  be  succeeded,  per- 
chance, by  even  darker  ages  of  sorrow  than  any  she  has  yet  endured, 
until  she  is  summoned  to  the  last  struggle  and  the  last  triumph  that 
shall  close  her  earthly  career. 

remark  of  the  Judicious  Balmes  may  serve  to  account  for  the  force  of  their  denunciations.  "  The 
just  man  when  he  raises  his  voice  against  vice,  the  minister  of  the  sanctuary  when  he  Is  burning 
with  zeal  for  the  House  of  the  T/)rd,  express  themselves  in  accents  so  loud  and  'vehement  that  they 
must  not  always  be  taken  literally.  Their  whole  hearts  are  opened,  and.  Inflamed  as  they  are  with 
a  zealous  love  of  justice,  they  make  use  of  burning  words.  Men  without  faith  Interpret  their  ex- 
pressions maliciously,  exaggerating  aud  misrepresenting  them."    Civilization,  Ch.  II. 


r 


MISSIOXS  IN  ASIA.  501 


CHAPTER  I. 


PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


SECTION  I.       MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN  IN  ASIA. ST.  FRANCIS  XAVIEE. 


Christian  Zeal  of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  Explorers— St.  Francis  Xavier 
— His  Labors  in  India — In  Japan — Results  of  his  Labors — His  Death — 
His  Successors  in  Japan — Father  Valignano — Persecution  in  Japan — The 
Twenty-Six  Japanese  Martyrs — Taicosama  and  his  Successors — Bigotry 
of  Dutch  Calvinists. 

8.  While  some  of  the  nations  of  Europe  were  being  mislead  by 
the  self-styled  Reformers,  to  secede  from  the  Church,  other  peoples, 
both  in  the  East  and  the  West,  were  preparing  to  enter  her  fold. 
The  Discovery  of  America  by  Christopher  Columbus,  in  1492,  and 
the  finding  of  another  route  to  India  by  Yasco  de  Gama,  six  years 
later,  opened  new  and  promising  fields  for  apostolic  zeal.  The  gallant 
and  fervent  men,  whom  Catholic  Spain  and  Portugal  sent  forth  in 
search  of  unknown  lands,  were  as  desirous  of  enlarging  the  domin- 
ions of  Christ's  Kingdom,  as  of  extending  the  domain  of  their  own 
nations.  On  their  numerous  voyages  they  were  invariably  accom- 
panied by  zealous  missionaries,  whose  supreme  ambition  was  the  con- 
version of  the  many  pagan  nations  they  should  visit,  by  imparting  to 
them  the  light  of  the  Gospel. 

9.  In  India.  This  Epoch  witnessed  the  planting  of  the  Chris- 
tian faith  in  the  East  Indies  and  Japan,  by  the  preaching  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier.  Since  the  days  of  St.  Paul,  no  greater  missionary, 
perhaps,  has  arisen  in  the  Church.  The  work  which  this  extraordi- 
nary man  accomplished  during  the  ten  years  from  1542  to  1552, 
almost  surpasses  belief.  St.  Francis,  born  in  1506,  of  a  noble  family 
in  Navarre,  was  one  of  the  first  associates  of  St.  Ignatius  when  found- 
ing his  order.  At  the  instance  of  King  John  III.,  Of  Portugal,  Pope 
Paul  III.  appointed  him  apostolic  missionary  and  nuncio  for  India. 
Francis  landed  at  Goa,  the  capital  of  the  Portuguese  Indies,  and, 
since  1534,  an  episcopal  see.  After  working  some  time  in  that  city, 
where  his  preaching  wrought  a  great  change,  and  where  he  estab- 
lished a  college  for  the  education  of  native  youths,  as  catechists,  he 


503  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

visited  the  tribe  of  the  Parawians  on  the  Fishery  Coast.  This  people 
had  been,  indeed,  baptized,  but  were  Christians  merely  in  name.  His 
preaching,  supported  by  miracles,  produced  wonderful  effects.  He 
founded  forty-five  churches  along  the  coast. 

10.  After  a  year's  residence  among  the  Parawians,  Francis  passed 
into  the  Kingdom  of  Travancore.  He  had  found  this  country  en- 
tirely idolatrous,  but  when  he  left  it,  after  a  few  months'  stay,  it  was 
entirely  Christian.  His  zeal  next  led  him  to  visit  successively,  Ma- 
lacca, Amboina,  the  Moluccas,  and  Ternate.  In  all  these  parts  he 
effected  prodigious  numbers  of  conversions  and  established  a  flourish- 
ing church.  In  the  Island  of  Moro,  he  converted  the  whole  city  of 
Tolo,  containing  25,000  souls.  From  Travancore  he  sent  a  priest  to 
the  Isle  of  Manas,  near  Ceylon,where  Christianity  made  rapid  progress. 
This  island  was  fertilized  with  the  blood  of  more  than  5,000 
Christians,  amongst  whom  was  the  king's  own  son.  By  the  year 
]  548,  St.  Francis  had  converted  more  than  200,000  Pagans  along  the 
Eastern  Coast,  starting  from  Cape  Comorin. 

11.  Xavier's  next  mission  was  to  Japan.  Accompanied  by  a 
Japanese  of  high  rank,  whom  he  had  baptized  at  Goa,  he  landed  at 
Kangoxima,  in  1549.  His  preaching  was  attended  with  marvelous 
results.  Notwithstanding  the  opposition  of  the  Bonzes,  vast  numbers 
of  the  natives,  including  several  princes,  were  converted  to  Chris- 
tianity. St.  Francis  founded  many  Christian  communities  in  this  great 
kingdom  and  left  the  Church  of  Japan  established  on  a  firm  footing,, 
as  its  subsequent  history  will  show.  In  3  552,  St.  Francis  set  out  for 
China,  eager  to  preach  the  Gospel  also  in  that  extensive  empire  which 
foreigners  were  forbidden  to  enter  under  pain  of  death.  But  his. 
apostolic  course  was  run  ;  he  expired  on  the  Island  of  Sancian,  in  the 
forty -sixth  year  of  his  age.  He  was  canonized  by  Urban  VIII.  in 
1623,  with  the  glorious  title  of  "The  Apostle  of  India  and  Japan." 

12.  The  evangelization  of  Japan,  begun  by  St.  Francis  Xavier„ 
was  continued  by  the  Jesuits ;  their  labors  were  crowned  with  won- 
derful success.  Christian  communities  arose  in  all  parts  of  the  island^ 
even  in  the  imperial  city  of  Miako.  In  15*79,  there  were  reckoned 
over  200,000  Christians.  By  the  efforts  of  Father  Va/ignano,  who 
died  in  1606,  about  three  hundred  churches  were  erected,  besides  a 
number  of  colleges,  and  a  novitiate  of  his  order.  The  kings  of  Bongo, 
Arima,  and  Omura  embraced  Christianity,  and,  in  1585,  sent  an  em- 
bassy to  Rome,  to  assure  Popfe  Gregory  XIII.  of  their  submission  to 
the  Holy  See.  Hopes  were  entertained  of  the  qonversion  of  all 
Japan. 


J 


MISSIONS  IN  jisiA.  503 

13.  But,  in  ]587,  the  Emperor  Taicosama  commenced  a  violent 
persecution  of  the  Christians.  The  missionaries  were  ordered  to  leave 
the  country,  a  number  of  churches  were  burned,  and  a  great  many 
Christians  suffered  martyrdom.  In  1597,  the  twenty-six  martyrs 
(three  Jesuits  and  twenty-three  Franciscans)  suffered,  whom  Pius  IX. 
canonized,  in  1862.  In  spite  of  the  persecution,  however,  Christianity 
continued  to  make  great  progress.  The  Christians  who  numbered  but 
200,000  when  the  persecution  broke  out,  twenty-five  years  later, 
counted  750,000. 

14.  Under  the  successors  of  Taicosama,  who  died  in  1598, 
the  persecution  was  carried  on  with  increased  violence.  Scores 
of  thousands  of  Japanese  converts  were  put  to  death,  and  the  horrors 
of  the  early  times  of  the  Church  were  renewed  and  even  surpassed. 
In  1638  alone,  4,000  Christians  were  drowned  in  the  sea,  and  many 
others  were  subjected  to  the  most  horrible  torments.  But  the  faith 
implanted  in  the  breasts  of  these  converts  was  not  to  be  eradicated 
by  torments  or  the  fear  of  death.  Like  the  primitive  Christians, 
they  suffered  martyrdom  with  the  most  heroic  patience  and  con- 
stancy. In  1639,  all  Europeans,  except  the  Dutch,  were  forbidden  to 
enter  Japan,  even  for  trade,  and  then,  on  condition  of  their  trampling 
upon  the  Cross,  to  which  the  heretical  Hollanders  had  readily  ac- 
quiesced. From  that  time  all  public  profession  of  Christianity  was 
stopped.^ 

15.  The  guilt  of  this  long  and  frightful  persecution  in  Japan  rests 
chiefly  with  the  Dutch  Calvinists,  who,  out  of  commercial  jealousy 
and  hatred  of  the  Catholic  religion,  accused  the  Catholic  missionaries 
of  a  conspiracy  with  the  Portuguese  and  Spaniards  against  the  Japan- 
ese government.  The  Japanese  rulers  were  made  to  believe  that  the 
real  designs  of  the  Jesuits,  in  preaching  the  Gospel,  was  to  prepare 
the  conquest  of  Japan  by  Portugal  and  Spain.  It  was  the  Dutch  also 
who  in  1638,  at  the  request  of  the  Japanese  government,  bombarded 
37,000  Christians  who,  to  save  themselves  had  taken  refuge  within 
the  walls  of  Samabarra.  Thus  the  intrigues  and  crimes  of  the  Dutch 
Protestants  assisted  in  ruining  a  once  flourishing  church,  and  in 
securing  the  triumph  of  Paganism. 

1.  When  Japan  was  opened  to  Europeans  some  years  ago,  the  astounding-  fact  was 
announced  that,  after  more  than  two  centuries  of  utter  abandonment.  Catholic  Chris- 
tians were  still  to  be  found  in  the  interior  of  the  empire,  who,  instructed  by  cathechistg 
only,  had  preserved  their  faith  under  the  most  trying  circumstances. 


504  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

SECTION  II.      THE  SUCCESSORS  OF  ST.  FRANCIS CHRISTIANITY  IN  CHINA 

AND  THE  ADJACENT  COUNTRIES. 

Labors  of  the  Jesuits— Reunion  of  Nestorians— Father  do  Nobili— His  success 
with  the  Brahmins — Controversy  on  "the  Malabar  Customs" — Mission  in 
Central  India — In  Ceylon— In  Tong  King  —  In  Cochin-China  —  In  the 
Phillippine  Islands— In  China— Fathers  Matteo  Ricci,  Adam  Schall,  and 
Ferdinand  Verbiest. 

16.  A  long  succession  of  zealous  and  heroic  missionaries,  who 
had  inherited  the  spirit  of  St.  Francis  Xavier,  continued  the  great 
task  which  he  had  commenced.  By  their  labors,  many  new  churches 
were  formed  on  both  Coasts  and  in  the  interior  of  India.  The  ever 
increasing  number  of  conversions  made  it  necessary  to  divide  the 
ecclesiastical  province  of  Goa,  thus  constituting  the  province  of 
Malabar.  The  Church  of  East  India  received  a  large  increase  by  the 
reunion  of  the  Nestorians,  or  "  Thomas  Christians,"  on  the  Malabar 
Coast,  which  was  brought  about  by  the  Synod  of  Diamper,  in  1599. 

17.  A  great  obstacle  to  conversion  was  the  institution  of  castes^ 
into  which  the  Indian  population  is  divided,  and  which  prohibits  all 
intercourse  between  the  higher  and  lower  classes.  The  Brahmins,  or 
sacerdotal  caste,  affecting  a  greater  purity  and  higher  wisdom, 
held  communication  with  none  except  members  of  their  own  order. 
They  appeared,  on  that  account,  beyond  the  reach  of  the  Christian 
missionaries,  whom,  for  associating  with  all  classes,  they  identified 
with  men  belonging  to  an  impure  caste. 

18.  It  was  to  the  conversion  of  the  Brahmins  that  Mobert  de 
Nbhiliy  a  nephew  of  Cardinal  Bellarmine,  and  a  near  kinsman  of 
Pope  Marcellus  II.,  resolved  to  devote  his  life.  In  1606,  Father  de 
Nobili  came  to  Madura,  and  imitating  the  example  of  St.  Paul,  who 
became  "all  things  to  all  men  to  win  all  to  Christ,"  he  separated  from 
his  brethren  and  assumed  the  habit  and  customs  of  a  Brahmin.  His 
austerities  and  manner  of  life  attracting  universal  attention,  many  of 
the  chief  and  most  learned  of  the  Brahmins  soon  asked  to  become 
his  disciples.  During  the  forty-five  years  of  his  apostolate  in  Ma- 
dura, de  Nobili  is  said  to  have  converted  more  than  one  hundred 
thousand  idolaters,  nearly  all  of  whom  belonged  to  the  caste  of  Brah- 
mins.    He  died  in  1656. 

19.  The  method  adopted  by  de  Nobili  of  extending  the  Gospel, 
and  his  conformity  to  certain  Brahminical  customs,  gave  rise  to  a 
protracted  controversy,  known  as  the  consroversy  "  On  the  Malabar 

Customs.''''  De  Nobili  was  accused  by  his  co-religionists  of  conniv- 
ing, out  of  condescension  to  the  heathen  Brahmins,  at  certain  idol- 
atrous rites,  and  thus  jeopardizing  the  purity  of  faith.     Though  the 


MISSIONS  IN  ASIA.  505 

archbishops  of  Goa  and  Cranganore  had  approved  the  conduct  of  de 
Nobili,  the  matter  was  referred  to  Rome.  In  1623,  Gregory  XY., 
gave  his  supreme  sanction  to  the  method  pursued  by  de  Nobili,  and 
in  1707,  Clement  XI.  repeated  the  same  judgment.^  This  lamentable 
discussion  served  only  to  impede  the  conversion  of  the  Brahmins,  to 
which  the  zealous  missionary  had  devoted  himself  with  such  immense 
success. 

20.  At  the  close  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  faith  was  brought 
into  Central  India  by  Jesuits,  whom  the  emperor  Akbar  had  invited 
to  acquaint  him  with  the  Christian  religion.  The  most  prominent 
among  them  was  Father  Geronimo  JTavier,  the  nephew  of  St.  Francis 
Xavier.  Christmas  was  celebrated  in  a  most  solemn  manner  at  La- 
hore, in  1599,  when  numerous  converts  received  baptism.  In  1610, 
three  royal  princes  were  baptized.  In  1621,  a  college  was  established 
in  Agra,  and  a  stiation  in  Patna;  and  hopes  were  entertained  that  all 
Central  India  would  embrace  the  faith,  which  was  prevented  only  by 
political  events. 

21.  Ceylony  where  the  faith  had  been  planted  by  Franciscans  and 
Oratorians,  was  fertilized  by  the  blood  of  martyrs,  as  early  as  1546. 
In  1548,  one  of  the  kings  was  converted,  and  the  number  of  native 
Christians  was  already  twelve  thousand.  This  flourishing  mission 
was  greatly  injured  by  the  Dutch  Calvinists,  who  were  the  implacable 
enemies  of  the  Catholic  missionaries,  several  of  whom  fell  victims  to 
their  fury.  The  most  distinguished  missionary  laboring  in  Ceylon, 
was  the  Oratorian  Father  Vaz,  who  in  a  short  space  of  time  added 
to  the  Church  upwards  of  thirty  thousand  converts  from  the  heathen. 
Notwithstanding  the  savage  repression  of  the  Dutch,  Catholicity 
made  great  progress.  In  1717,  the  Catholics  possessed  upwards  of 
four  hundred  churches  in  all  parts  of  the  island. 

22.  The  mission  of  Tong-King  in  Annam,  was  founded  in  1627, 
by  the  two  Jesuits,  Alexander  de  Rhodes  and  Anthony  Marques.  In 
less  than  three  years  they  baptized  upwards  of  six  thousand  Pagans, 
including  two  hundred  bonzes,  a  sister  of  the  king,  and  seventeen  of 
his  near  relations.  In  1639,  there  were  already  over  82,000  Christians^ 
and  before  a  half  century  had  elapsed,  they  numbered  200,000. 
Cochin-  China  was  evangelized  about  the  same  time. 

1.  "Clement  XII.,  indeed,  ordered  them  to  abolish  the  distinction  of  castes;  but  as 
this  decision,  founded  upon  an  extreme  view  of  the  theory  of  caste,  was  found  to  be 
absolutely  fatal  to  conversions,  Benedict  XIV.,  by  his  Bull  of  the  12th  of  September, 
1744,  not  only  applauded  the  conduct  of  the  Jesuits,  but  authorized  them  to  have  two 
classes  of  missionaries,  one  for  the  nobles,  and  another  for  the  pariahs.  The  decision 
was  received  with  joy  in  India,  and  the  Fathers  contended  with  one  another  who  shoul<J 
have  the  lower  calling."    Marshall,  Christian  Missions,  Vol.  I.  p.  229. 


506  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHUBUB. 

23.  In  the  PhiUipine  Islands,  Christianity  achieved  a  complete 
triumph  over  Paganism.  Even  at  the  close  of  the  Sixteenth  Centur}^ 
the  number  of  native  Christians  is  said  to  have  been  no  less  than 
400,000.  In  the  persecution  which  broke  out  at  this  time,  more  than 
6,000  Christians  suffered  martyrdom  in  the  single  province  of  Temate 
Manila,  the  capital,  since  1579  an  episcopal  see,  was  made  metropol- 
itan in  1621,  having  under  its  jurisdiction  three  suffragan  sees. 

24.  China,  St.  Francis  Xavier  died,  like  another  Moses,  in  sight 
of  China,  which  he  had  desired  to  enter  and  christianize.  His  relig- 
ious brethren,  after  many  vain  attempts,  at  last  succeeded  in  obtaining 
an  entrance  into  the  empire.  In  1583,  several  Jesuits,  headed  by  the 
oelebrated  Mattaeo  Micci,  landed  in  China,  and  slowly  worked  their 
way  from  Canton  to  Nanking,  and  thence  to  Pekin  into  the  imperial 
palace.  By  teaching  mathematics  and  introducing  the  inventions  of 
the  West,  they  sought  to  win  the  studious  and  ambitious  people  to 
the  religion  of  Christ.  The  present  which  Ricci  made  to  the  emperor 
lof  a  striking  clock,  and  the  construction  of  a  map  which  far  surpassed 
similai  attempts  by  native  artists,  won  from  the  imperial  house 
respect  for  his  person,  and  some  degree  of  toleration  for  the  religion 
he  taught. 

25.  Many  of  the  more  learned  of  the  Chinese  embraced  the  faith; 
in  1606,  a  sodality  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  was  formed  at  Pekin  and 
three  imperial  princes  were  baptized.  Among  the  most  eminent  of  the 
converts  was  the  mandarin  Paul  Sen,  one  of  the  highest  officers  of  the 
empire,  and  his  grand-daughter  Candida.  Assisting  the  missionaries 
by  their  influence  and  wealth,  these  pious  neophytes  founded  about 
fifty  churches  in  different  parts  of  the  empire.  When  Father  Ricci 
died,  in  1610,  there  were  more  than  three  hundred  Christian  churches 
in  the  different  provinces. 

26.  After  the  death  of  this  great  missionary,  a  fierce  persecution 
broke  out;  the  Fathers  at  Pekin  were  banished  to  Macao.  But  after 
a  short  interval  they  were  permitted  to  return,  and  their  literary 
attainments  greatly  contributed  to  promote  Christianity  among  all 
classes.  No  year  passed  in  which  thousands  were  not  converted.  In 
1611,  the  first  church  was  dedicated  at  Nanking.  In  1 624,  Adam  Schall 
was  installed  as  successor  of  Father  Ricci,  with  the  title  of  *'  Presi- 
dent of  the  Mathematical  Tribunal."  The  establishment  of  the  Tar- 
tar dynasty,  in  1644,  threatened  to  injure  the  Christian  mission  ;  but 
the  two  first  Tartar  emperors  were  favorable  to  the  Jesuit  fathers. 
In  1631,  the  Dominicans  and  Franciscans  began  to  arrive,  and  Christ- 
ianity made  rapid  progress  in  China.     In  1663,  the  Catholics  are  said 


r 


MISSIONS  IN  THE  WEST  INDIES.  507 

to  have  been  three  hundred  thousand.      The  mother  of  the  emperor 
his  principal  wife,  and  eldest  son,  embraced  the  faith. 

27.  But  a  formidable  persecution  arose  during  the  minority  of 
the  emperor  Cang-hi.  Father  Schall  was  cast  into  prison,  together 
with  a  number  of  Christian  mandarins,  of  whom  five  were  martyred. 
Schall  recovered  his  liberty,  but  died  from  the  effects  of  his  suffer- 
ings, in  1666.  In  1671,  Father  Ferdinand  Yerbiest,  the  successor  of 
Father  Schall,  obtained  from  the  new  emperor,  over  whom  he  pos- 
sessed an  almost  unbounded  influence,  adequate  toleration  for  the 
Christians,  and  in  that  year  alone  more  than  twenty  thousand  Chinese 
were  baptized.  The  next  year  an  uncle  of  the  emperor,  one  of  his 
chief  generals,  besides  many  other  persons  of  distinction,  embraced 
the  faith.  But  hard  trials  awaited  the  Chinese  Church  in  the  ensu- 
ing era. 

SECTION  III.       MISSIONS  IN  THE  WEST  INDIES. 

Discovery  of  America  owing  to  Catholic  Zeal— Christopher  Columbus— His 
First  Discoveries — Pope  Alexander  VI. — First  Missionary  Efforts — First 
Christian  Church — Inhuman  Treatment  of  the  Natives — System  of  Repar- 
timientos— The  Missionaries  oppose  the  enslaving  of  the  Natives— Bull  of 
Paul  III.— Testimony  of  Dr.  Robertson— Las  Casas,  Champion  of  the 
Indians — Cardinal  Ximenes — Mission  in  Cuba — Among  the  Caribbees. 

28.  Religious  zeal,  more  than  any  other  motive,  led  to  the  Dis- 
covery of  America.  The  prime  motive  which  actuated  the  great 
Christopher  Columbus  to  venture  on  the  perilous  voyage  across  the 
broad  Atlantic,  was  the  salvation  of  souls,  which  that  truly  pious 
man  deemed  more  glorious  than  the  conquest  of  an  empire.  The 
Franciscan,  Fra  Juan  Perez  de  Marchena,  the  Jeronymite,  Ferdinand 
of  Talavera,  and  the  Dominican,  Don  Diego  Deza,  afterwards  arch- 
bishop of  Seville,  advocated  the  noble  cause  of  the  illustrious 
Genoese,  at  the  Spanish  Court.  The  same  laudable  desire,  of  com- 
municating the  light  of  the  Gospel  to  heathen  nations,  moved  Ferdi- 
nand the  Catholic,  and  his  pious  consort,  Isabella,  to  grant  to  Colum- 
bus the  vessels  which  he  had  solicited  for  so  many  years.  Thus,  in 
all  justice,  it  can  be  said,  that  to  Catholic  missionary  zeal  is  owing 
the  Discovery  of  America. 

29.  Setting  sail  from  Palos,  in  Andalusia,  Columbus,  in  1492,  gave 
a  New  World  to  the  Church,  "  the  like  of  which  was  never  done  by  any 
man  in  ancient  or  later  times."  The  first  land  discovered  was  an 
island  of  the  Bahama  group,  which  the  Christian  admiral,  in  honor  of 
the  Saviour,  called  San  Salvador;  the  next,  in  memory  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin,  was  named  Santa  Maria  de  la  Concepcion.  The  Church  im- 
mediately set  to  work  to  extend  the  Kingdom  of  Christ  over  th^ 


508  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

newly  discovered  lands.  In  this,  however,  she  found  great  drawbacks 
in  the  character  and  conduct  of  the  earlier  European  colonists,  many 
of  whom,  unfortunately,  had  belonged  to  the  reckless  classes  at  home, 
it  having  been  very  difficult  to  recruit  the  first  expeditions  from  the 
better  walks  of  life. 

30.  As  early  as  1493,  Pope  Alexander  VI.,  in  his  memorable 
"  Bull  of  Partition,''  charged  the  Spanish  sovereigns  to  send  zealous 
and  skillful  missionaries  to  the  New  World,  by  whom  the  aborigines 
might  be  instructed  in  the  Christian  faith.  The  Spanish  monarchs  at 
once  organized  a  mission  for  the  new  "  Indies  ;"  Bernard  Boyle,  an 
vicar  apostolic,  with  twelve  priests,  accompanied  Columbus  on  his 
second  voyage,  and  commenced  the  work  of  religion  in  the  New 
World,  by  consecrating  the  first  Christian  chapel  on  Hispaniola,  on 
the  feast  of  the  Epiphany,  1494. 

31.  But  owing  to  the  inhuman  treatment  of  the  native  inhabit- 
ants by  the  Spaniards,  the  mission  of  Boyle  and  his  companions  pro- 
duced but  little  fruit.  The  Spanish  colonists,  instead  of  treating  the 
natives  with  Christian  love,  subjected  them  to  the  most  grievous  op- 
pression. The  introduction  of  the  Mepartimientos,  or  distribution  of 
the  Indians  as  slaves  among  the  conquerors,  brought  great  misery  to 
that  unhappy  people,  and  reduced  them  to  an  unbearable  servitude. 
The  unfortunate  savages  were  divided  off  to  the  colonists  like  so  many 
cattle,  and  compelled  by  their  new  masters  to  take  up  a  fixed  resi- 
dence, and  to  work  in  mines  and  on  sugar  plantations.  Under  the 
pressure  of  those  hardships,  the  native  inhabitants,  hitherto  accus- 
tomed to  a  life  of  ease  and  indolence,  either  escaped  from  their  task- 
masters, or  pined  away  with  unparalleled  rapidity. 

32.  It  was  discouraging,  under  these  circumstances,  to  build 
Christian  churches  and  erect  episcopal  sees  in  America.  The  hard 
oppression  under  which  the  natives  smarted,  filled  their  hearts  with 
intense  hatred  for  the  religion  of  their  conquerors,  and  was  an  insur- 
mountable obstacle  to  their  conversion.  In  vain  did  the  missionaries 
remonstrate  against  the,  not  less  impolitic,  than  barbarous,  practice  of 
enslaving  the  aborigines.  Their  entreaties  and  warnings  remaining 
unheeded,  they  appealed  for  protection  of  the  oppressed  natives  to 
the  Spanish  Court  and  the  Holy  See.  Paul  III.,  in  a  bull,  issued  1537, 
raised  his  voice  in  behalf  of  the  ill-treated  Indians,  declaring  them  to 
be  *'  true  men,  who  were  to  remain  unmolested  in  their  liberty  and 
property,  and  whom  it  was  unlawful  to  reduce  to  slavery." 

33.  "  With  great  injustice,"  says  the  Protestant  Dr.  Robertson  in 
his  History  of  the  Discovery  of  America,  "  have  many  authors  repre- 
sented the  intolerant  spirit  of  the  Roman  Catholic  religion,  as  the 


» 


MISSIONS  IN  THE  WEST  INDIES.  509 

cause  of  exterminating  the  Americans,  and  have  accused  the  Spanish 
ecclesiastics  of  animating  their  countrymen  to  the  slaughter  of  that 
innocent  people,  as  idolaters  and  enemies  of  God,  The  first  mission- 
aries who  visited  America  were  pious  men.  They  early  espoused  the 
defence  of  the  natives,  and  vindicated  their  character  from  the  asper- 
sions of  their  conquerors,  who,  describing  them  as  incapable  of  being 
formed  to  the  offices  of  civil  life,  or  of  comprehending  the  doctrines 
of  religion,  contended  that  they  were  a  subordinate  race  of  men,  on 
whom  the  hand  of  nature  had  set  the  mark  of  servitude.  From  the 
accounts  which  I  have  given  of  the  humane  and  persevering  zeal  of 
the  Spanish  missioners,  in  protecting  the  helpless  flock  committed  to 
their  charge,  they  appear  in  a  light  which  reflects  lustre  upon  their 
function.  They  were  ministers  of  peace,  who  endeavored  to  wrest 
the  rod  from  the  hands  of  oppressors.  To  their  powerful  interposi- 
tion the  Americans  were  indebted  for  every  regulation  tending  to 
mitigate  the  rigor  of  their  fate."^ 

34.  But  it  was  the  great  BartJwlomew  Las  Casas,  a  member  of 
the  Dominican  Order,  who  proved  himself  the  warmest  friend  of  the 
oppressed  Indian  and  the  champion  of  his  liberty.  Born  at  Seville, 
in  1474,  Las  Casas  accompanied  Columbus  on  his  third  voyage  in 
1498;  he  is  said  to  have  been  the  first  priest  ordained  in  the  New 
World.  "  The  whole  of  his  future  life,"  says  Irving,  "a  space  exceed- 
ing sixty  years,  was  devoted  to  vindicating  the  cause  and  endeavoring 
to  meliorate  the  sufferings  of  the  natives.  As  a  missionary  he  trav- 
ersed the  wilderness  of  the  New  World  in  various  directions,  seeking 
to  convert  and  civilize  them;  as  a  protector  and  champion  he  made 
several  voyages  to  Spain,  vindicated  their  wrongs  before  courts  and 
monarchs,  wrote  volumes  in  their  behalf,  and  exhibited  a  zeal  and 
constancy,  and  integrity  worthy  of  an  apostle." 

35.  Upon  one  of  Las  Casas' complaints  of  injustice  done  to  the 

1.  Equally  emphatic  is  the  langvage  of  the  same  distinguished  author  in  defence  of 
the  Spanish  Court  against  a  similar  charge.  "The  Spanish  monarchs,"  he  writes,  "  far 
from  acting  upon  any  such  system  of  destruction,  were  uniformly  solicitous  for  the 
preservation  of  their  new  subjects.  Isabella  manifested  the  most  tender  concern,  to 
secure  not  only  religious  instruction,  but  mild  treatment,  to  that  inoffensive  race  of  men 
subjected  to  her  crown.  Her  successors  adopted  the  same  ideas;  and  on  many  occasions 
their  authority  was  interposed,  in  the  most  vigorous  exertions,  to  protect  the  people  of 
America  from  the  oppression  of  their  Spanish  subjects.  Their  regulations  for  this  pur- 
pose were  numerous,  and  often  repeated.    They  were  framed  with  wisdom  and  dictated 

by  humanity The  desolation  of  the  New  World  should  not  then  be  charged 

on  the  Court  of  Spain,  or  be  considered  as  the  effect  of  any  system  of  policy  adopted 
there.  It  ought  to  be  imputed  wholly  to  the  indigent  and  often  unprincipled  adventurex'S 
whose  fortune  it  was  to  be  the  conquerors  and  first  planters  of  America,  who,  by  meas- 
ures no  less  inconsiderate  than  unjust,  counteracted  the  edicts  of  their  sovereign,  and 
have  brought  disgrace  upon  their  country."  History  of  the  Discovery  of  America. 
Book  VIII. 


610  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

Indians,  Cardinal  Ximenes  (A.  D.  1516),  then  regent  of  Spain,  sent  a 
commission  of  three  Jeronymite  friars  to  Hispaniola,  with  full  powers 
to  reform  abuses,  and  appointed  Las  Casas  **  Protector  Cxeneral  of  the 
Indians."  At  the  same  time,  the  illustrious  Cardinal  peremptorily 
forbade  all  and  every  importation  of  Kegro  slaves  into  America.^ 
Las  Casas,  who  afterwards  was  made  bishop  of  Chiapa,  in  Mexico, 
seeing  all  his  efforts  in  behalf  of  the  distressed  Indians  thwarted  by 
the  avarice  and  malice  of  men,  retired  to  his  monastery  at  Madrid, 
where  he  died,  in  1566,  at  the  great  age  of  ninety-two. 

36.  The  conquest  of  Cuba,  by  Don  Diego  Velasquez,  was  soon 
followed  by  the  establishment  of  an  episcopal  see  at  San  Jago,  in 
1518.  As  in  Hispaniola,  so  in  Cuba,  the  chief  obstacle  to  the  conver- 
sion of  the  natives,  was  their  cruel  treatment  by  the  Spaniards.  The 
native  inhabitants  having  nearly  all  fled  or  perished  under  the  cruel 
administration  of  Fera  Soto,  the  second  governor  of  the  island,  the 
missionaries  devoted  themselves  to  the  instruction  of  the  Negroes, 
who  were  quickly  converted  to  Christianity.  The  fierce  Caribhees  of 
St.  Vincent  Island  were  converted  by  the  Jesuit  Andrew  Dejan,  about 
the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century. 

SECTION  IV.       MISSIONS  IN  MEXICO  AND  SOUTH  AMERICA. 

Conquest  of  Mexico— Institutions  and  Arts  of  the  Aztecs,  or  Mexicans— Their 
Religion — Human  Sacrifices — Sanguinary  War-God  —  Zeal  of  Cortes — 
Arrival  of  Missionaries  —  Their  Success  among  the  Natives  —  See  of 
Mexico — Missions  in  Central  America— In  Guyana— In  Venezuela — In 
New  Granada — St.  Louis  Bertrand — Peter  Claver— In  Ecuador — In  Peru 
— Government,  Arts,  and  Manners  of  the  Peruvians — Their  Religious 
Institutions  and  Observances — First  Missionaries— St. Turibius—TheWork 
of  Conversion. 

37.  Mexico  Of  all  the  conquests  of  the  Spaniards  in  America,  that 
of  Mexico,  by  the  gallant  Hernando  Cortes^  in  1519,  was  the  most  im- 
portant. The  vice-royalty  of  "  New-Spain,"  as  Mexico  was  called  by 
the   Spaniards,  comprehended,  besides   the  extensive   territories  of 

1.  It  was  not  Las  Casas,  as  has  been  asserted,  who  first  suggested  the  importing  of 
Negro  slaves  into  the  New  World.  The  importation  of  the  Blacks  dates  there  from  the 
beginning  of  the  sixteenth  century.  "  The  benevolent  Las  Casas,"  says  Bancroft,  "who 
felt  for  the  native  inhabitants  of  the  New  World  all  that  an  ardent  charity  and  the  purest 
missionary  zeal  could  inspire,  and  who  had  seen  them  vanish  away,  like  dew,  before 
the  cruelties  of  the  Spaniards,  while  the  African  thrived  in  robust  health  under  the  sun 
of  Hispaniola,  suggested  that  negroes  might  still  further  be  employed  to  perform  the 
severe  toils  which  they  alone  could  endure."  "It  was  a  suggestion  of  humanity,"  Pres- 
<;ott  adds,  "however  mistaken,  and  considering  the  circumstances,  under  which  it  occur- 
red, and  the  age,  it  may  well  be  forgiven  in  Las  Casas,  especially  taking  in  view,  that  as 
he  became  more  enlightened  himself,  he  was  so  ready  to  testify  his  regret  at  having  un- 
advisedly countenanced  the  measure." 


I 


MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.  511 

"Central  America,  California  and  part  of  Texas.  On  entering  Mexico, 
the  Spaniards  were  astonished  to  find  an  extensive  country,  subjected 
to  one  sovereign,  and  a  people  far  surpassing  in  intelligence  and  re- 
finement the  other  American  races.  There  were  cities  filled  with 
large  populations  living  under  an  organized  government  and  employed 
in  many  of  the  useful  and  even  elegant  arts  of  a  civilized  community. 
The  Aztecs,  or  Mexicans,  exercised  the  arts  of  casting,  chasing,  and 
carving  in  metal,  with  great  skill ;  they  used  a  species  of  picture 
writing  which  bore  some  resemblance  to  the  Egyptian  hieroglyphics. 

38.  But  in  other  respects,  the  Mexicans  were  a  most  ferocious 
race,  and  the  barbarity  of  some  of  their  customs  exceeded  even  the 
savage  state.  They  believed  in  a  supreme  Creator,  invisible  yet 
omnipresent;  still,  they  practised, besides, the  most  atrocious  idolatry. 
Their  religious  tenets  and  rites  are  described  as  wild  and  cruel  in  the 
extreme.  They  had  thirteen  principal,  and  more  than  two  hundred 
inferior,  deities,  which  they  sought  to  appease  by  human  sacrifices 
offered  in  numberless  temples  (teocallis),  some  of  which  were  of  colos- 
sal dimensions.  At  the  head  of  all  Mexican  divinities  stood  the 
terrible  Huitzilopotchli,  the  war-god,  a  sanguinary  monster.  "His 
temples,"  says  Prescott,  "were  the  most  stately  and  august  of  the 
public  edifices,  and  his  altars  reeked  with  the  blood  of  human  heca- 
tombs, in  every  city  of  the  empire.  The  unhappy  persons  destined 
for  sacrifice  were  dragged  to  the  temple ;  the  heart  and  head  were 
offered  to  the  god,  while  his  votaries  devoured  the  body  of  the 
victim." 

39.  The  first  object  of  Cortes,  after  conquering  Mexico,  was  to 
reclaim  the  natives  from  their  atrocious  idolatry  and  cannibalism,  and 
make  them  embrace  the  Christian  religion.  At  his  invitation,  twelve 
Franciscans,  led  by  Father  Martin  of  Valencia,  arrived  in  Kew  Spain, 
early  in  1524.  " The  missionaries,"  says  Prescott,  "lost  no  time  in 
the  good  work  of  conversion.  They  began  their  preaching  through 
interpreters,  until  they  had  acquired  a  competent  knowledge  of  the 
language  themselves.  They  opened  schools  and  founded  colleges,  in 
which  the  native  youth  were  instructed  in  profane  as  well  as  Christian 
learning.  Tiie  ardor  of  the  Indian  neophyte  emulated  that  of  his 
teacher.  In  a  few  years  every  vestige  of  the  primitive  teocallis  was 
effaced  from  the  land." 

40.  In  1526,  Dominicans  and  Fathers  of  our  Lady  of  Mercy 
arrived  in  Mexico,  to  share  in  the  work  of  conversion.  In  1542,  the 
Franciscan  de  Testera  entered  the  field,  bringing  with  him  two  hun- 
dred friars  of  his  order.  Later  on,  the  Jesuits  followed  and  founded 
the  university  of  Mexico.      The  progress  of  Christianity  among  the 


513  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

natives  was  extremely  rapid.  Zumarraga,  first  archbishop  of  Mexico^ 
wrote,  in  1551,  that,  already,  more  than  a  million  Indians  had  been 
baptized  by  the  Franciscans  alone.  This  magnificent  conquest  was 
chiefly  due  to  the  zeal  of  such  distinguished  apostles  as  Betanzos, 
Motilinio,  Martin  of  Valencia,  Peter  of  Ghent,  Las  Casas,  and  Zumar- 
raga. Of  Father  Motilinio  it  is  said  that  he  baptized  no  fewer  than 
four  hundred  thousand  native  Mexicans.  To  Peter  of  Ghent,  a  Fran- 
ciscan lay-brother,  more  than  a  hundred  churches  owed  their  building. 
In  1547,  the  see  of  Mexico  was  raised  to  metropolitan  rank;  and  the 
provincial  Council,  held  in  1555,  was  attended  by  six  suffragan  bishops. 

41.  Central  America.  From  Mexico  and  the  West  Indies  the 
faith  was  brought  into  Central  and  South  America.  It  was  by  Vasco 
Nunez  de  Balboa,  the  discoverer  of  the  Pacific  Ocean,  that  Central 
America  had  been  added  to  the  Crown  of  Spain,  in  1513.  The  first 
missionaries  in  this  part  of  the  Amerian  continent  were  Franciscans 
and  Dominicans  Father  Alfonso  de  Betanzos  preached  both  to  the 
Spanish  colonists  and  the  Indians  in  Costa  Rica  with  great  zeal  and 
fruit,  about  the  middle  of  the  sixteenth  century.  In  1518,  an  Epis- 
copal see  was  founded  in  Tlascala,  at  Los  Angelos,  and,  in  1534,  one 
at  Nicaragua.  In  Guatemala^  the  faith  was  planted  by  Dominicans, 
among  whom  was  the  celebrated  Las  Casas,  the  "  great  Protector  of 
the  Indians."    Vera  Paz  became  an  episcopal  see,  in  1556. 

42.  Gfuyana.  Two  Spanish  Dominicans  first  entered  the  inhos- 
pitable territory  of  Guyana,  in  1560,  but  were  immediately  martyred. 
In  1643,  French  Capuchins  repeated  the  attempt,  with  the  same  result. 
About  the  same  time,  some  Jesuits,  under  Fathers  Meland  and  Pelle- 
prat,  labored  successfully  among  the  fierce  and  warlike  Galibis. 
This  promising  mission  was,  for  a  time,  interrupted  by  the  fanatical 
Dutch,  who,  in  1667,  took  Cayenne  and  harassed  the  missionaries  in 
every  possible  manner.  In  1674,  Jesuits  penetrated  into  the  interior 
of  Guyana.  After  many  years  of  prodigious  toil,  the  celebrated 
Father  Lombard  succeeded  in  establishing  a  very  promising  mission 
on  the  river  Kuru. 

43.  Venezuelay  which  was  visited  by  the  Spaniards  as  early  as  1499, 
was  first  evangelized  by  Dominicans.  In  1520,  the  celebrated  Las 
Casas  established  a  colony  at  Cumana,  which  is  one  of  the  oldest  cities 
of  the  New  World.  Charles  V.,  in  1526,  bestowed  the  province  of 
Venezuela  upon  the  Velsers,  a  wealthy  Lutheran  family  of  Augsburg, 
to  be  held  by  them  as  an  hereditary  fief  from  the  Crown  of  Castile; 
but  owing  to  the  exactions  and  cruelties  of  the  Germans  against 
the  native  inhabitants,  which  exceeded  those  of  the  Spaniards,  the 
grant  was  revoked,  and  Venezuela  reverted  to  Spain.    In  1571,  a  band 


MISSIONS  JiV  SOUTH  AMEBIC  A.  613 

of  Franciscan  and  Augustinian  friars  arrived  to  aid  the  Dominicans 
in  the  conversion  of  the  heathen.  Later  on,  they  were  joined  by 
Jesuits  coming  from  the  Island  of  Trinidad.  At  the  beginning  of 
the  present  century,  of  the  220,000  Indians  living  in  Venezuela,  up- 
wards of  170,000  were  Catholics. 

44.  N'ew  Granada  (now  United  States  of  Colombia)  was  added 
to  the  dominions  of  Spain,  about  the  year  1536.  The  propagation  of 
the  Gospel  in  this  province  was  at  first  very  slow,  owing  to  the  cruel- 
ties of  the  Spaniards,  which  filled  the  natives  with  an  intense  hatred 
against  the  Christian  religion.  An  episcopal  see — the  first  on  the 
American  continent — had  been  founded  at  Santa  Maria,  by  Leo  X.,  as 
early  as  1514.  In  1529,  the  Spaniards  founded  Santa  Marta,  at  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Magdalena,  which  became  the  seat  of  a  bishop  in 
1577.  St.  Louis  Bertrand  labored  here  and  at  Santa  Marta,  with 
wondrous  results,  from  1562  to  1569;  he  is  said  to  have  converted 
15,000  Indians.  In  1566,  the  Dominicans  counted  as  many  as  seven- 
teen monasteries,  from  which  they  ministered  in  one  hundred  and 
seventy  congregations  all  composed  of  Indians.  Cartagena  was  the 
scene  of  the  missionary  labors  of  the  Venerable  Peter  Claver,  who  is 
.sometimes  called  the  "Apostle  of  the  Negroes."  He  baptized  more 
than  three  hundred  thousand  Blacks.  He  died  in  1654.  Before  the 
close  of  the  century,  by  far  the  greater  part  of  the  population,  both 
Indian  and  Negro,  had  embraced  the  faith. 

45.  EcvAidor.  Quito,  the  capital  of  Ecuador,  was  taken  by  the 
Spaniards  under  Benalcazar,  in  1533.  The  first  missionaries  were 
Dominicans  and  Franciscans,  followed  afterwards  by  the  Jesuits. 
The  progress  made  in  converting  the  natives  was  very  satisfactory. 
In  1609,  the  Jesuits  opened  a  university  at  Quito.  In  1632,  there  were 
over  two  hundred  villages,  and  thirty  cities,  inhabited  almost  exclu- 
sively by  converted  Indians.  Father  Fritz,  a  German  Jesuit,  alone 
converted  as  many  as  twenty-nine  Indian  tribes.  At  the  end  of  the 
seventeenth  century,  there  were  in  Ecuador  more  than  550,000  bap- 
tized Indians  living  in  two  hundred  and  sixty  villages. 

46.  Peru.  When  the  Spaniards  under  Francisco  Pizzaro  conquered 
Peru,  in  1532,  the  dominions  of  its  rulers,  the  Incas,  comprised,  be- 
sides Peru  proper,  the  present  states  of  Ecuador,  Bolivia,  and  Chili, 
Its  inhabitants,  composed  of  nations  of  different  language  and  origin, 
were  found  to  enjoy  a  high  degree  of  social  and  physical  improve- 
ment, if  not  civilization.  They  clad  decently,  cultivated  the  soil, 
practiced  certain  useful  arts,  and  lived  under  a  regular  government. 
Their  cities  and  magnificent  temples,  their  method  of  writing  by 
means  of   Quipos,  or  knotted  cords,  the  construction  of  their  houses 


6U  HISTORY  OF  THE  CmiRCR. 

and  public  buildings,  and  the  formation  of  their  public  roads,  excited 
the  admiration  of  the  Spanish  invaders. 

47.  Even  their  religious  institutions  were  advanced  far  beyond 
those  of  any  other  American  nation  or  tribe.  They  adored  the  "Great 
Spirit,"  as  the  Creator  and  Governor  of  the  universe,  calling  him 
**Pachamac,"  that  is,  the  "Life-giving;"  yet  they  worshipped  the 
stars,  principally  the  Sun,  and  their  Incas  were  to  them  not  only  rulers 
and  legislators,  but  messengers  of  Heaven  and  the  descendants  of 
the  Sun.  Their  religious  rites  and  observances  were  innocent  and 
humane,  and  they  never  stained,  as  the  Mexicans,  their  altars  with 
human  blood.  Adjoining  their  temple  at  Cusco,  the  capital  of  the 
empire,  was  a  kind  of  convent,  inhabited  by  virginal  priestesses,  the 
"brides  of  the  Sun." 

48.  The  first  missionaries  in  Peru  were  Dominicans  and  Fran- 
ciscans. Championing  the  cause  of  the  oppressed  natives,  these  zeal- 
ous apostles  fought  strenuously  against  the  cruel  avarice  of  the 
Spanish  adventurers,  and  did  everything  to  assuage  the  woes  which 
the  conquest  of  that  country  had  brought  upon  its  vanquished  inhab- 
itants. In  1529,  Bishop  Hernando  de  Lugue  was  named  protector  of 
the  Indians  ;  he  was  succeeded  by  Father  Vincent  Valverde,  who,  in 
1538,  became  first  bishop  of  Cusco,  and,  later  on,  was  slain  by  the 
savages  on  the  Isle  of  Puna. 

49.  In  1546,  Lima  was  raised  to  the  metropolitan  dignity.  At, 
the  second  provincial  Council,  held  in  1586,  there  appeared  seven 
suffragan  bishops.  St.  Turibius,  third  archbishop  of  Lima,  who  died 
in  1606,  is  regarded  as  the  apostle  of  Peru.  With  unwearied  zeal  he 
traversed  his  extensive  diocese,  to  revive  or  propagate  religion. 
The  glorious  St.  Rose  of  Lima,  a  Dominican  tertiary,  the  only  canon- 
ized saint  of  American  birth,  flourished  under  his  episcopate.  She 
died,  in  1617,  at  the  age  of  thirty-one.  Toward  the  close  of  the  six- 
teenth century,  some  Jesuits  entered  Peru  and  founded  two  colleges, 
one  at  Cusco,  the  other  at  Paz.  A  university  had  been  founded  at 
Lima  as  early  as  155*7.  In  1614,  forty-six  new  members  of  the 
Society  of  Jesus  arrived,  to  replace  those  who  had  fallen  victims  to 
their  zeal.  About  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  natives 
under  Spanish  rule  had  all  embraced  Christianity ;  and  a  centuiy 
later  there  were  upwards  of  four  hundred  thousand  Catholic  Indianai 
in  Peru. 


MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.  515 

SECTIOI^"   V.       MISSIONS    IN    SOUTH    AMERICA CONTINUED. 

Discovery  of  Brazil— First  Missionaries — Jesuit  Mission  under  Father  Nob- 
rega — Father  Anchieta,  the  Apostle  of  Brazil — His  Labors  and  Success  — 
Massacre  of  Missionaries  by  French  Huguenots — Invasion  of  the  Mission 
by  Dutch  Calvinists — Rapid  Progress  of  Christianity  in  Brazil — Founda- 
tion of  Bishoprics — Mission  in  Bolivia — Father  Baraza — Mission  in  Chili 
— Franciscan  Missions  in  La  Plata  and  Patagonia— St.  Francis  Solano — 
The  Reductions  in  Paraguay — Labors  of  the  Jesuits — Success  of  this 
Mission— Retrospect— Glorious  Achievement  of  the  Catholic  Church  in 
South  America. 

50.  Brazil.  The  vast  and  fertile  territory  which  forms  the 
present  Empire  of  Brazil,  was  first  discovered  by  the  Portuguese 
Alvarez  Cabral,  in  1500.  The  first  missionaries  were  Franciscans 
and  secular  priests.  But  their  efforts,  owing  principally  to  the 
cruel  avarice  of  the  Portuguese  colonists,  met  with  little  success. 
John  III.  of  Portugal,  entrusted  the  difficult  mission  to  the  Jesuits. 
At  his  request,  St.  Ignatius  in  1549,  sent  Father  Nobrega  and 
five  others  to  Brazil.  Under  the  auspices  of  these  missionaries 
arose  the  new  city  and  see  of  St.  Salvador,  or  Bahia.  In  1553, 
a  re-enforcement  of  seven  fathers  arrived;  the  celebrated  Joseph 
Anchieta^  who  is  often  called  the  "Apostle  of  Brazil,'*  was  one 
of  the  number.  The  coast  races  were  quickly  won  to  Christianity. 
Penetrating  into  the  interior,  the  Fathers,  after  prodigious  toils 
and  dangers,  succeeded  in  reclaiming  a  great  number  of  cannibals, 
whom  they  gathered  into  "Reductions,"  or  AldeaSy  as  they  were 
called. 

51.  In  Brazil,  also,  the  missionaries  experienced  the  most  obstinate 
and  formidable  opposition  from  the  reckless  adventurers  who  had 
left  their  homes  in  the  Old  World,  to  try  their  fortunes  in  the  'New. 
As  the  Jesuits  strenuously  opposed  their  attempts  to  enslave  the  na- 
tives, the  Portuguese  settlers  resorted  to  every  means  of  annoying 
the  mission  fathers.  In  the  face  of  this  opposition,  however,  the 
Jesuits  prosecuted  their  work  with  most  consoling  results.  With 
no  protection  but  that  of  Divine  Providence,  Father  Anchieta  trav- 
ersed the  vast  country  in  search  of  the  savages,  braving  fearlessly 
every  obstacle  and  danger.  His  heroic  virtue,  which  was  demonstrated 
by  numerous  miracles,  and  his  zeal  in  preaching  converted  great  num- 
bers of  the  natives.  He  labored  thus  for  forty-four  years,  till  his 
death,  in  1597. 

52.  The  inhuman  slaughter  of  sixty-eight  missioners  by  French 
Huguenots,  in  1570,  wa»  a  severe  blow  to  the  mission  in  Brazil. 
Thirty-nine  Jesuits,  headed  by  Father  Ignatius  Azeveda,  had  sailed 
from  Madeira  for  Brazil;  thirty  more  had  started  from  Lisbon.     A 


.616  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

French  fleet,  under  the  command  of  the  Huguenot  Jacques  Saurie, 
bore  down  upon  the  vessels  carrying  the  missionaries  who,  with  the 
exception  of  one  novice,  were  either  at  once  put  to  death  or  thrown 
overboard.  Besides,  the  invasion  of  the  Dutch  in  the  following  cen- 
tury very  much  troubled  this  field.  Catholic  settlements  were  plun- 
dered and  ravaged^  and  Catholic  missionaries  were  driven  away  and 
even  murdered.^ 

53.  But  in  spite  of  every  menace,  Christianity  made  astonishing 
progress  in  Brazil.  In  1630,  more  than  70,000  natives  had  embraced 
the  faith.  By  the  end  of  the  sixteenth  century,  the  Jesuits  had  in- 
creased to  one  hundred  and  twenty;  a  hundred  more  soon  arrived  to 
continue  the  work  which  Nobrega  and  Anchieta  had  begun.  Among 
the  worthy  successors  of  these  apostolic  laborers,  were  Fathers  An- 
tonio Vieyra  and  Raymond  de  Santa  Cruz,  by  whose  heroic  zeal  many 
thousand  natives  were  won  to  the  Church.  As  early  as  1580,  there 
were  already  thirty-two  Christian  settlements  in  Brazil ;  many  more 
were  added  in  the  course  of  the  following  century.  From  1640  to 
1682,  no  fewer  than  thirty-three  new  settlements  were  established. 
In  1676,  Bahia  was  made  an  archbishopric,  with  Rio  de  Janeiro,  Per- 
nambuco,  and  Maranhao,  as  suffragan  sees. 

54.  Bolivia.  In  Bolivia,  the  efforts  of  the  missioners,  especially 
the  Jesuits,  were  attended  with  equal  success.  Father  Baraza,  who 
labored  in  this  mission  over  twenty-seven  years,  baptized  40,000 
natives;  he  was  rewarded  with  the  crown  of  martyrdom,  in  1702. 
Another  successful  missionary.  Father  de  Arce,  was  also  martyred,  in 
1718.  An  episcopal  see  had  been  established  at  Chiquisaca,  in  1551. 
In  1651,  about  100,000  of  the  Indians  were  Christians;  and,  a  hundred 
years  later,  their  number  is  estimated  to  have  reached  nearly  250,000. 

55.  Chili.  From  Peru,  the  faith  was  introduced  into  Chili  by 
Dominicans,  who  appeared  there  in  1541.  They  were  followed  by 
Franciscans  in  1572,  and  by  Jesuits  in  1593.  But  the  wars  between 
the  Spaniards  and  the  fierce  Auracanians  long  thwarted  all  efforts  of 
the  missionaries.  At  last,  through  the  efficient  services  of  Father 
Valdiva,  peace  was  secured,  and  the  savage  Auracanians  were  won  to 
the  faith.  Those  of  the  native  tribes  which  were  subject  to  Spanish 
rule  were  converted  soon  after.  The  see  of  Santiago  was  founded,  in 
1551;  that  of  Concepcion,  in  1603. 

66.     La  Plata  and  Patagonia  (now  the  Argentine  Republic).      In 
La  Plata,  Franciscans  appeared  as  early  as  1539,  and  founded  the  city 


1.  Consult  Marshall,  Christian  Missions,  Vol.  II.  pp.  149-1.51,  where  the  cruel  oppres- 
sion of  the  Catholic  inhabitants  and  the  inhuman  treatment  of  thoir  missionaries  by 
Dutch  Calvinists  is  narrated  by  Protestant  writers. 

r 


MISSIONS  IN  SOUTH  AMERICA.  517 

of  Assumcion,  which,  in  1547,  became  an  episcopal  see.  Some  years 
later,  a  party  of  Jesuits,  sent  by  Father  Anchieta,  from  Brazil,  entered 
the  field,  and  flourishing  "  Reductions  "  were  formed  in  various  parts 
of  the  country.  In  1595,  they  founded  a  magnificent  college  "at  As- 
sumcion. St.  Francis  Solano,  after  preaching  with  great  fruit  in  Peru, 
labored  with  a  like  success  in  the  province  of  Tucuman.  He  reaped 
a  great  harvest,  and  Tucuman  became  an  entirely  Catholic  province. 
About  the  year  1690,  the  Jesuit  Father  Mascardi  preached  to  the 
natives  of  the  inhospitable  district  of  Patagonia,  and  converted  many 
of  them.  He  was  followed  by  other  Fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus; 
but  owing  to  the  wars  of  the  Spaniards  with  the  natives,  they  were 
x3ompelled  to  abandon  the  mission. 

57.  Paraguay.  Of  all  the  missions  in  the  New  World,  the  one 
established  in  Paraguay,  by  the  Jesuits,  was  the  most  celebrated.  *'  It 
was  the  noblest  mission,"  as  Dr.  Marshall  observes,  *' which  the 
Christian  religion  ever  formed  since  the  days  of  the  Apostles.  Here 
was  accomplished,  amidst  races  so  barbarous  and  cruel,  that  even  the 
fearless  warriors  of  Spain  considered  them  *  irreclaimable,'  one  of 
those  rare  triumphs  of  grace  which  constitute  an  epoch  in  the  history 
of  religion.  Here  one  tribe  after  another,  each  more  brutal  than  its 
neighbor,  was  gathered  into  the  fold  of  Christ,  and  fashioned  to  the 
habits  of  civilized  life."  The  glorious  results  achieved  by  the  Jesuits 
in  Paraguay,  was  pronounced  by  Voltaire  to  be  "the  triumph  of 
humanity." 

58.  Paraguay  was  discovered  by  the  Spaniards  in  1516,  and  form- 
ally taken  possession  of  in  1536.  The  first  attempts  made  by  the 
Franciscans  to  convert  its  ferocious  inhabitants  had  met  with  little 
success.  At  the  invitation  of  Bishop  Francis  Victoria  of  Tucuman, 
Jesuits  took  charge  of  the  mission  in  1586, — some,  like  Fathers  Barsena 
and  Angulo.  coming  from  Peru ;  others,  under  the  heroic  Ortega,^ 
from  Brazil.  Many  more  arrived  in  the  course  of  time  from  Spain. 
In  1617,  as  many  as  a  hundred  and  nineteen  Jesuits  were  found  labor- 
ing in  the  "  Reductions  of  Paraguay,"  which  numbered  about  five 
thousand  when  their  Order  was  suppressed. 

59.  With  unwearied  zeal  these  truly  apostolic  men  devoted  them- 
selves to  the  difficult  task  of  reclaiming  the  savage  children  of  the 

1.  "  The  ship  which  carried  Ortega  and  his  companions  was  attacked  in  the  Bay  of 
Rio  by  the  English— at  that  time  rivals  of  the  Dutch  in  the  war  against  Catholic  mission- 
aries—and the  Fathers,  after  having  been  treated  with  the  usual  indignities,  were  carried 
out  to  sea,  and  finally  flung  into  a  boat,  without  either  oars  or  provisions,  and  abandoned 
to  the  mercy  of  the  waves.  The  boat  drifted  to  Buenos  Ayres,  a  distance  of  more  than 
Beven  hundred  miles,  and  when  her  passengers  had  returned  thanks  to  Him  who  had 
saved  them  by  so  wonderful  a  providence,  they  crossed  the  Pampas  to  Tucuman,  where 
they  met  the  Fathers  from  Peru."    Marshall,  Christian  Missions,  IL,  p.  194. 


518  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

forest,  forming  them  to  arts  of  peace  and  industry,  and  gradually- 
leading  them  to  the  perfection  of  Christian  discipline.  King  Philip 
III.  of  Spain  had  authorized  the  Jesuits  not  only  to  preserve  their 
converted  Indians  from  being  enslaved  by  the  Spanish  colonists,  but 
also  to  withdraw  them  entirely  into  congregations,  so  as  to  separate 
them  effectually  from  all  contact  with  the  settlers.  Thus  arose,  under 
the  direction  of  the  Fathers,  those  celebrated  ^^ Reductions,'''*  or  settle- 
ments of  Christian  Indians,  which  no  Spaniard  could  enter  without 
permission. 

60.  The  labors  of  the  Jesuits  were  exceedingly  fruitful,  convert- 
ing, in  the  course  of  a  century  and  a  half,  more  than  a  million  Indians. 
From  1610  to  1768,  over  seven  hundred  and  two  thousand  Guaranis- 
were  baptized  by  the  Jesuits,  while  many  were  converted  by  the 
Franciscans.  Father  Mendoza  is  said  to  have  baptized  ninety-five 
thousand  Indians.  The  number  of  the  "  Reductions"  was  increased 
to  thirty.  Each  of  these  communities  had  two  Fathers,  one  attending 
to  the  spiritual  affairs,  the  other  to  the  civilization  of  the  Indians^ 
teaching  them  agriculture  and  the  various  arts  of  life.  Collectively,, 
they  formed  a  great  Christian  commonwealth,  under  the  protection  of 
the  king  of  Spain,  the  like  of  which  the  world  has  never  seen. 

61.  The  work  performed  by  the  Catholic  missionaries  in  South 
America  was,  indeed,  a  vast  as  well  as  holy  one.  "  In  the  beginning 
of  the  seventeenth  century,"  as  Ranke  observes,  "  we  find  the  stately^ 
edifice  of  the  Catholic  Church  fully  reared  in  South  America.  There^ 
were  five  archbishoprics,  twenty-seven  bishoprics,  four  hundred  mo- 
nasteries, and  innumerable  parishes.  Magnificent  cathedrals  had 
risen,  the  most  gorgeous  of  which  was,  perhaps,  that  of  Los  Angeles. 
The  Jesuits  taught  grammar  and  the  liberal  arts,  and  a  theological 
seminary  was  connected  with  their  college  of  San  Ildefonso.  All 
branches  of  theological   study   were   taught  in   the   Universities  of 

Mexico    and    Lima Meanwhile  the   mendicant  orders- 

had  begun  steadily  to  propagate  Christianity  over  the  whole  conti-^ 
nent  of  South  America.  Conquests  gave  place  to  missions,  and  missions, 
gave  birth  to  civilization.  The  monks  taught  the  natives  the  arts, 
of  reading  and  singing,  sowing  and  reaping,  planting  trees  and  build- 
ing houses,  and  they  in  return  were  regarded  with  profound  vene- 
ration and  affection  by  the  natives."  The  contemplation  of  these 
astonishing  results  caused  Lord  Macaulay  to  observe  :  "  The  acquisi- 
tions of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  New  World  have  more  than 
compensated  her  for  what  she  has  lost  in  the  Old." 


MISSIONS  IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  519 

SECTION  VI.       MISSIONS  IN  NOKTH  AMERICA THE  UNITED  STATES.^ 

Discovery  of  Florida — First  Missionary  Efforts — Founding  of  St.  Augustine — 
Success  of  the  Mission — Its  Destruction  by  the  English — Mission  in  Texas 
— In  Xew  Mexico — In  California — First  Missionary  Efforts  in  Maryland — 
Father  White — Ruin  of  the  Mission — First  Mission  in  Maine — Its  Destruc- 
tion by  the  English — New  Mission  under  Father  Druillettes — Cruel  Mur- 
der of  Father  Rale. 

62.  The  first  attempt  to  preach  the  Gospel  in  the  territory,  now 
included  in  the  United  States,  was  made  in  Florida  by  Spanish  mis- 
sionaries. Florida,  the  land  named  by  the  Spaniards  for  Palm  Sunday, 
was  discovered  on  that  day,  in  1512,  by  Juan  Ponce  de  Leon,  a  com- 
panion of  Columbus.  In  1526,  an  expedition  to  prosecute  the  explora- 
tion and  conquest  of  the  newly  discovered  country  was  fitted  out 
under  the  command  of  Pamphilo  de  Narvaez.  The  expedition  was 
attended  by  a  body  of  Franciscans  under  the  guidance  of  Father  John 
Juarez,  who  is  reputed  to  have  been  the  first  bishop  of  Florida.  The 
expedition  failed,  and  with  it  the  religious  enterprise  of  the  accom- 
panying missionaries.^ 

63.  In  1549,  Father  Louis  Cancer,  a  Dominican,  visited  Florida 
to  attempt  the  conversion  of  its  natives  ;  but  he  and  his  associates 
fell  martyrs  to  their  zeal,  being  slain  immediately  on  their  landing. 
The  Dominicans  repeated  the  attempt  in  1553  and  1559;  but  with  no 
result.  A  few  years  later,  the  Spanish  admiral,  Pedro  Melendez,  un- 
dertook the  conquest  and  colonization  of  Florida.  He  had  brought 
with  him  a  considerable  number  of  Franciscans,  Jesuits,  and  Fathers 
of  other  religious  orders.  The  city  of  St.  Augustine,^  which  was 
founded,  in  1565,  became  the  centre  whence  the  missionaries  pro- 
ceeded to  preach  to  the  surrounding  tribes.  The  mission  was  contin- 
ued for  some  years  with  great  zeal ;  but  proving  ineffectual,  it  was 
finally  abandoned. 

64.  Notwithstanding  these  repeated  failures,  the  missions  of  Flor- 
ida were  again  resumed,  in  1601,  this  time  with  promising  results. 
The  natives  in  great  numbers  were  soon  converted  and  collected  into 
congregations,  or  "  Reductions,"  under  the  direction  of  the  Francis- 
cans. The  missions  continued  to  flourish  till  the  beginning  of  the 
eighteenth  century,  when  they  were  repeatedly  ravaged,  and  finally, 

1.  A  full  and  detailed  account  of  the  North-American  missions  is  found  in  the  val- 
uable "Histm-yof  the  Catholic  Missions  among  the  Indian  Tribes  of  the  United  States,  hyj. 
Gilmary  Shea,"  which  has  chiefly  been  followed  in  this  work.  See  also  ^'History  of  the  Devo- 
tion to  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  in  North-America  hy  Rev.  Donald  Macleod." 

3.  "It  is,  bymore  than  forty  years,  the  oldest  town  in  the  TJnited  States."— Bancroft. 
Santa  Fe,  New  Mexico,  the  foundations  of  which  were  laid  by  Franciscans,  in  1582,  is 
considered  the  second  oldest  city. 


520  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

after  the  cession  of  Florida  to  England,  by  the  treaty  of  Paris,  in 
1763,  they  were  completely  broken  up  by  the  English.  The  mission- 
aries were  compelled  to  leave  the  country,  and  the  Indians  dispersed* 
On  the  breaking  out  of  the  War  of  Independence,  not  a  single  mis- 
sion was  to  be  found  in  the  whole  extent  of  that  territory  once  inhab- 
ited by  numerous  converted  tribes.  The  old  Franciscan  convent  at  St. 
Augustine,  where  Father  Pareja  compiled  for  the  converts  his  works, 
the  oldest  written  in  any  of  our  Indian  languages,  has  been  converted 
into  a  government  barrack.^ 

65.  In  1 544,  Father  Andrew  de  Olmos,  a  Spanish  Franciscan,  visited 
the  fierce  Texan  tribes  and  converted  many.  No  permanent  mis- 
sion, however,  was  established  until  1688,  when  a  body  of  zealous 
Franciscans,  including  fourteen  priests  and  seven  lay  brothers,  ar- 
rived. "Reductions"  were  founded  in  various  parts  of  the  country, 
which,  though  for  a  time  interrupted,  were  continued  with  great  fruit 
for  more  than  a  century. 

QQ.  The  first  missionary  in  New  Mexico  was  the  Franciscan, 
Mark,  of  Nice,  who  penetrated  that  territory,  in  1539  ;  but  he 
achieved  no  religious  results.  The  following  year,  five  other  Fran- 
ciscans accompanied  the  expedition  under  Coronado.  When  this  ex- 
plorer, disappointed  in  his  expectations,  resolved  to  return,  two  of  the 
friars.  Father  John  de  Padilla  and  Brother  John  of  the  Cross, 
remained  in  the  country,  and  began  a  mission  among  the  natives,  but 
perished  in  their  work  of  zeal.  Fathers  Lopez  and  Santa  Maria,  and 
Brother  Rodriguez  of  the  same  order,  who  followed  in  1581,  met  with 
the  same  fate.  Finally,  in  1597,  eight  more  Franciscans,  having 
Father  Escobar  as  superior,  entered  New  Mexico,  this  time  to  com- 
mence a  successful  mission.  By  1608,  they  had  baptized  eight  thou- 
sand Indians.  *'  So  rapid  had  been  the  progress  of  Christianity  and 
civilization  on  the  Rio  Grande,"  says  Shea,  "that  the  Indians,  or 
Pueblos,  as  they  began  to  be  called,  could  read  and  write  there,  before 
the  Puritans  were  established  on  the  shores  of  New  England." 

67.  California  was  discovered  by  Cortes,  the  conqueror  of  Mexico, 
in  1536.  For  a  long  period,  however,  the  country  was  little  fre- 
quented. Towards  the  close  of  the  seventeenth  century,  the  Jesuits, 
who  have  deserved  well  of  history,  for  exploring  this  neglected  prov- 

1.  "The  tomahawk  and  arrows  of  the  savages  slew  over  thirty  Jesuits.  Dominicans, 
and  Franciscans.  The  English  conquest  did  the  rest.  The  Catholic  Indians,  who 
thronged  around  the  Spanish  St.  Augustine,  grew  few  and  feeble  in  the  destructive  and 
licentious  presence  of  the  Saxon  successors  of  the  Spaniard.  They  wandered  back  to 
hide  themselves  in  their  thick,  green  everglades,  and  were  called  Seminoles— the  Wander- 
ers. By  1783,  they  were  all  gone  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  city  where  they  had  been 
peacefully  colonized  and  instructed  in  the  faith  of  Christ  and  the  values  of  civilization." 
—MacUod. 

r 


MISSIONS  IN  N ORTE  AMERICA.  531 

ince,  and  for  civilizing  its  rude  inhabitants,  had  achievea  results  as 
glorious  as  those  which  they  attained  in  their  missions  in  Paraguay. 
Flourishing  "Reductions"  were  established  in  various  parts  by 
Fathers  Kiihn,  Salvieterra,  and  other  missionaries  of  the  Society. 
These  missions  were  all  in  Lower  California  ;  no  permanent  mission 
was  founded  in  Upper  California,  till  the  celebrated  father  Juniper 
Serra  and  his  companions  began  their  work  in  that  part. 

68.  The  first  attempt  to  carry  the  faith  among  the  tribes  roaming 
in  what  is  now  the  State  of  Maryland,  dates  from  the  year  ISVO. 
Eight  Jesuits,  headed  by  Father  Segura,  set  out  from  St.  Augustine 
for  St.  Mary's,  or  Chesapeake,  Bay  ;  but  they  landed  only  to  die  be- 
neath the  tomahawk  of  an  apostate  Indian  chief,  who  had  invited  the 
missionaries  to  his  tribe !  The  mission  of  Fathers  White  and 
Altham,  two  English  Jesuits,  proved  more  successful.  These  zealous^ 
Fathers  had  come  to  Maryland,  in  1634,  at  the  invitation  of  Lord 
Baltimore,  to  attend  to  the  Catholic  colony  and  convert  the  native 
Indians.  Their  apostolic  zeal  was  rewarded  with  numerous  conver- 
sions. Among  their  earliest  converts  were  the  Tayac,  or  Emperor  of 
the  Piscataway  nation,  his  wife,  and  daughter;  following  their 
example,  whole  tribes  soon  embraced  the  faith. 

69.  But  the  Indian  war  of  1642,  instigated  by  the  perfidious 
Clayborne,  the  evil  genius  of  the  Catholic  colony  of  Maryland,  put 
a  sudden  stop  to  the  labors  of  the  missioners.  In  1 645,  Clayborne 
invaded  the  colony,  expelled  Calvert,  the  governor,  and  sent  Father 
White  and  the  other  missionaries  in  chains  to  England.  Peace  hav- 
ing been  with  some  difliculty  restored,  the  missions  were  resumed. 
But  a  new  storm  was  excited  by  the  Puritans  under  Clayborne,  who 
again  took  possession  of  the  government.  The  Fathers  were  obliged 
to  flee,  and  the  Indian  mission  in  Maryland  was  again  broken  up,, 
never  to  revive. 

70.  In  1612,  the  Jesuit  Fathers,  Biard  and  Mass6,  entering  what 
now  forms  the  State  of  Maine,  explored  the  country  between  the 
Penobscot  and  the  Kennebec,  and  secured  the  friendship  of  the 
Abnaki  Indians  inhabiting  that  region.  Having  planted  a  cross,  they 
founded  a  mission  settlement  under  the  name  of  the  Holy  Saviour, 
on  the  north  bank  of  the  Penobscot.  Here  the  Gospel  was  preached 
to  the  natives  by  Catholic  missionaries  in  New  England,  several  years 
before  the  arrival  of  the  "  Pilgrim  Fathers  "  in  the  May  Flower,  A. 
Dc  1620.  But  work  was  scarcely  begun,  when  an  English  squadron, 
under  the  command  of  the  notorious  Argal,  attacked  and  destroyed 
the  mission.  One  of  the  Jesuits  was  killed,  the  rest,  including  Fathers 
Biard  and  Mass4,  were  carried  off  as  prisoners  to  Virginia. 


523  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

71.  St.  Saviour  was  left  a  ruin  till  1646,  when,  at  the  petition  of 
the  Abnaki  chiefs.  Father  Gabriel  Druilletes  was  sent  to  Maine  and  a 
new  mission  was  formed  on  the  upper  Kennebec.  By  his  labors  and 
those  of  the  missionaries  that  followed  him,  the  whole  tribe  was  con- 
verted to  Christianity.  The  Abnaki  mission  continued  to  flourish, 
but  was  constantly  harassed  by  the  English.  In  1724,  the  venerable 
Father  Rale,  one  of  the  most  noted  missionaries  of  North  America, 
who  had  been  thirty-seven  years  in  the  service  of  the  Indians,  was, 
after  several  fruitless  attempts  to  capture  him,  barbarously  murdered 
by  New  England  Puritans. 

SECTION     VII.         MISSIONS    IN     CANADA    AND     NORTHWESTERN     UNITED 

STATES. 

Discovery  of  Canada— Jesuits  in  Nova  Scotia— Recollects  and  Jesuits  in  New 
France— The  Huron  Mission — Destruction  and  Restoration  of  the  Mis- 
sion— Its  rapid  Progress — Distinguished  Missionaries — College  and  other 
Establishments  at  Quebec- The  Iroquois  Wars— Extermination  of  the 
Hurons — Sufferings  and  Martyrdom  of  the  Missionaries — The  Iroquois 
Mission— Intrigues  of  the  English — Missions  in  Michigan  and  Wisconsin 
—Fathers  Allouez,  Dablon,  and  Marquette — Discovery  of  the  Mississippi 
— ^Father  Hennepin — Retrospect. 

72.  Canada,  which  is  said  to  have  been  discovered  by  Sebastian 
Cabot,  in  1497,  was  first  colonized  by  the  French.  In  1534,  James 
Cartier  discovered  the  great  St.  Lawrence,  and  took  possession  of  the 
country  for  the  king  of  France.  But  it  was  not  till  the  beginning  of 
the  following  century,  that  projects  for  the  colonization  of  the  coun- 
try and  the  conversion  of  the  native  inhabitants  were  conceived. 
The  oldest  European  settlement  in  the  North  was  Port  Royal,  now 
called  Annapolis,  in  Nova  Scotia,  founded  by  De  Monts  in  1604,  "six- 
teen years  before  the  Pilgrims  reached  the  shores  of  New  England." 
In  1608,  the  Jesuits,  Biard  and  Masse,  arrived  there  to  begin  a  mis- 
sion among  the  various  tribes  of  Acadia,  which  then  embraced, 
besides  Nova  Scotia,  also  New  Brunswick  and  Maine.  After  laboring 
for  a  time  among  the  natives  of  Nova  Scotia,  the  two  missionaries 
proceeded  to  Maine  to  open  a  mission  in  that  part. 

73.  The  noble  Champlain,  the  "Father  of  New  France,"  as 
Canada  then  was  called,  and  the  founder  of  Quebec,  who  declared 
"  that  kings  should  seek  to  extend  their  dominions  in  countries  where 
idolatry  reigns,  only  to  cause  their  submission  to  Jesus  Christ," 
earnestly  entreated  the  Recollects,  or  Reformed  Franciscans,  to  under- 
take the  North  American  mission.  The  first  missionaries  of  that 
order  arrived  in  1615;  the  zealous  Le  Caron  was  one  of  them.  See- 
ing their  number  insufficient  for  so  extensive  a  field,  they  invited  the 


MISSIONS  IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  523 

Jesuits  to  aid  them  in  their  apostolic  work.  The  sons  of  St.  Ignatius 
willingly  accepting  the  offer,  entered  the  mission  of  New  France  in 
1625,  the  celebrated  Lalemant  and  Brebeuf  being  among  the  number. 
Both  orders  labored  in  concert  and  with  great  fruit,  chiefly  among  the 
Hurons,  till  1659,  when  the  English,  led  by  the  traitor  Kirk,  captured 
Quebec  and  carried  Champlain  and  the  missionaries  off  to  England. 
The  Huron  mission,  commenced  under  auspices  so  favorable,  was  thus 
suddenly  interrupted. 

74.  France  having  regained  possession  of  Canada,  in  1633,  the 
Jesuits  returned  to  their  former  post.  They  traversed  the  country  in 
all  directions,  enduring  incredible  hardships,  to  secure  the  conversion 
of  the  natives.  By  1633,  no  fewer  than  fifteen  Jesuit  Fathers  labored 
in  the  missions  of  Canada,  *'  and  every  tradition,"  says  Bancroft, 
"bears  testimony  to  their  worth.  The  history  of  their  labors  is  con- 
nected with  the  origin  of  every  celebrated  town  in  the  annals  of 
French  America  ;  not  a  cape  was  turned,  nor  a  river  entered,  but  a 
Jesuit  led  the  way."  Of  the  heroic  apostles  who  labored  in  this  field 
those  deserving  special  mention  are  Le  Caron,  Brebeuf,  Daniel,  Davost, 
Druilletes,  Lalemant,  Jocques,  Bressani,  and  others  who  will  be 
named  hereafter.  Christianity  made  rapid  advances  among  the 
natives  of  Canada.  In  many  a  mission.  Christian  Indians  were  gath- 
ered who  would  have  done  honor  to  the  first  ages  of  Christianity. 
The  whole  Huron  nation  was  converted.  To  confirm  the  missions, 
a  college,  the  first  in  North  America,  was  established  at  Quebec,  in 
1635;  there  also,  four  years  later,  an  Ursuline  convent  for  the  edu- 
cation of  Indian  children,  and  a  hospital,  dedicated  to  the  Son  of 
God  (Hotel  Dieu)  were  founded.  In  1658,  Quebec  was  made  an  epis- 
copal see. 

75.  But  the  continual  wars  of  the  Five  Nations,  or  Iroquois,  with 
the  Christian  Hurons  and  kindred  tribes,  proved  the  greatest  hin- 
drance to  success  in  christianizing  the  Indian  tribes  of  the  North. 
Instigated  by  the  Dutch  and  English,  the  ferocious  Iroquois  frequently 
attacked  the  mission  stations,  destroying  them,  and  after  a  struggle 
of  twenty-five  years,  they  succeeded  in  nearly  exterminating  the 
Catholic  Hurons.  Many  of  the  missionaries  met  with  a  violent  death. 
Father  Bressani  suffered  the  tortures  of  martyrdom,  though  his  life 
was  spared,  in  1644;  the  sainted  Father  Isaac  Jocques  was  a  second 
time  cruelly  tortured  and  finally  obtained  the  crown  of  martyrdom, 
in  1646.  In  the  same  year,  Father  Daniel  fell  at  the  Iroquois  sack- 
ing of  St.  Joseph's  mission,  and  in  1649,  Fathers  Brebeuf  2iTidL  JLale- 
^mant,  after  enduring  the  most  appalling  trials,  passed  to  their  eternal 
reward. 


524  HISTORY   OF  THE   CHURCH. 

76.  But  the  cross  was  to  be  planted  even  among  the  sanguinary 
Iroquois  in  Western  New  York.  In  1653,  Fathers  Le  Moyne,  Chau- 
monot,  Bressani,  and  others  were  among  the  Onondagas  and  Mohawks, 
and  built  St.  Mary's  chapel  on  the  site  where  now  stands  the  city  of 
Syracuse.  The  mission,  which  was  extended  also  to  other  nations, 
prospered,  and  several  hundred  were  brought  to  the  faith.  But  war 
with  the  French  was  renewed;  the  missionaries  were  driven  away  or 
fled;  and  by  the  year  1658,  not  a  priest  was  left  in  the  Iroquois  terri- 
tory. Two  years  afterwards.  Father  Le  Moyne  again  visited  Onon- 
daga, and  after  baptizing  two  hundred  children,  returned  to  Quebec, 
where  he  died,  in  1666. 

77.  But  the  converted  Indians,  notably  the  noble  warrior,  Gara- 
conti6,  had  been  at  work;  and  peace  having  been  made  with  the 
French,  all  the  Five  Nations,  in  1667,  solicited  missionaries  to  instruct 
them  in  the  Christian  faith.  Fathers  Fremin,  Bruyas,  and  Pierron, 
were  sent  and  their  labors  were  crowned  with  wonderful  success.  Th^ 
village  of  Gandawagu6,  now  Caughnawaga,  on  the  Mohawk,  where 
Father  Jocques  had  been  martyred,  became  the  centre  of  the  Iroquois 
mission.  Over  two  thousand  and  two  hundred  Iroquois  were  baptized, 
the  sainted  Indian  maiden,  Catherine  Tegahkwita,  being  among  the 
number.  But  the  English  who  w^ere  by  this  time  in  New  York,  com- 
menced their  usual  intrigues  with  the  Indians;  the  missionaries  were 
expelled  and,  by  1687,  not  one  remained.  The  Catholic  Iroquois  left  New 
York  State  for  Canada  and  founded  a  new  settlement  near  Montreal. 

78.  Yet  the  efforts  of  the  Jesuits  were  not  limited  to  the  Huron 
country;  from  their  central  house  in  Quebec,  they  went  forth  to  dis- 
covery and  spiritual  conquest,  or  to  martyrdom,  in  the  far  West. 
By  1647,  forty-two  Jesuits,  besides  a  number  of  other  religious,  had 
visited  and  labored  in  the  vast  regions  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  Lake 
Superior.  As  early  as  1638,  the  plan  was  formed  of  establishing 
missions  in  what  are  now  the  States  of  Michigan  and  Wisconsin^ 
In  1641,  the  first  envoys  from  Christendom,  Fathers  Jocques  and 
Raymbault,  arrived  at  the  Falls  of  St.  Mary,  and  there  addressed  twa 
thousand  Indians  who  had  assembled  to  receive  them.  In  1661,  Father 
Menard  was  charged  to  visit  Lake  Superior  and  Green  Bay,  and  to 
establish  a  mission  for  the  surrounding  tribes.  He  was  lost  in  the 
Western  forest,  and  no  tidings  have  ever  been  received  of  his  fate. 

79.  Undismayed  by  this  sad  event.  Father  Claude  Alloitez,  in 
1665,  started  on  a  mission  to  the  same  parts.  This  intrepid  mission- 
ary, who  deserves  to  be  called  the  ^'  Apostle  of  the  West,"  labored  for 
thirty  years  in  extending  the  faith  among  the  Indians  of  Michigan, 
Wisconsin,    and   Illinois.     At   Lapointe,    on   Magdalene   Island,   he 


MISSIONS  IN  NORTH  AMERICA.  525 

founded  the  mission  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  the  first  in  the  whole  North- 
west of  the  United  States.  During  his  sojourn  in  that  part,  he 
preached  to  more  than  twenty  different  tribes.  Returning  to  Quebec 
for  aid,  he  secured  Fathers  Dablon  and  the  celebrated  Marquette,  for 
the  Western  missions.  For  years,  "  this  illustrious  triumvirate  " 
evangelized  the  vast  regions  from  Green  Bay  to  the  head  of  the  Su- 
perior. 

80.  In  1668,  Dablon  and  Marquette  were  at  the  Sault  and  estab- 
lished the  mission  of  St.  Mary's,  which  is  the  oldest  European  settle- 
ment within  the  limits  of  Michigan.  The  following  year,  Father 
Allouez  reached  Green  Bay,  where  he  began  the  mission  of  St.  Fran- 
cis Xavier.  From  this  station  he  carried  the  faith  through  eastern 
Wisconsin  and  northern  Illinois,  having  Father  Andr6  to  assist  him 
in  his  missionary  labors.  Meanwhile,  in  1671,  Marquette  established 
his  new  mission  of  St.  Ignace,  on  the  Isle  of  Mackinaw. 

81.  Thence,  in  1673,  that  illustrious  missionary  at  last  set  out  on 
the  memorable  voyage  which  has  immortalized  his  name.  Accom- 
panied by  Joliet,  he  explored  the  Fox  and  Wisconsin  rivers  and  dis- 
covered the  great  Mississippi,  to  which  he  gave  the  name  of  Con- 
ception River.  He  descended  the  river  as  far  as  Arkansas,  when  he 
returned  to  Green  Bay,  by  way  of  Lake  Michigan.  In  1675,  he 
returned  to  Illinois  and  preached  at  Kaskaskia,  which  is  the  oldest 
permanent  European  settlement  in  the  Mississippi  valley.  He  died 
in  May  the  same  year,  on  his  way  to  Mackinaw  and  was  buried  in  the 
chapel  at  St.  Ignace.^  Seven  years  after  the  discovery  of  the  great 
American  river,  by  Marquette,  the  Franciscan  Hennepin  explored  the 
upper  Mississippi,  and  discovered  and  named  the  Falls  of  St.  An- 
thony. 

82.  Such  is  the  short  history  of  the  missions  among  the  North 
American  Indians.  What  were  the  toils  and  sufferings  of  the  mis- 
sionaries in  their  joumeyings  through  the  vast  wilderness  and  among 
savages,  God  alone  knows.  Their  success  was  but  small,  if  com- 
pared with  the  astonishing  results  of  the  missionaries  in  South  America. 
But  this  was  owing  to  the  brutal  interference  of  English  and  Dutch 
Protestants.  "  The  missionaries,"  says  the  learned  author  of  "Christ- 
ian Missions,"  would  have  done  in  the  Northern  what  they  did  in  the 
Southern  continent,  if  they  had  not  been  hindered  in  the  former  by  a 
fatal  impediment,  from  which  they  were  delivered  in  the  latter.  If 
Canada  and  the  United  States  had  belonged  to  France  or  Spain,  in- 

1.  In  1877.  the  remains  of  the  heroic  missionary,  the  immortal  James  Marquette, 
were  discovered  at  the  \illage  of  St.  Ignace,  on  the  site  of  the  little  Jesuit  church,  where 
they  had  been  interred  June  9, 1677.  just  two  hundred  years  before.  They  are  now  pre- 
served in  Marquette  Collegre,  in  the  city  of  Milwaukee,  Wisconsin. 


626  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CHUBVH. 

stead  of  to  England  or  Holland,  no  one  can  doubt,  with  the  history 
of  Brazil  and  Paraguay  in  his  hands,  that  the  inhabitants  of  both 
would  have  remained  to  this  day;  and  that  the  triumphs  of  Anchieta 
and  Vieyra,  of  Solano  and  Baraza,  would  have  been  renewed  on  the 
banks  of  the  St.  Lawrence  and  Ohio,  in  the  forests  of  Michigan,  the 
prairies  of  Illinois,  and  the  savannahs  of  Florida  and  Alabama." 


CHAPTER  II.    RISE  AND  PROGRESS  OF  PROTESTANTISM. 


I.    THE  REFORMATION  IN  GERMANY. 


SECTION   VIII.       MARTIN    LUTHEK — HIS    THESES    AGAINST   INDULGENCES. 

Martin  Luther — Earlier  Events  of  his  Life — Becomes  a  Monk — His  Visit  to 
Rome— His  Character — The  Indulgence  of  Leo  X.— Luther's  Theses — 
Nature  and  Doctrine  of  Indulgences — Tetzel's  Reply— His  Anti-Theses — 
Effect  of  the  Controversy — Luther's  Arrogance — His  Violence  and  Coarse- 
ness—His Letter  to  the  Pope— Efforts  of  Rome— Cardinal  Cajetan— 
Charles  Miltitz— Appeal  of  Luther— Death  of  Tetzel— Papal  Bull  on  In- 
dulgences. 

83.  The  first  effective  impulse  was  given  to  the  so-called  "  Re- 
formation "  by  Martin  Luther,  assisted  by  Melanchton  and  several 
Oerman  princes,  prominent  among  whom  were  Elector  Frederick  of 
Saxony  and  Landgrave  Philip  of  Hesse.  Luther,  the  son  of  a  poor  miner, 
was  born  at  Eisleben,  Saxony,  in  1483.  He  was  brought  up  under 
pious,  but  harsh  and  rough  discipline.  The  elementary  schools,  as 
-well  as  the  higher  educational  institutions,  at  that  time,  were  very 
numerous  in  Germany.  At  the  age  of  fourteen,  Martin  was  sent  to 
the  school  of  the  Franciscans  at  Magdeburg,  and,  after  a  year,  to 
Eisenach,  to  attend  the  Latin  school.  His  gifts  were  remarkable 
from  the  beginning,  but  his  parents  were  very  poor.  Following  the 
•custom  of  the  time,  he  sang  before  the  houses  of  the  rich,  to  make  a 
living.  In  1501,  he  entered  the  University  of  Erfurt,  where  he  was 
graduated,  in  1505,  Master  of  Arts,  and  opened  a  course  of  lectures 
on  Aristotle. 

84.  The  sudden  death,  by  lightning,  of  a  friend,  led  Luther 
to  enter  the  Augustinian  convent  at  Erfurt,  against  the  express 
will  of  his  father,  who  had  destined  him  for  the  profession  of  law. 
After  going  through  the  customary  discipline,  he  made  his  solemn 


MARTIN  L  UTHER.  537 

TOWS  and  received  priestly  ordination,  in  1507.  In  compliance  with 
the  wish  of  his  superiors,  he  specially  applied  himself  to  biblical 
studies.  On  the  recommendation  of  Dr.  John  Staupitz,  the  Augusti- 
nian  provincial,  Frederick  the  Wise,  elector  of  Saxony,  appointed 
Luther,  in  1508,  professor  of  Dialectics  and  Ethics  in  the  new  Uni- 
versity of  Wittenberg.. 

85.  In  1510,  Luther  visited  Rome  in  the  interest  of  his  Order. 
Ooming  in  view  of  the  Eternal  City,  he  fell  on  his  knees  and  ex- 
claimed: "Hail,  Rome,  holy  city,  thrice  sanctified  by  the  blood  of 
the  martyrs  !"  With  great  devotion  he  knelt  at  its  holy  shrines;  yet 
with  a  silly  pietism,  he  "  almost  regretted  that  his  parents  were  not 
already  dead,  so  that  he  might  release  their  souls  from  purgatory,  by 
saying  masses!"  His  fond  attachment  and  adhesion, which  he  then 
had  to  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  he  afterwards  described  in  these  fierce 
words:  "I  was  ready  to  slay  every  one  who  should  in  the  least 
refuse  obedience  to  the  Pope."  Even  these  two  instances  of  ignor- 
ant zeal  betrayed  in  the  monk  an  abnormally  unbalanced  brain,  which 
plainly  foreboded  the  after  development  of  his  phenomenally  morbid 
character.  In  1512,  he  took  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Theology,  and 
began  his  lectures  on  the  Psalms  and  the  Pauline  Epistles. 

86.  Luther  was  of  an  ardent  and  impulsive  temperament;  natur- 
ally stubborn,  he  held  tenaciously  to  preconceived  opinions,  and  would 
"brook  no  contradiction.  His  mind  seems  never  to  have  enjoyed  per- 
fect rest,  but  was  given  to  great  scrupulosity;  nor  were  his  convic- 
tions wholly  clear  on  certain  doctrinal  questions.  But  the  means  he 
used  to  obtain  peace  only  aggravated  the  evil.  He  was  presumptuous, 
neglectful  of  the  duties  of  liis  state,  and  lacking  obedience  to  the 
rules  of  his  Order.  Though  morally  bound  to  recite  the  divine  office 
daily,  he  would,  at  times,  not  touch  his  Breviary  for  weeks.  Then  he 
would  atone  for  his  neglect  by  cruelly  chastising  his  body,  the  morti- 
fications prescribed  in  his  community  not  satisfying  his  ardor.  To 
him  might  well  apply  the  old  monastic  saying:  "Everything  beyond 
obedience  is  suspicious  in  a  monk."  Even  at  this  early  age,  Luther 
had  departed  from  the  doctrine  of  the  Church,  on  justification ;  he 
regarded  good  works  as  wholly  worthless  and  faith  alone  as  sufiicient 
for  salvation!  This  doctrine  ruled  the  University  of  Wittenberg  and 
soon  began  to  spread  throughout  Germany. 

8*7.  About  this  time.  Pope  Leo  X.  proclaimed  an  Indulgence  for 
those  who,  besides  performing  the  prescribed  works  of  penance  and 
piety,  would  contribute  to  the  completion  of  St.  Peter's  Basilica,  in 
Rome.  Albert,  cardinal,  and  archbishop  of  Mentz  and  Magdeburg, 
was  charged  with  the  promulgation  of  the  papal  grant  in  Germany, 


538  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

and  John  Tetzel,  a  pious  and  learned  Dominican,  was  one  of  the 
preachers  appointed  by  Albert,  to  publish  the  Indulgence  among  the 
people.  The  preaching  of  the  Indulgence  by  the  Dominicans,  it  is 
said,  at  once  excited  the  jealousy  and  opposition  of  the  Augustinians, 
and  certainly  that  of  Luther  in  particular,  for  he  raised  a  bold  protest 
in  the  famous  ninety-Jive  theses  which  he  affixed  to  the  door  of  the 
castle  church  at  Wittenberg,  on  the  eve  of  All  Saints  (October  31), 
A.  D.  1517. 

88.  The  publication  of  indulgences  was  not  new  in  Germany; 
nor  was,  as  has  been  asserted,  the  one  proclaimed  by  Leo  X.  an  un~ 
conditional  pardon  for  past  sins  or  an  unqualified  remission  of  their 
temporal  punishment,  much  less  a  license  for  future  sins.  The  in- 
structions of  Archbishop  Albert  to  the  preachers,  and  those  of  Tetzel 
to  pastors  and  confessors,  made  the  gaining  of  the  Indulgence  expressly 
dependent  on  the  usual  conditions,  namely,  true  repentance  with  the 
humble  confession  of  sins,  and  the  performance  of  certain  works  of 
piety,  besides  almsgiving.  True  it  is,  that  the  personal  appearance  of 
some  preachers  and  their  manner  of  offering  the  indulgence  was  the 
cause  of  much  complaint*  But  it  was  not  the  abuses  which  Luther 
attacked  in  his  theses,  but  the  doctrine  of  indulgences  itself,  which 
was  directly  opposed  to  his  views  on  justification.  The  fundamental 
principle  expressed  in  his  proposition  on  that  point  was  that  "  God 
alone^  independently  of  human  exertion,  is  all  in  all  in  the  affair  of 
marCs  salvation  !  " 

89.  There  were  various  replies  to  Luther,  one  of  the  ablest  being 
the  one  hundred  and  six  counter-theses  by  Tetzel.^  Explaining  the 
Church's  doctrine  on  indulgences,  Tetzel  said :  *'  Indulgences  do 
not  remit  the  guilt  of  sin,  but  only  the  temporal  punishment  due 
to  sin,  and  this  only  when  sin  has  been  sincerely  repented  of  and 
confessed;  indulgences  do  not  derogate  from  the  merits  of  Christ, 
but  for  satisfactory  punishment  they  substitute  the  satisfactory  Pas- 
sion of  Christ."  In  his  refutation  of  Luther's  treatise  "On  Indul- 
gences and  Grace,"  Tetzel  remarked  "that  the  novel  doctrine 
would  lead  to  contempt  for  Pope  and  Church."  The  emperor 
Maximilian  also,  in  a  letter  to  the  Pope,  pointed  out  the  danger  which 
threatened  the  unity  of  faith,  if  Luther's  innovations  were  not 
speedily  suppressed, 

1.  "Anyone  reading-  the  *  Antitheses'  of  Tetzel,"  says  Dr.  Hefele,  "must  admit  that  he 
thoroughly  understood  the  difficult  doctrine  on  indulgences,  and  his  propositions  are 
undoubtedly  more  to  the  point  than  the  'Obelishs'  of  the  celebrated  Dr.  Eck."— The  stu- 
dents of  Wittenberg,  in  a  fit  of  fanaticism,  publicly  burned  eight  hundred  copies  of 
Tetzel's  Antitheses.  The  story  of  the  burning-  of  Luther's  theses  by  Tetzel  is  a  fabri- 
cation. 

r 


I 


MAB  TIN  L  UTHER.  529 

90.  This  impious  initiative  of  Luther  was  applauded  by  men  of 
various  suspected  pr.rties,  especially  by  the  Humanists,  in  their  itch- 
ing for  the  most  dangerous  novelties  and  in  their  sad  decadence  of 
the  spirit  of  faith.  Within  two  months,  his  theses  were  spread 
through  the  Press,  now,  for  the  first  time,  employed  in  a  popular  agi- 
tation throughout  Europe.  Many  even  well-disposed  men  approved 
of  the  course  Luther  had  taken,  believing  that  he  attacked  only  cer- 
tain disorders.  The  bishop  of  WUrzburg  wrote  to  Elector  Frederick 
the  "Wise,  to  take  Luther  under  his  protection.  Imagining  his  cause 
to  be  the  cause  of  God,  Luther  would  hear  of  no  submission  to  the 
Church;  on  the  contrary,  he  insisted  that  the  Church  should  embrace 
his  new  Gospel,  "on  justification  by  faith  alone,"  which  he  pretended 
to  have  received  directly  from  God!  In  his  proud  arrogance  he  even 
went  so  far  as  to  declare:  "  I  will  have  my  doctrine  judged  by  nobody 
— not  even  by  angels  ;  he  who  does  not  receive  my  doctrine,  cannot  be 
saved  ! " 

91.  Instead  of  calmly  answering  the  arguments  of  his  adversaries, 
he  spewed  out,  both  in  speaking  and  in  writing,  the  vilest  epithets 
and  basest  calumnies  against  all  that  disagreed  with  him.  His  oppo- 
nents were  "knaves,  dolts,  dogs,  pigs,  asses,  infernal  blasphemers," 
and  worse.  Yet  during  all  this  time,  Luther  affected  to  believe  him- 
self in  perfect  accord  and  concert  with  the  Holy  See!  In  a  most 
humble  letter  to  Pope  Leo  X.,  he  averred  entire  submission  to  the 
Head  of  the  Church,  and  that  it  were  the  abuses  only  which  he  had 
T)een  assailing.  "  Most  Holy  Father,"  he  writes,  "  I  cast  myself  at 
your  feet  with  all  that  I  have  and  am ;  give  life,  or  take  it ;  call, 
recall,  approve,  reprove;  your  voice  is  that  of  Christ,  who  presides 
and  speaks  in  you." 

92.  The  efforts  of  the  Pope  to  compromise  the  difficulty  in  Ger- 
many, through  Cardinal  Cajetan,  his  legate,  and  afterwards,  through 
a  special  envoy,  Charles  Miltitz,  unhappily  failed.  Luther  would 
listen  to  no  remonstrance,  and  appealed  from  the  Pope  ill  informed  to 
the  Pope  to  he  hetter  instructed  (a  papa  male  informato  ad  papam  me^ 
lius  informandum).  Miltitz,  who  seemed  to  side  with  Luther,  threw 
the  whole  blame  on  Tetzel,  who,  taking  the  reprimand  so  much  to 
heart,  died  shortly  after  (A.  D.  1519),  as  it  is  said,  of  grief.  In 
November,  1518,  Leo  X.  issued  a  bull  explaining  the  doctrine  of  the 
Church  on  indulgences,  and  threatening  such  as  should  gainsay  it,  with 
excommunication.  To  forestall  such  a  measure,  Luther  had  previously 
appealed  from  the  Pope  to  a  General  Council. 


530  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 


SECTION  IX.       DISPUTATION  AT  LEIPZIG LUTHER's  CONDEMNATION.. 

Dr.  John  Eck— His  * 'Obelisks"— His  Disputation  with  Luther  and  Carlstadt 
— Its  Effect — Luther's  coarse  Language — Jerome  Emser — Philip  Melanch- 
ton — The  Humanists  side  with  Luther — Luther's  Writings  against  the 
Holy  See— His  Condemnation — Leo  X.— His  Pontificate. 

93.  The  ablest  adversary  of  the  German  "  Reformer,"  was  Dr.. 
John  Eck,  vice-chancellor  of  the  University  of  Ingolstadt.  By  his- 
work,  entitled  "  Obelisks,''''  in  which  he  showed  the  identity  of  Luther's 
teachings  with  the  heresy  of  Huss,  Eck  had  especially  provoked  the 
anger  of  the  boisterous  innovator.  When  appearing  before  Cardinal 
Cajetan,  at  Augsburg,  Luther  insisted  upon  having  a  public  discussion 
on  the  questions  which  were  then  disturbing  the  public.  The  chal- 
lenge was  accepted,  and,  notwithstanding  the  prohibition  of  the  dio- 
cesan bishop,  the  disputation  took  place  at  Leipzig  between  Luther 
and  Carlstadt  on  the  one  hand,  and  Eck  on  the  other.  The  Universi- 
ties of  Paris,  Cologne,  and  Louvain  were  chosen  umpires  between  the 
contestants.  The  disputation,  at  which  Duke  George  of  Saxony  pre- 
sided, lasted  from  June  27th  to  July  15th,  1519.  The  learned  of 
Germany  had  come  in  great  numbers  to  witness  the  exciting  debate. 
The  chief  points  of  discussion  were  the  condition  of  man  after  the 
Fall;  free  will  and  grace;  penance  and  indulgences;  and  the  Primacy 
of  the  Roman  See.  Luther  suffered  an  ignominious  defeat.  Much 
displeased  with  the  honors  shown  to  his  adversary,  he  left  Leipzig 
suddenly  without  awaiting  the  end  of  the  controversy,  which  had  been 
resumed  by  Carlstadt. 

94.  The  disputation  served  to  widen  the  existing  breach;  but  it 
had  also  the  good  effect  of  making  more  clear  the  positions  of  the 
contending  parties  and  of  strengthening  in  the  Catholic  faith  Duke 
George  and  the  University  and  inhabitants  of  Leipzig.  The  defeat 
which  he  sustained  at  Leipzig,  had  driven  Luther  to  uncontrollable 
fury.  As  usual  with  him,  the  names  of  his  opponents  were  hence- 
forth mentioned  by  him  only  in  terms  of  keenest  acerbity.  The  de- 
cisions of  the  arbitrating  universities,  censuring  his  teachings  as 
heretical,  he  retaliated  with  wildest  abuse,  calling  the  members  of 
these  faculties  "mules,  asses,  and  Epicurean  swine." 

95.  The  questions  which  had  been  dragged  into  dispute  were  now 
in  every  mouth,  and  the  controversy  was  taken  up  and  continued  by 
Jerome  Emser  and  Philip  Melanchton,  the  former  siding  with  Eck,. 


\ 


DI8PUTA  TION  A  T  LEIPZIG.  681 

the  latter  with  Luther.  Emser,  aulic  chaplain  and  secretary  to  Duke 
George  of  Saxony,  was  an  eminent  scholar,  well  versed  in  the  ancient 
and  oriental  languages.  He  was  present  at  the  Leipzig  discussion, 
and  from  that  time  opposed,  in  union  with  Dr.  Eck,  the  increasing 
influence  of  Luther,  who  on  that  account  vilified  him  in  his  wonted 
vulgar  style.  In  reply  to  Luther's  abusive  charges  he  published  a 
series  of  pamphlets;  he  also  translated  the  work  of  Henry  VIII.  of 
England,  against  the  Wittenberg  "Reformer."     Emser  died  in  1527. 

96.  Luther  found  a  strong  and  zealous  co-laborer  in  Philip  Mel- 
anchton,  who,  still  a  youth,  had  already  attained  great  eminence  as  a 
scholar.  Melanchton  (Schwarzerd,  ^.  e.  Blackearth),  born  1497,  was 
the  grand-nephew  of  the  famous  scholar  Reuchlin,  on  whose  recom- 
mendation he  was  appointed  professor  of  Greek  in  the  University  of 
Wittenberg,  and  thus  became  the  colleague,  and  soon  an  ardent  ad- 
mirer, of  Luther.  More  moderate  and  prudent  than  Luther,  he  was 
of  invaluable  aid  to  the  latter,  who  was  not  unfrequently  guided  by 
his  counsels.  Melanchton  thus  played  a  prominent  part  in  the 
Lutheran  movement,  aiding  by  his  talents  and  his  writings.  He 
attended  the  Leipzig  disputation,  and,  disregarding  the  promise  made 
to  Dr.  Eck,  published  a  partial  and  untruthful  account  of  the  discus- 
sion. In  1521,  he  wrote  in  defence  of  his  master  the  "Oration  for 
Luther,"  and  a  "Protest  against  the  decision  of  the  Paris  University.". 

97.  Everything  contributed  to  embolden  the  Saxon  monk  and 
render  him  more  recklessly  daring.  Encouraged  by  the  applause  of 
the  Hussites  and  Humanists,  who  greeted  him  as  the  "greatest  theo- 
logian of  the  age,"  and  as  "a  second  Paul  and  Augustine,"  and 
backed  by  the  German  nobles,  such  as  the  licentious  Ulrich  of  Hutten 
and  the  revolutionary  Francis  of  Sickingen,  who  offered  him  their 
protection,  Luther  cast  off  all  disguise,  to  complete  his  separation 
from  the  Church.  His  constant  endeavor  now  was  to  destroy  all 
authority  in  order  to  establish  his  own  on  its  ruins. 

98.  Between  the  years  1520  and  1522  he  launched  forth  pamphlet 
after  pamphlet,  such  as  the  ^^ Address  to  the  Christian  Nobles  of  Ger- 
many^''  "  On  the  Improvement  of  Christian  Morality j"*^  "  On  the  JBaby- 
lonish  Captivity  of  the  Church,''^  addressed  to  the  Clergy,  and  "  On 
Christian  Liberty,^"*  in  which  he  poured  out  his  deadly  hatred  against 
Rome  and  the  Holy  See,  now  rabidly  blaspheming  the  most  sacred 
things  and  the  holiest  doctrines,  which  previously  he  had  but  sparingly 
denounced.  He  called  upon  the  Emperor  to  overthrow  the  power  of 
the  Pope,  to  confiscate  the  possessions  of  the  Church,  and  to  abolish 
ecclesiastical  feasts  and  holidays,  and  masses  for  the  dead.  "It 
would  be  no  wonder,"  the  raving  monk  exclaimed,   "  if  God  should 


632  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CHURCH. 

rain  down  from  heaven  sulphur  and  hellish  fire  upon  Rome  and  plunge 
it  into  the  abyss,  as  he  did  with  Sodom  and  Gomorrah."  ^ 

99.  Dr.  Eck  appealed  to  the  Saxon  Elector,  endeavoring  to  con- 
vince him  of  the  gravity  and  the  dangerous  character  of  Luther's 
errors,  but  without  effect.  At  last  Pope  Leo  X.  on  June  15,  1520, 
issued  a  bull  condemning  forty-one  propositions  extracted  from  the 
writings  of  Luther,  and  excommunicating  him,  unless  he  should 
retract  within  sixty  days.  But  the  sentence,  the  execution  of  which 
had  been  entrusted  to  the  papal  legates,  Carracioli  and  Aleandro,  and 
to  Dr.  Eck,  produced  no  great  impression  in  Germany;  in  many  places 
its  publication  was  resisted,  and  the  majority  of  the  German  bishops 
gave  little  heed  to  the  whole  affair. 

100.  Luther  replied  to  the  papal  sentence  by  his  pamphlet, 
*^ Against  the  Execrable  Bull  of  Antichrist^'*  and  renewed  his  appeal 
from  the  Pope,  as  from  "  an  unjust  judge,  an  obdurate,  erring  schis- 
matic and  heretic,  condemned  as  such  by  the  Bible,"  to  a  General 
Council;  and  he  impetuously  urged  the  Emperor  and  the  princes  to 
resist,  what  he  called,  the  unchristian  conduct  of  the  Pope.  "Who- 
soever shall  follow  the  Pope,"  he  said,  "  him  do  I,  Martin  Luther, 
deliver  to  divine  judgment!"  On  December  10,  1520,  he  publicly 
burned  the  Pope's  bull,  together  with  the  Canon  Law,  at  Wittenberg, 
exclaiming:  "As  thou  hast  disturbed  the  Lord's  Holy  One,  may  the 
eternal  fire  disturb  and  consume  thee."  On  the  following  day,  ad- 
dressing the  students,  he  said:  "It  is  now  full  time  that  the  Pope 
himself  were  burned.  My  meaning  is  that  the  Papal  chair,  its  false 
teachings,  and  its  abominations,  should  be  given  to  the  flames." 

101.  Leo  X.  died  December  1,  1521.  An  ardent  admirer  of 
classic  literature  and  a  magnanimous  patron  of  the  arts  and  sciences, 
he  was  at  the  same  time  a  great  Pontiff,  who  was  sincerely  devoted 
to  the  interests  and  well-being  of  the  Church.  His  pontificate,  one  of 
the  most  brilliant  in  the  History  of  the  Church,  was  greatly  embar- 
rassed by  the  treachery  of  the  Italian  princes,  the  religious  revolution 
in  Germany,  and  by  the  rivalries  between  Charles  V.,  Francis  I.,of 
France,  and  Henry  VIII.  of  England.  This  explains  why  the  character 
of  this  Pope  has  been  judged  with  so  much  prejudice  and  inconsist- 
ency. His  reign  was  long  and  gratefully  remembered  by  the  Romans, 
as  an  era  of  happiness  and  prosperity. 

1.  Elsewhere  he  writes:  "  If  this  rage  of  the  Komanists  continue,  no  other  remedy 
appears  to  me  to  be  left  than  that  emperor,  king-s,  and  princes  arm  themselves  and 
attack  this  pest  of  the  earth  and  decide  the  question  no  longer  with  words  but  with  the 
sword.  If  we  punish  thieves  by  the  rope,  murderers  by  the  sword,  and  heretics  by  Are, 
why  do  we  not  attack  with  every  weapon  these  teachers  of  perdition,  these  cardinals, 
these  popes,  and  the  -whole  swarm  of  the  Roman  Sodom,  that  unceasingly  corrupt  the 
Church  of  God,  and  wash  our  hands  in  their  blood." 


LUTHER'S  SYSTEM.  533 


SECTION  X. 


Emperor  Charles  V. —  Diet  of  Worms  —  Luther  summoned  before  the  Diet — 
Under  the  Ban  of  the  Empire  —  At  Wartburg  —  Luther's  Translation  of 
the  Bible  —  His  Forgeries  ^-  His  Opinion  regarding  certain  Parts  of  the 
Bible— Other  German  Versions — Luther's  Religious  Principles — Justifi- 
cation by  Faith  alone. 

102.  Upon  the  death  of  Maximilian  I.,  his  grandson,  Charles,  the 
young  king  of  Spain,  succeeded  him  in  the  Empire  as  Charles  Y.  (A.  D. 
1519 — 1556).  The  new  emperor,  yielding  to  the  wishes  of  the  States 
that  favored  Luther,  summoned  him  before  the  German  Diet,  which 
was  to  meet  at  Worms,  in  1521.  The  heresiarch  having  already  been 
judged  by  the  Church',  the  papal  legate,  Aleandro,  protested  against 
this  proceeding  ;  but  to  no  purpose.  Provided  with  a  safe-conduct, 
Luther  appeared  before  the  Diet  to  answer  the  charges  against  him. 
When  asked  the  double  question  :  Whether  he  acknowledged  himself 
the  author  of  the  twenty-five  books  published  under  his  name;  and 
whether  he  was  willing  to  retract  the  errors  contained  therein,  he 
answered  to  the  first  question  affirmatively;  for  the  other,  he  requested 
time  to  consider,  which  was  granted.  On  the  following  day,  appear- 
ing again  before  the  assembly,  he  boldly  refused  to  retract,  unless 
"*' convicted  of  error  by  the  Scripture  and  plain  reason,"  rejecting  the 
authority  of  the  Popes  and  General  Councils  and  absolutely  relying 
on  his  own  interpretation  of  the  Scripture. 

103.  All  efforts  to  reclaim  him  proving  unavailing,  Luther  was 
ordered  to  leave  Worms  and  put  under  the  ban  of  the  Empire.  The 
measures  enacted  by  the  emperor,  however,  failed  to  restore  peace  to 
Germany  ;  beyond  his  own  states  and  those  of  his  brother  Ferdinand 
and  a  few  other  princes,  the  edict  was  but  feebly  enforced,  in  some 
places  even  opposed.  Luther  left  Worms  under  a  safe-conduct.  On 
his  way  to  Wittenberg,  he  was,  according  to  a  previous  arrangement, 
seized  and  taken  to  Wartburg,  near  Eisenach,  where  he  remained 
nearly  a  year,  living  as  a  knight  under  the  name  of  "  Master  George.'* 
During  this  time,  he  wrote  his  pamphlets  "  On  the  Abuse  of  Masses," 
<'0n  Monastic  Yows,"  and  "Against  the  Idol  of  Halle"  (the  archbishop 
of  Mentz).! 


1.  While  at  Wartburg,  anxiety,  doubts,  and  remorse,  in  regard  to  his  daring  under- 
taking, began  to  torment  the  mind  of  Luther.  "  To  change  all  spiritual  and  human  order 
against  all  common  sense,"  he  confesses,  "appeared  to  him  a  very  dangerous  thing." 
"  With  how  much  pain  and  labor,"  he  writes  to  the  Augustinians  at  Wittenberg,  "  have  I 
endeavored  to  quiet  my  conscience,  that  I  alone  should  proceed  against  the  Pope,  hold- 
ing him  for  Antichrist  and  the  bishops  for  his  apostles.  How  often  did  my  heart  faintt 
punish,  and  reproach  me,  with  the  following  pungent  argument :  'Art  thou  alone  wise? 
Could  all  the  others  err,  and  have  continued  to  err  for  so  long  a  time  ?  How,  if  thou 
errest  and  leadest  into  error  so  many  people,  who  would  all  be  damned  forever? '  "  But 
such  warnings  of  a  troubled  conscience  he  strove  to  silence  by  representing  to  himself 
that  they  were  diabolical  iUuslons  and  temptations  which  he  was  bound  to  resist. 


634  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

104.  It  was  at  Wartburg,  which  he  called  his  "  Patmos,"  that 
Luther  commenced  his  translation  of  the  Bible  into  German.  The 
translation  of  the  New  Testament,  which  was  mostly  from  the  original 
text,  appeared  in  1522,  while  that  of  the  Old  Testament  was  not  com- 
pleted till  1533.  Luther's  translation  is  more  renowned  for  the  purity 
of  the  German  idiom  than  for  its  adherence  to  the  original  text.  His 
aim  being  to  make  the  Bible  fit  to  his  system  of  teaching,  he  added 
and  rejected  words  and  even  whole  sentences  without  the  least  scruple. 
For  instance,  Math.  vi.  13,  he  introduced  the  doxology  :  "  And  thine 
is  the  kingdom  and  the  power  and  the  glory  forever.  Amen  " — words 
which  were  not  spoken  by  Christ,  but  are  derived  from  the  liturgical 
books  (lectionaries)  of  the  Greeks,  from  which  they  passed  into 
several  Greek  manuscripts  of  later  date.  In  Rom.  iii.  20,  and  Rom.. 
V.  15,  Luther  inserted  the  word  "on/y",  and  in  Rom.  iii.  28,  after 
the  words  "we  account  a  man  to  be  justified  by  faith,"  he  added  the 
word  alone,  "by  faith  alone." ^  In  the  sentence  of  St.  Peter  (I.  Ep.  i. 
10),  "labor  that  by  good  works  you  make  sure  your  vocation,"  he 
omitted  the  words  "  by  good  works."  Again,  the  words  of  St.  James 
(ii.  18),  "Show  me  thy  faith  without  works,"  he  translated:  "Show 
me  the  faith  without  thy  works."  In  the  First  Epistle  of  St.  John 
(v.  7.),  he  omitted  the  seventh  verse  :  "For  there  are  three  that 
give  testimony,"  etc. 

105.  Nor  would  Luther  accept  all  the  recognized  books  of  Holy 
Bible  as  divinely  inspired  ;  some  he  rejected  altogether.  Of  the 
Pentateuch  he  remarks  :  "  We  have  no  wish  either  to  see  or  hear  Mo- 
ses. .  .  .  Moses  is  the  prince  and  exemplar  of  all  executioners  ;  in 
striking  terror  into  the  hearts  of  men,  in  inflicting  torture,  and  in 
tyrannizing,  he  is  without  a  rival."  Of  Ecclesiastes  :  "  This  book 
should  be  more  complete  ;  it  is  mutilated  ;  it  is  like  a  cavalier  riding 
without  boots  or  spurs  ;  just  as  I  used  to  do  while  I  was  still  a  monk." 
Of  Judith  and  Tobias  :  "  As  it  seems  to  me,  Judith  is  a  tragedy,  in 
which  the  end  of  all  tyrants  may  be  learned.  As  to  Tobias,  it  is  a 
comedy,  in  which  there  is  a  great  deal  of  talk  about  women.  It  con- 
tains many  amusing  and  silly  stories."  Of  the  Second  Machabees  : 
"  I  have  so  great  an  aversion  to  this  book  and  to  that  of  Esther,  that. 
I  almost  wish  they  did  not  exist ;  they  are  full  of  Jewish  observances 
and  Pagan  abominations."  Of  the  four  Gospels  :  "  The  three  speak 
of  the  works  of  our  Lord  rather  than  of  his  oral  teaching ;  that  of 
St.   John  is  the  only  sympathetic,  the  only  true  Gospel."     Of  the 

2.  When  charifed  with  having-  falsified  verse  Rom.  iii.  28,  by  adding-  the  -word  "  alone, "" 
he  replied:  "Should  your  Pope  g-ive  himself  any  useless  annoyance  about  the  word 
sola  (alone),  you  may  promptly  reply:  *  It  is  the  will  of  Dr.  Martin  Luther  that  it  should 
be  so!'  " 


LUTHER'S  SYSTEM.  535 

Epistle  to  the  Hebrews  :  "  It  need  not  surprise  one  to  find  here  bits 
of  wood,  hay,  and  straw."  Of  the  Epistle  of  St.  James  :  "  This  is, 
indeed,  an  epistle  of  straw ;  it  contains  absolutely  nothing  to  remind 
one  of  the  style  of  the  Gospel."  Of  the  Apocalypse  :  "  There  are 
many  things  objectionable  in  this  book.  Every  one  may  form  his  own 
judgment  of  this  book  ;  as  for  myself,  I  feel  an  aversion  to  it,  and  to 
me  this  is  sufficient  reason  for  rejecting  it." 

106.  To  counteract  Luther's  translation,  new  German  versions 
of  the  Scriptures  were  published  by  Canon  Dietenberger,  in  1534,  and 
by  Drs.  Eck  and  Emser.  Emser  also  exposed  the  systematic  corrup- 
tion of  the  Scripture  text  by  Luther,  whose  translation  of  the  New 
Testament  he  proved  to  contain  no  less  than  fourteen  hundred  errors 
and  forgeries.  Luther  retaliated  with  his  usual  coarse  epithets,  saying 
that  "popish  asses  were  not  able  to  appreciate  his  labors,"  and  calling 
Emser  "  a  wild  ass,  a  blockhead,  a  basilisk,  and  pupil  of  Satan."  Never- 
theless, availing  himself  of  Emser's  translation,  he  afterwards  revised 
his  version  and  corrected  many  of  the  errors  pointed  out  by  his  ad- 
versary. 

107.  Luther's  religious  system,  if  such  it  can  be  called,  is  a  sort, 
of  pantheistic  mysticism.  He  taught : — 1.  An  all-ruling  and  absolute 
divine  necessity.  God  is  the  author  of  man's  actions,  whether  good 
or  bad.  ^  Man  is  born  without  a  trace  of  freedom,  which  is  incom- 
patible with  divine  fore-knowledge.  ^ — 2.  In  consequence  of  original 
sin,  human  nature  is  radically  corrupt.  Man  is  wholly  unable  to  do 
any  good  by  himself,  and  only  fit  to  sin.  All  the  sins  of  man  are 
manifestations  and  consequences  of  original  sin,  —  3,  Faith  alone 
works  justification  ;  and  man  is  saved  only  by  confidently  believing 
that  God  will  pardon  his  sins.  ^ — 4.    The  Sacraments,  which  Luther 


1.  In  his  commentary  on  the  Epistle  to  the  Romans  he  says:  "  The  adultery  of  David 
and  the  betrayal  of  Judas  are  as  much  the  work  of  God,  as  the  calling  of  Paul. 

2.  In  his  book  "  On  Slave  Will,"  he  says :  **  Man's  will  is  like  a  horse  ;  if  God  rides  it, 
it  goes  and  wills  as  God  wills;  if  the  devil,  it  groes  as  the  devil  wills."  Again,  '*  God  does- 
evil  in  us,  as  well  as  good  ;  as  He  justifies  us  without  merit,  so  also  He  damns  us  without 
guiit."  I 

3.  In  a  letter  to  Melanchton,  Luther  writes:  "  Be  a  sinner  and  sin  boldly;  but  more 
boldly  still  believe  and  rejoice  in  Christ,  who  is  the  conqueror  of  sin,  death,  and  the 
world.  Sin  is  our  lot  here  on  earth.  .  .  .  Sin  cannot  deprive  us  of  God,  even  though  in 
the  same  day  we  were  to  commit  a  thousand  adulteries  or  a  thousand  murders."  "Pro- 
vided one  has  faith,"  he  exclaimed  in  one  of  his  sermons,  "  adultery  is  no  sin."  In  his 
book  "On  the  Babylonish  Captivity,"  he  deduces  from  the  text,  "He  that  believes,  and 
is  baptized,  shall  be  saved,"  that  sin  cannot  damn  a  Christian,  so  long  as  he  believes. 
"So  thou  seest,"  he  says,  "how  rich  the  Christian,  or  baptized  man,  is,  who,  even  if  he 
desires  to  do  so,  cannot  imperil  his  salvation  through  any  sin,  be  it  ever  so  great,  so  long 
as  he  continues  to  have  faith ;  for  no  sin  can  damn  him,  save  only  the  sin  of  unbelief."  And 
it  was  the  author  of  such  blasphemies  that  Frederick,  the  Wise,  (?)  Elector  of  Saxony, 
took  under  his  protection,  because  he  had  not  then  been  convicted  of  heresy! 


536  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

reduced  to  two  —  Baptism  and  the  Lord's  Supper  —  are  not  means 
of  Grace,  but  only  pledges  of  the  Divine  promises  for  the  for- 
giveness of  our  sins,  and  signs  of  our  faith  in  such  promises.  Their 
efficacy,  consequently,  depends  solely  on  the  faith  of  the  recipient. — 
6.  There  is  a  universal  priesthood.  Every  Christian  may  assume 
that  office.  There  is  no  need  of  a  hierarchy  and  of  priests,  and  conse- 
quently, there  is  no  visible  Church.  —  6.  There  are  no  meritorious 
works.  Prayer,  fasts,  mortifications,  religious  vows,  and  other  good 
works  of  any  kind  avail  the  soul  nothing  to  its  salvation.  —  V.  In 
matters  of  religion,  every  man  is  his  own  judge  ;  and  every  Christian 
has  the  right  not  only  to  read,  but  also  to  interpret  for  himself  the 
Bible  which  is  the  only  source  of  faith. 

SECTION   XI.      DISTUKBANCES  AND   INSURRECTIONS  OF   THE   LUTHERANS 
ORGANIZATION    OP    THE    LUTHERAN    CHURCH. 

Moral  Evils  of  the  New  Teachings— Sacrilegious  Marriages— The  Prophets 
of  Zwickau — The  Anabaptists — Disorders  at  Wittenberg— Hadrian  VI.  — 
Attempt  to  adjust  Religious  Difficulties — ^Diets  of  Niirnberg— Clement 
VIL— His  Efforts  to  restore  Religious  Peace— Catholic  and  Protestant 
Leagues — Luther's  Railing  Charges  against  Popes  and  Bishops — Henry 
yni.  and  Erasmus  oppose  Luther— The  Peasants'  War — Luther's  Marri- 
age  —  Princes  favoring  Lutheranism — Organization  of  the  Lutheran 
Church — Diets  of  Speier. 

108.  The  teachings  of  Luther  had  already  taken  deep  root  among 
a  large  portion  of  the  German  people,  and  were  a  source  of  incalcu- 
lable moral  evil  throughout  the  country.  They  openly  pandered  to 
the  basest  passions  of  human  nature.  ^  The  violent  declamations  of 
the  self-styled  Reformer  against  the  Pope  and  the  hierarchy,  against 
clerical  celibacy  and  monastic  vows,  which  he  declared  to  be  against 
faith  and  Christian  liberty  ;  his  call  on  the  German  people,  to  shake 
off  the  yoke  of  the  priesthood,  and  on  the  princes  and  nobility,  to 
seize  the  possessions  of  the  Church,  rapidly  increased  the  number  of 
his  followers.  The  parish  priest,  Bernhardi  of  Kemberg,  was  the  first 
open  violator  of  celibacy.  Carlstadt  soon  followed ;  and,  to  crown 
his  infamy,  he  composed  a  Mass  in  which  the  celebrant  presumed  to 
call  down  God's  blessing  on  this  sacrilegious  union,  which  was  applau- 
ded by  Luther.  The  Augustinian,  Gabriel  Didymus,  in  1521,  declared 
monastic  vows  a  devise  of  the  devil,  whereupon  many  religious  re- 
nounced their  orders  and  vows.     His  brothers  in  religion  at  Witten- 

1.  On  the  baneful  Influence  which  the  Lutheran  Reformation  has  had  on  the  morals, 
relig-ious  and  civil  liberty,  learning-  and  polity  of  Europe  in  general,  and  Germany  in 
particular,  see  Archbishop  Spaldingr's  excellent  "  History  of  the  Protestant  Reforma- 
tion."   Vol.  I. 


DISTURBANCES  OF  LUTHERANS.  537 

berg,  declaring  their  vows  null  and  void,  dissolved  their  community^ 
abolished  the  Mass,  and  began  to  administer  communion  under  both 
kinds.  On  Christmas,  Carlstadt  celebrated  Mass  in  the  vernacular 
tongue,  omitting  the  elevation  and  other  ceremonies,  and  administered 
communion  to  all  approaching  the  altar  without  previous  confession. 

109.  At  Zwickau  sprung  up  the  "  Visionary  Prophets^\  so  called 
from  their  visions  which  they  claimed  to  receive  from  heaven,  after 
the  manner  of  the  ancient  prophets.  Thomas  Muenzer,  a  priest,  and 
Nicholas  Storch,  a  weaver,  became  their  leaders.  Gathering  around 
them  twelve  apostles  and  seventy  disciples,  Muenzer  and  Storch 
organized  a  new  society,  which  developed  into  the  sect  of  the  Ana- 
baptists, or  rebaptizers.  They  rejected  infant  baptism,  as  contrary  to 
the  Scripture;  believed  in  the  millennium,  and  commenced  the  estab- 
lishment of  a  new  Kingdom  of  Christ  on  earth.  Expelled  from 
Zwickau,  they  proceeded  to  Wittenberg,  where  Carlstadt,  Didymus, 
and  others  joined  them. 

110.  Boasting  of  interior  teaching  by  the  Divinity,  the  new  proph- 
ets rejected  all  human  science.  Didymus  advised  parents  to  with- 
draw their  sons  from  studies,  and  Carlstadt  required  the  candidates 
of  theology  to  apply  themselves  to  manual  labor,  rather  than  to  studies 
in  order  not  to  impede  the  inward  inspirations  of  the  Holy  Spirit. 
He  was  seen  visiting  workshops,  with  the  Bible  in  his  hands,  to  be 
instructied  by  simple  artisans  in  the  true  sense  of  Holy  Writ.  Many 
of  the  clergy  at  Wittenberg  being  opposed  to  the  new  doctrines,  Carl- 
stadt and  Didymus,  raising  a  mob,  attacked  churches  and  monasteries: 
and  destroyed  altars  and  the  images  of  Christ  and  the  saints.  Similar 
scenes  were  enacted  elsewhere. 

111.  Alarmed  by  the  report  of  these  excesses,  Luther,  leaving 
Wartburg,  arrived  at  Wittenberg  on  Good  Friday,  1522,  and  for  a 
whole  week  harangued  his  followers  for  their  violence.  The  trouble- 
some prophets,  including  Carlstadt,  were  compelled  to  leave  the  city. 
Carlstadt,  especially,  had  aroused  the  wrath  of  Luther,  by  attacking 
his  teaching  of  the  Real  Presence  of  Christ  in  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Altar.  From  that  time,  the  two  *' Re  formers"  remained  unrelenting 
enemies,  and  Luther  did  not  cease  from  pursuing  his  former  teacher, 
till  he  was  banished  from  the  country.  Carlstadt,  after  leading,  for 
several  years,  an  unsteady  nomadic  life,  betook  himself  to  Switzerland, 
where  he  was  received  and  assisted  by  Zwingle.  He  was  appointed 
preacher  and  professor  of  theology  in  Basle,  where  he  died,  in  1541. 

112.  Meantime,  Leo  X.  was  succeeded  by  Hadrian  VI.  A.  D. 
1522-1523,  an  humble,  but  learned  and  holy  priest  of  Utrecht,  who 
had  formerly  been  the  preceptor  of  Charles  V.     The  new  Pontiff  at 


538  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

once  took  up  with  great  earnestness  the  subject  of  reform  within  the 
Ohurch.and  devoted  all  his  energy  to  the  religious  pacification  of 
Oermany.  He  sent  Cardinal  Chieregati  to  the  Diet  of  Niirnberg 
{1522),  to  demand  aid  for  Hungary  against  the  Turks,  and  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  edict  of  Worms  against  Luther,  "  for  the  revolt  now 
directed  against  the  spiritual  authority,  will  shortly  deal  a  blow  against 
the  temporal  also."  But  the  Diet,  instead  of  acceding  to  the  just 
demands  of  the  Pope,  replied  by  presenting  one  hundred  and  one 
grievances  against  the  Holy  See  {Gravamina  nationis  Germanicce), 
and  requiring  the  convocation  of  a  General  Council,  in  some  German 
city.  Hadrian,  seeing  all  his  cherished  projects  frustrated  by  human 
malice,  died,  it  is  said,  of  excessive  grief. 

113.  Clement  VII., A.  D.  1523-1534,  an  energetic  Pontiff,  made 
•every  possible  effort  to  reclaim  the  Lutherans  and  restore  religious 
peace  in  Germany;  but  he  was  no  more  successful  than  his  predecessor. 
He  sent  Cardinal  Campeggio  to  the  Diet  of  Niirnberg  (1524),  to  urge 
the  adoption  of  vigorous  measures  against  Luther;  but  nothing  was 
accomplished.  The  German  States  promised,  indeed,  to  do  whatever 
they  could  toward  protecting  the  Catholic  faith;  but  at  the  same  time 
resolved  to  hold  another  Diet  at  Spires,  in  1526,  which  was  to  recon- 
sider what  of  Luther's  doctrines  should  be  retained  or  rejected,  till 
the  meeting  of  a  General  Council.  The  action  of  the  Diet  being 
offensive  to  both  Pope  and  Emperor,  the  legate  protested,  and  Charles 
V.  prohibited  the  holding  of  the  Diet  at  Spires  and  demanded  the 
-execution  of  the  edict  of  Worms;  but  his  demand  was  ignored. 

114.  Cardinal  Campeggio  succeeded,  however,  in  effecting  an 
alliance  between  the  Catholic  princes,  who,  meeting  at  Ratisbon,  in 
1524,  under  the  leadership  of  Ferdinand  of  Austria  and  the  Dukes  of 
Bavaria,  bound  themselves  to  protect  the  interests  and  institutions  of 
the  Catholic  Church,  against  the  aggressions  of  the  Lutherans.  The 
Catholic  princes  of  Northern  Germany  concluded  a  similar  treaty  at 
Dessau,  while  Mecklenburg,  Anhalt,  Mansfeld,  Prussia,  and  the  cities 
of  Brunswick  and  Magdeburg,  declaring  for  Luther,  concluded  a 
league  at  Torgau,  in  1526.  Thus  began  the  lamentable  division 
between  the  Catholic  and  Lutheran  States  of  Germany. 

115.  Luther  continued  to  spurn  all  authority,  spiritual  and  tem- 
poral, and  to  vent  his  anger  against  the  Head  of  the  church,  and 
against  all  that  dared  to  disagree  with  himself.  He^called  the  Pope 
a  heretic  and  an  apostate,  a  blasphemer  of  God  and  traitor  of  Christ's 
Church,  and  incessantly  inveighed  against  him  as  "the  man  of  sin,"  the 
minister  of  Satan,  and  even  the  very  Antichrist.''  "The  Pope,"  he 
says,  "  is  a  mad  wolf,  against  whom  every  one  ought  to  take  up  arms, 

r 


I 


DISTURBANCES  OF  LUTHERANS.  639 

without  waiting  even  for  the  order  of  the  magistrates;  in  this  matter 
there  can  be  no  room  for  repentance,  except  for  not  having  been  able 
to  bury  the  sword  in  his  breast.  All  those  that  follow  the  Pope, 
ought  to  be  pursued  like  bandit  chiefs,  were  they  kings  or  emperors." 
With  the  same  coarse  invective,  he  railed  against  bishops,  denouncing 
them  as  wolves,  unchristian  and  unlearned  monkies  and  apostles  of 
Antichrist.  "All  who  assist  in  the  destruction  of  bishoprics  and 
episcopal  authority,  are  the  dear  children  of  God  and  true  Christians. 
But  all  who  obey  the  authority  of  bishops,  are  the  devil's  own  serv- 
ants, and  fight  against  the  order  and  law  of  God." 

116.  Henry  VIII.  of  England,  who  wrote  ^^  A  Defence  of  the  Seven 
/Sacraments  against  Doctor  Martin  Luther''\  was  treated  in  the  same 
rude  and  frivolous  fashion  by  the  apostate  monk.  Luther,  instead  of 
refuting,  only  ridiculed,  as  was  his  custom,  the  royal  theologian,  call- 
ing him  "  crowned  ass,  liar,  varlet,  idiot,  snivelling  sophist,  and  pig 
of  the  Thomist  herd."  Erasmus,  one  of  the  most  polished  writers  of 
his  age,  who  at  first  sided  with  Luther,  expecting  that  his  movement 
would  bring  about  the  reform  of  certain  abuses  in  the  Church,  was 
also  drawn  into  the  controversy;  he  directed  against  the  "Reformer" 
his  book  "  On  Free  Will."  Luther  replied  in  his  pamphlet  "  On 
Slave  Will,"  attacking  Erasmus  with  so  much  violence  that  the 
latter  complained,  saying  that  "  in  his  old  age  he  was  compelled  to " 
contend  against  a  savage  beast  and  a  furious  wild  boar." 

117.  The  teaching  of  absolute  human  equality  and  of  total  dis- 
regard of  all  authority  by  Luther,  soon  bore  its  evil  fruits  among  the 
masses.  Inflamed  by  the  fiery  appeals  of  the  "  Reformer,"  and 
incited  by  fanatical  harangues  of  itinerant  preachers,  the  peasants,  in 
1525,  under  the  leadership  of  Thomas  MUnzer,  rose  in  open  rebellion 
against  their  lords,  plundered  and  burned  churches  and  convents, 
stormed  the  castles  of  the  nobles,  and  committed  every  species  of  out- 
rage and  atrocity.  "When  Luther  saw  things  turn  to  the  advantage 
of  the  princes,  he  at  once  preached  against  the  deluded  peasants 
whom  his  doctrines  had  misled,  and,  in  his  pamphlet  "Against  the 
Hapacious  and  Murderous  Peasants"  urged  the  princes  to  kill  them 
**  without  mercy,  like  mad  dogs,"  and  declared  that  none  could  die 
in  a  manner  more  pleasing  to  God  than  fighting  against  these  "  chil- 
dren of  the  devil."  ^  His  cruel  advice  was  followed,  and  it  is  estimat- 
ed, that  a  hundred  thousand  lives  were  destroyed  in  the  "  Peasants' 

1.  Luther  afterwards  boasted  that  he  was  the  cause  of  all  the  bloodshed  in  the  Peas- 
ants' War.  "  I,  Martin  Luther,  have  slain  all  the  peasants  in  the  insurrection,  because  I 
commanded  them  to  be  slain;  their  blood  is  upon  my  head.  But  I  put  it  upon  the  Lord 
God,  who  commanded  me  thus  to  speak." 


640  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

War."  Luther  celebrated  the  funeral  of  the  slain  peasants,  by 
secretly  marrying  on  June  13,  1525,  Catharine  Bora^  a  Cistercian 
nun,  who,  together  with  eight  other  nuns,  had,  at  his  instance,  been 
carried  off  from  their  convent,  by  a  citizen  of  Torgau,  named  Bernard 
Koppe.^ 

118.  It  was  chiefly  through  the  influence  of  the  temporal  rulers 
that  Luther  sought  to  propagate  his  "Gospel."  And,  indeed,  Ms 
*'  Gospel "  readily  found  powerful  patrons  among  the  German  princes 
and  nobles,  who  perceived  in  it  a  much  desired  means  of  enlarging 
their  domains  and  filling  their  depleted  treasuries,  by  seizing  on  Church 
property.  John  the  Constant  of  Saxony  and  the  margrave  Philip  of 
Hesse,  on  that  account,  declared  themselves  in  favor  of  Lutheranism; 
and  the  margrave  Albert  of  Brandenburg,  following  the  advice  of 
Luther,  took  a  wife  and  converted  Prussia,  the  property  of  the  Teutonic 
Order,  of  which  he  was  the  Grand  Master,  into  a  secular  principality. 

119.  To  give  stability  and  permanence  to  his  work,  Luther  found 
it  necessary  to  systematise  a  form  of  faith  and  ecclesiastical  govern- 
ment, in  lieu  of  that  which  he  had  done  his  utmost  to  abolish.  To 
his  translation  of  the  Bible  he  added  his  Postils  for  the  use  of  the- 
ministers  of  the  new  Gospel,  who,  in  many  instances,  were  illiterate 
men,  incompetent  to  teach.  For  the  instruction  of  the  laity  he  pub- 
lished  his  larger  and  shorter  catechisms — called  the  Bible  of  the  laity^ 
— both  of  which  acquired  symbolical  authority;  he  composed,  besides, 
a  number  of  sermons,  hymns  and  songs,  in  the  vernacular,  for  divine 
service.  For  the  organization  of  parishes,  the  conventicle  of  Hom- 
burg,  in  1526,  adopted,  at  the  suggestion  of  Luther,  a  synodal  consti- 
tution, which  granted  to  each  congregation  full  control  of  its  own 
ecclesiastical  discipline.  For  the  general  government  of  the  congre- 
gations, a  system  of  Parochial  Yisitation  was  introduced,  the  members 
of  which  were  to  be  appointed  by  the  ruling  prince.  Officers,  called 
Superintendents^  exercised  a  general  supervision  over  all  ecclesiastical 
affairs,  episcopal  ordination  being  no  longer  needed. 

120.  The  Lutheran  princes  having  nothing  to  fear  from  the 
emperor,  who  was  at  the  time  engaged  in  war  in  Italy,  became  bold 
and  defiant.  The  advance  of  the  Turks,  who  were  threatening 
Hungary,  led  to  the  convocation  of  a  diet  at  Spires,  in  1526.  But  the 
Lutheran    States,  which  were   told  by  the   "Reformer"   that    "to 

1.  The  "  Reformer"  blasphemously  called  his  marriage  the  result  of  divine  inspira- 
tion. ••  The  Lord,"  he  wrote,  a  few  days  after  the  event,  "has  suddenly  and  wonderfully 
thrown  me,  while  thinking  of  other  things,  into  marriage  with  that  nun,  Catharine 
Bora."  Erasmus  wrote:  "It  was  thought  that  Luther  was  the  hero  of  a  tragedy,  but, 
for  my  part,  I  regard  him  as  playing  the  chief  part  in  a  comedy,  that  has  ended,  like  all 
comedies,  in  a  marriage." 


PROGRESS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.  541 

fight  against  the  Turks  was  to  resist  God,"  could,  only  with  great 
difficulty,  be  prevailed  on  to  promise  the  much  needed  aid,  on  the 
condition  that  they  should  not  be  interfered  with  in  the  manage- 
ment of  their  religious  matters.  Another  diet  assembled  at  Spires,  in 
1529,  to  adjust  religious  differences  and  take  measures  against  the 
Turks.  The  propositions  made  by  the  Catholic  princes  were  fair 
enough,  but  the  Lutheran  princes  published  a  solemn  Protest  against 
them,  whence  the  name  of  "  Protestants.'''' 

SECTION    XII.        PROGRESS    OF   PRQTESTANISM EVENTS    FROM   A.    D. 

1530    TO    A.    D.    1555. 

Augsburg  Confession— Catholic  Refutation — Melanchton's  Apology— League 
of  Smalkald— Peace  of  Niirnberg— Anabaptists— Shocking  Disorders  at 
Miinster — Pope  Paul  III. — Smalkald  Articles— Bigamy  of  Philip  of  Hesse 
—Progress  of  Lutheranism — Apostasy  of  Archbishop  Herman  of  Co- 
logne— Luther  and  Amsdorf — Lutherans  refuse  to  attend  the  Council  of 
Trent— Death  of  Luther — His  last  Days — Interim  of  Ratisbon — Peace  of 
Augsburg — Abdication  of  Charles  Y. 

121.  The  victories  of  Charles  V.  in  Italy  and  France,  resulted  in 
the  treaties  of  Barcelona  with  Pope  Clement  III.,  and  of  Cambrai 
with  Francis  I.  of  France.  Charles  was  now  in  a  position  to  turn  his 
attention  entirely  to  Germany.  He  summoned  a  diet  to  be  held  at 
Augsburg,  in  1530,  for  the  double  purpose  of  concerting  measures 
against  the  Turks,  and  of  securing  peace  to  the  Church  and  Empire. 
The  emperor  demanded  from  the  Protestant  States  a  written  formula 
of  their  belief  and  a  statement  of  the  abuses  in  the  Catholic  Church, 
of  which  they  complained.  Melanchton  was  commissioned  to  state 
in  a  brief  essay,  afterwards  called  the  Augsburg  Confession,  the  doc- 
trinal views  of  his  party. 

122.  The  Confession,  which  was  approved  by  Luther,  and  is  re- 
garded by  Lutherans  as  the  first  of  their  symbolical  books,  comprises 
two  parts  :  the  first  in  twenty-one  articles,  gives  a  summary  of  the 
"  reformed  doctrines  ; "  the  second,  in  seven  articles,  enumerates  what 
the  Protestants  called  "  abuses,"  among  which  were  included  Com- 
munion under  one  kind,  private  masses,  clerical  celibacy,  monastic 
vows,  confession,  and  the  ecclesiastical  hierarchy.  A  Confutation  of 
the  Confession,  drawn  up  by  the  Catholic  theologiansc,  ailed  forth 
from  Melanchton  an  Apology  for  his  formula.  Special  conferences 
between  the  theologians  of  the  two  parties  were  instituted,  and  every 
effort  was  made  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation,  but  all  to  no  avail. 
The  emperor,  putting  an  end  to  the  fruitless  discussion,  published  a 
decree,  called  the  Itecess  of  Augsburg,  giving  the  Protestant  States 


542  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

till  April  of  the  following  year,  to  consider  whether  or  not  they  would 
return  to  the  faith  of  their  forefathers. 

123.  Alarmed  at  the  determined  attitude  which  the  emperor  had 
taken,  the  Protestant  princes  met  at  Smalkald,  in  Prussia,  in  1531, 
and  concluded  an  offensive  and  defensive  alliance,  known  as  the 
League  of  Smalkald,  for  the  maintenance  of  Protestantism ;  they 
even  entered  into  negotiations  with  France  and  England,  against  the 
emperor.  Luther  approving  the  taking  up  of  arms  against  the  em- 
peror, published  his  "  Warning  to  My  Dear  Germans  Against  the 
Decrees  of  Augsburg^"*  and  his  ^^  Comments  on  the  Imperial  Edict.'''' 
The  danger  of  a  Turkish  invasion  forced  Charles  to  make  peace  with 
the  Smalkaldians,  conceding  at  Niirnberg,  in  1532,  that,  until  the 
meeting  of  a  General  Council,  no  action  should  be  taken  against  any 
of  the  Protestant  princes,  and  that  in  the  interval  everything  should 
remain  as  it  was.  In  1535,  the  Protestant  States  renewed  their  alli- 
ance for  a  period  of  ten  years,  which  caused  the  Catholic  princes,  in 
1538,  to  unite  in  a  confederation,  known  as  the  Soly  League,  for  the 
maintenance  of  the  Catholic  religion. 

124.  Westphalia,  which  up  to  this  time  had  resisted  every  at- 
tempt to  introduce  Protestantism,  was  now  violently  agitated,  owing 
to  the  shocking  disorders  and  excesses  committed  by  the  Anabaptists, 
at  Miinster.  John  Matthiesen  of  Haarlem  and  John  Bockelson  of 
Leyden  were  their  leaders.  After  making  themselves  masters  of  the 
city,  these  fanatics,  the  everlasting  reproach  of  the  "Reformation," 
introduced  community  of  goods  and  polygamy,  John  Leyden  himself 
taking  as  many  as  seventeen  wives  at  once.  Licentiousness  and 
riot  of  every  kind  reigned  in  the  new  "City  of  Sion,"  as  Miinster 
was  called  by  the  frantic  sectaries.  At  last,  after  a  siege  of  eighteen 
months,  the  city  was  taken  by  storm,  in  1535,  and  the  leaders  of  the 
insurrection  were  executed  with  painful  torture. 

125.  Clement  VII.  was  succeeded  by  Paul  III.,  A.  D.  1534 — 1549, 
who  concurred  with  all  his  power  toward  restoring  unity  in  Germany. 
He  convoked  a  Council  for  153V,  to  meet  at  Mantua,  and  invited  the 
Protestant  States  to  attend  it.  But  from  a  combination  of  obstacles, 
occasioned  by  the  circumstances  of  the  crisis,  the  Council  could  not 
•convene.  The  Protestants,  who  always  had  been  appealing  to  a  Gen- 
eral Council,  now  declined  to  attend  any  such  assembly.  Again  meet- 
ing at  Smalkald,  in  1537,  they  adopted  twenty- three  articles,  drawn 
up  by  Luther,  which  were  to  express  their  sentiments,  and  form  the 
basis  of  a  reunion  with  the  Catholic  Church.  These  propositions, 
unjler  the  name  of  the  Smalkald  Articles,  obtained  a  place  among  the 
Protestant  symbolical  books. 


PliO GUESS  OF  PROTESTANTISM.  543 

126.  Philip,  landgrave  of  Hesse,  a  notorious  debauchee,  who  had 
"been  married  for  sixteen  years,  and  was  the  father  of  eight  children, 
with  his  wife  still  living,  asked  of  Luther  the  permission  to  take  a 
second  wife,  "  that  he  might  live  and  die  with  a  quiet  conscience  and 
enter  into  the  Protestant  cause  in  a  more  free  and  Christian-like  man- 
ner." Lather  and  Melanchton,  dreading  the  loss  of  Philip's  assist- 
ance, granted  the  authorization,  "  in  order,"  as  they  piously  added, 
*'  to  provide  for  the  welfare  of  the  landgrave's  body  and  soul,  and  to 
bring  greater  glory  to  God  !"  Accordingly,  Philip  took  as  a  second 
wife,  Margaret  von  der  Sale,  maid  of  honor  to  his  sister  Elisabeth, 
and  who  subsequently  bore  to  him  six  sons.  The  marriage  ceremony 
was  performed,  in  the  presence  of  Melanchton,  in  March  1540,  by 
Philip's  court  chaplain,  Denis  Melander,  who  had,  himself,  taken  three 
wives. 

127.  Owing  to  the  disturbances  of  the  time  and  the  frequent  and 
prolonged  absence  of  the  emperor  from  the  Empire,  Lutheranism 
spread  rapidly  over  the  States  and  cities  of  Northern  Germany,  being 
in  many  places  established  by  force  of  arms.  In  1532,  it  was  intro- 
duced into  Pomerania,  and  in  1534  into  Wiirtenberg  and  the  princi- 
palities of  Anhalt.  Brandenburg  became  Lutheran  in  1535,  because 
of  the  apostasy  of  Elector  Joachim  II.,  while  Saxony  was  forced  to 
accept  the  new  teaching  by  Henry,  brother  and  successor  of  Duke 
George,  in  1539.  Frederick,  the  Elector  of  the  Palatinate,  joined  the 
Protestants,  in  1545.  In  addition  to  these  countries,  the  cities  of 
Magdeburg,  Halle,  and  Halberstadt,  were  soon  after  severed  from  the 
Church.  Prince  Magus,  bishop  of  Schwerin  in  Mecklenburg,  and  the 
abbess  of  Quedlinburg,  in  Prussia,  also  embraced  Lutheranism  and 
forced  their  subjects  to  follow  their  example. 

128.  Efforts  were  also  made,  but  without  success,  to  introduce 
Lutheranism  into  Bavaria,  the  Tyrol,  and  into  the  city  of  Cologne. 
However,  the  archbishop  of  this  city,  Count  Herman  of  Wied,  em- 
braced the  new  doctrine  and  took  a  "wife;"  but  the  apostate  prelate 
was  vigorously  resisted  by  his  Chapter  and  the  city  council,  and  finally 
forced  to  abdicate.  In  1542,  Nicholas  of  Amsdorf,  a  zealous  "re- 
former," was  forcibly  obtruded  on  the  bishopric  of  Naumburg,  in 
place  of  Julius  of  Pflug,  the  lawfully  elected  bishop.  Luther  assumed 
to  consecrate  Amsdorf  and  profanely  boasted  of  the  uncanonical  man" 
ner  in  which  he  had  performed  that  rite,  as  he  said,  "  without  lard,  or 
tar,  or  grease,  or  incense,  or  coals." 

129.  Owing  to  the  existing  temper  of  the  Protestants,  all  endeav- 
ors of  the  Emperor  to  restore  peace  and  unity  in  Germany,  proved 
unsuccessful.     The  Protestant  Princes  persistently  refused  to  attend 


544  HI8T0RY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  Council  of  Trent,  to  which  they  were  invited  by  both  the  Pope 
and  the  emperor.  The  opening  of  that  assembly  greatly  exasperated 
Luther,  who  once  more  gave  full  vent  to  his  wrath  and  hostility 
against  the  Catholic  Church,  in  his  pamphlet;  "  The  Papacy  an  Insti- 
tution  of  the  DeviV*  It  was  his  last  work.  He  died  at  Eisleben  on 
February  18,  1546,  shortly  after  delivering  a  violent  sermon  against 
the  Jews,  and  after  drinking  and  jesting  with  his  friends  the  night 
before,  on  the  speedy  downfall  of  the  Papacy. 

130.  The  latter  years  of  the  "Reformer"  were  obscured  and  em- 
bittered by  disappointments  and  contradictions  which  came  to  him 
from  every  quarter,  as  well  as  by  grave  doubts  about  the  success  of 
his  work.  The  "  reform"  he  saw  to  be  an  illusion  and  his  religious 
system  to  have  wrought  no  moral  improvement.  "  Since  we  began  to 
preach  our  doctrine,"  he  said  in  a  sermon,  in  1532,  "the  world  has 
grown  daily  worse,  more  impious,  and  more  shameless.  Men  are  now 
beset  by  legions  of  devils,  and  while  enjoying  the  full  light  of  the  Gos- 
pel: (?)  are  more  avaricious,  more  impure  and  repulsive,  than  of  old 
under  the  Papacy.  Peasants,  burghers,  and  noblemen  of  all  degrees, 
the  highest  as  well  as  the  lowest — are  all  alike  slaves  to  avarice,  drun- 
kenness, gluttony,  and  impurity,  and  given  over  to  shameful  excesses 
and  abominable  passions."  After  his  death  nobody  seemed  to  care 
for  his  poor  "  wife  "  and  children.  They  lived  and  died  in  poverty, 
vainly  imploring  support  from  the  "  Reformer's"  admirers. 

131.  As  a  last  means  of  adjusting  religious  difficulties,  the  em- 
peror arranged  theological  conferences  between  the  divines  of  both 
parties,  notwithstanding  their  disapproval  by  the  papal  legate,  who 
expected  nothing  good  from  such  disputations.  The  conference  held 
at  Ratisbon,  in  1541,  ended  in  a  compromise,  known  as  the  Interim  of 
Hatishon,  which  was  but  a  fresh  violation  of  the  rights  of  the  Catho- 
lics. Fortunately  the  compromise  was  not  accepted  by  the  Protestants, 
who  demanded  more  extensive  concessions.  Meanwhile  the  Protest- 
ant Princes  continued  in  their  spoliation  of  churches  and  monasteries 
and  in  forcing  Lutheran  preachers  upon  their  Catholic  subjects. 

132.  These  outrages  and,  particularly,  the  opposition  of  the  Prot- 
estants to  the  settlement  of  the  religious  differences  by  a  General 
Council,  for  which  they  had  clamored  so  long,  at  last  excited  the 
indignation  of  Charles,  who  allying  himself  with  Duke  Maurice  of 
Saxony,  began  war  against  the  Smalkald  Princes,  and  defeated  them 
in  the  battle  of  Miihlberg,  in  154*7.  But  the  plans  of  the  great  em- 
peror were  suddenly  foiled  by  the  treacherous  defection  of  his  ally, 
Maurice  of  Saxony,  who  now  turned  his  arms  against  him.  Being 
unprepared  for  a  new  war,  Charles  concluded,  in  1552,  the  Treaty  of 


ZWINGLIAN  MO  VEMENT.  545 

JPassau,  and,  in  1555,  the  I^eace  of  Augsbtirg,  which  granted  religious 
freedom  to  Catholics  and  Protestants  alike,  and  confirmed  the  latter 
in  their  possession  of  spoliated  church  property.  Disappointed  in  his 
chief  plan  of  restoring  religious  unity  in  Germany,  for  which  he  had 
labored  so  long  and  earnestly,  Charles  V.,  in  the  following  year, 
resigned  his  crown  and  entered  the  Spanish  monastery  of  Yuste, 
where  he  died,  in  1558.  His  brother,  Ferdinand  I.,  succeeded  him  as 
emperor,  and  reigned  from  1556  to  1564. 

n.    THE  REFORMATION  IN  SWITZERLAND. 


SECTION   XIII.       THE    ZWINGLIAN    MOVEMENT. 

Parallel  between  the  Reformation  in  Switzerland  and  that  in  Germany— 
Ulrich  Zwingle — His  Antecedents — Precursory  Symptoms  of  the  Refor- 
mation—Zwingle's  Religious  System— His  Marriage  —  Suppression  of 
Catholic  Worship — Zwlnglian  xUtoleianct; — DiopiAtation  at  Baden — ScoLlCS 
of  Violence  in  Other  Parts— Catholic  Alliance— Religious  War— Battlo  of 
Cappel — Death  of  Zwingle — Sacramentarian  Controversy — Conference 
ot  Marburg. 

133.  Contemporaneous  with  the  religious  revolution  which  Luther 
enkindled  in  Germany,  was  the  movement  which,  through  the  influ- 
ence of  Zwingle,  was  set  on  foot  in  Switzerland.  Zwingle  was  at 
^iirich  what  Luther  was  at  "Wittenberg.  He  was  a  man  of  great 
talents  and  eloquence,  which,  like  Luther,  he  employed  with  lament- 
able success  to  arouse  the  Swiss  people  against  the  ancient  Church, 
and  to  vilify  Catholic  doctrines  and  institutions.  Like  the  Saxon 
*' Reformer,"  Zwingle  had  the  support  of  the  temporal  magistrates, 
and  the  same  characteristic  features  marked  both  revolutions,  with 
this  only  difference,  that  the  Swiss  movement  was  more  radical  and 
thorough.  The  Reformation  in  Switzerland  divides  itself  into  two 
periods:  the  Zwinglian  movement,  from  A.  D.  1516  to  1531,  and  the 

Calvmistic,  from  the  latter  year  to  the  death  of  Calvin,  in  1564. 

134.  Ulrich  Zwingle  was  born  in  1434,  and  ordained  priest  in 
1505.  He  was  first  appointed  parish  priest  at  Glarus;  afterwards,  at 
Einsiedeln;  and,  lastly,  he  became  preacher  in  the  Cathedral  at  Zurich, 
Twice  he  went  to  Rome,  in  1511  and  1515,  accompanying,  as  chaplain, 
the  Swiss  troops  in  the  Italian  wars.  Applying  himself  particularly 
to  biblical  studies,  he  expounded  in  his  sermons  the  various  books  of 
the  Bible,  chapter  by  chapter,  to  the  people.  Zwingle  would  not 
acknowledge  nimself  a  disciple  of  Luther;  he  boasted  +jhat  he  had 
preached  the  true  doctrine  of  Christ,  which  he  had  learned  from  God's 
word,  even  before  Luther,  and  that,  while  the  name  of  the  Saxon 


643  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

"  Reformer  "  was  still  unknown  in  Switzerland,  he  had  "  relied  upon 
the  Bihle^  and  the  Bible  alone.'''' 

136.  Already  in  Einsiedeln,Zwingle  had  given  great  offense  both 
by  his  immoral  conduct  and  his  preaching  against  the  priesthood,, 
invocation  of  the  Saints,  monastic  vows,  and  other  Catholic  institu- 
tions and  practices.  Like  Luther,  he  assailed  the  preaching  of  the 
indulgences  granted  by  Leo  X.,  which  he  caused  to  be  interdicted  by 
tho  bishop  of  Constance.  In  1520,  Zwingle  obtained  a  decree  from 
the  Council  of  Ziirich,  forbidding  anything  to  be  preached  except  what 
could  be  proved  from  Holy  Writ.  Two  years  later  he  presented  a. 
petition,  signed  by  himself  and  several  other  priests,  to  the  bishop, 
requesting  that  the  law  of  clerical  celibacy  be  abolished.  When  the 
bishop  resisted  these  changes,  Zwingle,  severing  his  connection  with 
the  Church,  openly  rejected  the  authority  of  the  Popes  and  Ecumen- 
ical Councils  in  matters  of  faith,  as  tyrannical,  and  stigmatised  the 
celibacy  of  the  clergy  as  an  invention  of  the  devil.  The  paternal 
remonstrances  of  Pope  Hadrian  YI.  failed  to  make  any  impression  on 
the  erring  priest. 

136.  In  1523,  Zwingle  prevailed  on  the  Council  of  Zurich  to  ap- 
point a  religions  conference,  in  which,  also,  the  bishop  of  Constance 
was  invited  to  take  part.  The  theses,  sixty-seven  in  number,  whick 
Zwingle  presented  for  discussion  at  the  conference,  were  substantially 
th'j  sdine  as  those  defended  by  Luther.  The  following  were  his  prin- 
cipal tenets:  —  1.  Holy  Scripture  is  the  one  source  of  faith,  and  man's 
reason  its  only  interpreter. — 2.  Christ  is  the  only  Head  of  the  Church; 
the  power  of  the  Popes  and  Bishops  originated  in  pride  and  usurpa- 
tion.— 3.  Human  free  will  is  totally  annihilated  and  man  wholly  in- 
capable of  doing  good. — 4.  What  is  called  original  sin  is  not  sin  at 
all,  but  an  evil  clinging  to  human  nature;  it  is  a  natural  disposition 
to  sin — a  leaning  and  propensity  to  evil. — 5.  All  actual  sins  are  but 
the  necessary  results,  the  outward  manifestations,  of  the  natural 
inclination  of  man  to  sin. — 6.  This  propensity  to  sin  is  not  inherited 
from  Adam  ;  it  is  innate  in  every  man,  and  implanted  by  God  himse'f  ; 
consequently,  God  is  the  author  of  all  evil  and  of  every  sin. — 7.  The 
Mass  is  no  sacrifice,  and  the  Sacraments  are  only  signs  of  grace  already 
possessed. — 8.  Lastly,  Zwingle  denied  the  power  of  the  Church  to 
forgive  sins,  the  existence  of  Purgatory,  and  the  merit  of  good 
works.  The  Council  of  ZUrich,  favoring  the  "  reformed  doctrines," 
declared  Zwingle  victorious,  notwithstanding  the  latter's  pointed  con- 
futation by  John  Faber,  vicar-general  of  Constance.  A  second  con- 
ference, held  the  same  year,  produced  a  similar  result. 

137.  Encouraged  by  the  Council  of  Zilricli,  Zwingle  now  com- 


ZWINGLIA  N  MO  VEMENT.  547 

pleted  his  separation  from  the  Catholic  Church  by  marrying  Anna 
Reinhard,  a  widow,  with  whom,  for  some  years,  he  had  entertained 
criminal  relations.  His  example  was  followed  by  other  ill-famed 
priests.  At  his  instance,  in  1525,  the  Council  issued  a  decree  abro- 
gating the  Mass  and  endorsing  the  suppression  and  removal  of 
everything  in  churches  that  could  recall  the  Catholic  worship.  The 
churches  were  now  cleared  of  their  images  and  statues  ;  altars  were 
broken  down  and  replaced  by  bare  tables,  and  even  organs  and  bells 
were  demolished,  Zwingle  himself  taking  an  active  part  in  the  work 
of  destruction.  A  simple,  cheerless,  and  almost  ludicrous  mode  of 
worship,  without  singing,  was  introduced,  the  chief  part  of  which 
consisted  in  the  reading  of  the  Bible.  Leo  Juda,  an  associate  of 
Zwingle,  adopted  Luther's  version  of  the  Scripture  for  the  use  of  the 
new  sect. 

138.  The  petition  of  the  Catholics,  asking  for  the  use  of,  at  least, 
one  church,  was  refused ;  later  on,  they  were  even  forbidden  to 
attend  Catholic  service  in  the  neighboring  cantons.  The  Anabaptists 
also  were  made  to  experienc,e  the  intolerance  of  the  Swiss  "Re- 
former." Holding  that  infant  baptism  had  no  sanction  in  Holy  Writ, 
they  came  in  conflict  with  Zwingle.  Failing  to  bring  them  over  to 
his  views,  the  latter  procured  a  decree  which  prohibited  rebaptism, 
under  pain  of  death.  Felix  Manz,  disregarding  the  prohibition,  was 
put  to  death.  Blaurock,  an  apostate  monk,  for  the  same  reason,  was 
subjected  to  a  scourging,  while  a  zealous  co-laborer  of  the  "  Reformer," 
Ludwig  Hetzer,  who  likewise  rejected  infant  baptism  but  advocated 
polygamy,  was  obliged  to  leave  the  town,  yet,  afterwards  returning  to 
Ziirich,  this  worthy  apostle  of  the  "  reformed  doctrines  "  took  twelve 
wives,  for  which  act  he  was  decapitated,  in  1529. 

139,  To  compromise  the  differences  which  in  consequence  of  the  late 
innovations  had  arisen  between  the  Catholic  and  the  "reformed" 
cantons,  a  religious  disputation  was  arranged  to  take  place  at  Baden, 
in  1526,  between  Dr.  Eck,  the  champion  of  the  Catholic  cause 
against  Luther,  and  John  Oecolampadius,  who  was  to  Zwingle  what 
Melanchton  was  to  Luther.  The  disputation  was  attended  by  the  dep- 
uties of  twelve  cantons,  and  continued  during  eighteen  days,  when 
the  victory  was  unanimously  awarded  to  Dr.  Eck.  The  conference, 
which  served  to  confirm  the  Catholics  iu  their  faith,  only  rendered 
the  Zwinglians  more  exasperated. 

140.  With  the  aid  of  the  civil  magistrates,  the  '^reformed  religion" 
was  forcibly  established  also  in  other  cities  and  cantons.  Berne 
for  a  time  wavered  between  the  ancient  faith  and  the  "  new  doctrines;" 
but,  in   1528,  the  Bernese   were  won   over   to  the   new  system,  by 


64S  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Bei-thold  Haller,  a  former  disciple  of  Melanchthon.  Convents  were 
suppressed,  the  Mass  and  the  use  of  images  abolished,  and  marriage 
was  permitted  to  all  the  clergy.  Basle  quickly  followed.  As  early 
as  1524,  Oecolampadius,  then  a  leading  priest  of  Basle,  began  to 
declaim  against  the  teachings  and  usages  of  the  Catholic  Church. 
His  partisans,  raising  seditious  tumults,  succeeded,  first  in  extorting 
religious  freedom  for  themselves,  and,  in  1529,  in  violently  suppress- 
ing Catholic  worship.  Altars  and  images  of  the  saints  were  destroyed, 
and  the  Catholic  members  excluded  from  the  city  council.  Similar 
scenes  of  violence  and  brutality  were '  witnessed  in  Schaffhausen, 
Miihlhausen,  Constance,  St.  Gall,  Appenzell,  and  Glarus.  In  all  these 
places  the  magistrates  decreed  the  suppression  of  Catholic  worship, 
and  the  destruction  of  altars,  organs,  statues,  images,  and  sacred 
emblems  and  vestments. 

141.  Disunion  and  civil  disturbances  were  the  bitter  fruits  of  the 
"Reformation"  in  Switzerland,  as  elsewhere.  In  1529,  the  "re- 
formed" cantons  of  Ziirich,  Basle,  and  Berne  formed  a  league 
against  those  cantons  which  still  adhered  to  the  Catholic  faith.  To 
maintain  their  rights  against  the  fanatical  "  Reformers,"  the  Catholic 
cantons  entered  into  an  alliance  with  Ferdinand  of  Austria,  and  a 
civil  war  between  the  Catholic  and  "reformed  "  parties  was  the  result. 
The  Catholics  routed  the  army  of  the  Zwinglians,  in  the  battle  at 
Cappel,  in  1531.  Zwingle,  who  had  accompanied  the  troops  of  his 
party,  was  among  the  slain.     Oecolampadius  died  the  same  year. 

142.  Between  the  Wittenberg  and  Helvetic  "  Eeformers,"  soon 
arose  a  violent  dispute,  known  as  the  Sacramejitarian  Controversy, 
on  the  subject  of  the  Holy  Eucharist.  Luther  taught  a  real  and 
substantial  presence  of  the  Body  and  Blood  of  Christ  in  Holy  Com- 
munion ;  he  rejected,  however,  the  doctrine  of  Transubstantiation, 
and  instead  adopted  one  of  his  own,  that  of  Consuhstantiation,  or 
Impanation^  according  to  which  the  Body  of  Christ  is  received  in 
communion  with,  or  in  the  bread  [cum  et  in  pane).  Zwingle  and 
Oecolompadius,  on  the  contrary,  adopting  the  opinion  of  Carlstadt, 
rejected  the  Real  Presence,  and  saw  in  the  Holy  Eucharist  but  a  mere 
remembrance  of  Christ,  of  his  sufferings  and  death.  The  words  of 
our  Lord,  "  This  is  my  Body,'''*  they  interpreted  as  meaning  :  "  This 
signifies  my  Body^'*  or  "  Tliis  is  a  symbol,  or  sign,  of  my  Body.'''' 

143.  The  dispute  which  arose  in  consequence  of  these  doctrinal 
differences,  was  not  confined  to  the  pulpit :  treatises  appeared  quite 
as  violent  as  those  published  by  the  Wittenberg  "  Reformer"  against 
the  Catholic  Church.  Luther  delivered  his  adversary  to  the  devil, 
and  Zwingle,   returning  the  compliment,  handed   over  the  apostate 


J 


CALVINISTIC  MOVEMENT.  549 

Augustinian  to  Satan.  The  Zwinglians  ridiculed  Luther's  "  impan- 
ated  God  made  by  a  baker,"  and  called  the  Lutherans  "  Theophagi," 
"devourers  of  God's  flesh."  Luther,  on  the  other  hand,  called  the 
Zwinglians  " Sacramentarians,"  and  "ministers  of  Satan,"  who, 
having  "a  devilish,  diabolical,  and  satanical  heart,  and  a  lying  mouth," 
ought  to  be  exterminated  ;  for  whom  it  was  unlawful  even  to  pray. 

144.  Landgrave  Philip),  desiring  to  effect  a  reconciliation  between 
the  two  leaders  of  the  *' Reformation,"  invited  them  to  meet  in 
friendly  conference,  at  Marburg.  The  conference  was  held  in  October, 
1529  ;  but  instead  of  reconciling  the  two  combatants,  it  only  separated 
them  the  more,  Luther  rejecting  an  alliance  with  the  Zwinglians, 
whom  he  refused  to  call  brethren.^  At  the  Diet  of  Augsburg,  in  1530, 
the  Zwinglians  were  excluded  from  the  Association  of  the  German 
Protestants.  Even  in  the  religious  Peace  of  Niimberg,  in  1532,  it  was 
only  to  the  adherents  of  the  Augsburg  Confession  that  free  exercise 
•of  religion  was  granted. 

SECTIOIf   XIV.      THE    CALVINISTIC    MOVEMENT. 

Victory  of  Cappel — Its  Results — John  Calvin — His  "Institates" — Reforma- 
tion in  Geneva — Distinguishing  Characteristics  of  Calvinism — Calvin's 
Character— His  Intolerance  and  Tyranny— Burning  of  Servetus— Acad- 
emy of  Geneva— Progress  of  Calvinism  in  Other  Countries — Theodore 
Beza — Character  of  Calvinism. 

145.  By  the  victory  of  the  Catholics  at  Cappel,  the  progress  of 
the  Zwinglian  innovations  was  suddenly  arrested  in  the  German 
portions  of  Switzerland.  Peace  was  concluded  which  secured  the 
restoration  of  Catholic  worship,  and  guaranteed  to  every  canton  the 
full  enjoyment  of  religious  freedom.  Catholic  worship  was  restored 
in  Glarus,  Appenzell,  and  in  several  other  places  ;  but  in  Ziirich, 
Berne,  Basle,  and  Schaffhausen,  Catholics  were  persistently  denied 
their  ancient  rights.  Besides,  Catholic  worship  was  abolished,  and, 
in  its  stead,  the  "  reformed  religion  "  established  in  Lausanne,  Yevay, 
and  in  the  districts  which  the  Bernese,  with  the  aid  of  France,  had 
conquered  from  Savoy.  In  the  Western,  or  French  cantons,  particu- 
larly at  Geneva,  William  Farel,  Peter  Viret,  and  others,  prepared  the 
way  for  Calvin,  under  whose  influence  the  "  Reformation  "  in  Switzer- 
land took  a  new  start. 

1.  Luther,  on  this  occasion,  made  the  following- remarkable  acknowledg-ment :  "We 
must  confess  that  in  the  Papacy  are  the  truths  of  salvation,  which  we  have  inherited. 
We  also  acknowledge  that  in  the  Papacy  we  find  the  true  Scripture,  the  true  baptism,  the 
true  Sacrament  of  the  altar,  the  true  keys  for  the  remission  of  sins,  the  true  oflBce  of 
preaching,  the  true  catechism  which  contains  the  Lord's  Prayer,  the  ten  command- 
ments, the  articles  of  faith.  I  say  that  in  the  Papacy  we  find  the  true  Christianity, 
the  true  essence  of  Christianity." 


550  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

146.  John  Calvin  (Chauvin)  was  born  in  1509,  at  Noyon,  in 
Picardy.  Having  received  the  tonsure,  he  was  early  provided  with 
an  ecclesiastical  living,  but  he  was  never  admitted  to  any  of  the 
holy  orders.  He  studied  philosophy  and  theology  at  Paris. 
At  the  request  of  his  father,  he  went  to  study  law  at  Bourges. 
There  the  influence  of  the  Lutheran  Melchior  Volmar  won  him  over 
to  the  heresy  of  the  "Reformers."  In  1533,  he  appeared  at  Paris, 
openly  advocating  the  new  teachings.  Being  obliged  to  leave  France, 
he  fled  to  Basle,  where,  in  1535,  he  published  his  principal  work> 
"  The  Institutes  of  the  Christian  Religion^'*  {Institutio  Heligionis 
Christiance)^  which  he  dedicated  to  the  French  king,  Francis  I.  In 
this  work,  Calvin,  with  much  skill  and  learning,  elaborates  his. 
religious  system,  which  is  based  on  the  stern  theory  of  Predestination. 

147.  At  the  instance  of  Farel,  Calvin,  in  1536,  settled  at  Geneva, 
as  preacher  and  professor  of  theology.  Here  he  exercised  a  controlling 
influence,  even  in  temporal  affairs.  He  compelled  the  people  to 
abjure  the  Papacy,  abolished  all  church  festivals,  and  introduced 
rigid  regulations  of  discipline.  His  arbitrary  and  despotic  measures 
aroused  a  strong  opposition  against  him,  which  resulted  in  his  expul- 
sion from  the  town.  He  went  to  Strasburg,  where  he  married,  and 
organized  a  congregation  which  adopted  his  tenets  and  discipline. 
His  party  at  Geneva,  having  meanwhile  gained  the  ascendency, 
recalled  him,  in  1541,  and  from  this  time  Calvin  ruled  Geneva  with 
supreme  command,  exercising  an  absolute  power  in  temporal  as 
well  as  in  spiritual  matters.  He  established  a  Consistory,  or  tribunal 
of  morals,  composed  of  twelve  laymen  and  six  ministers,  whose  office 
it  was  to  take  cognizance  of  all  infractions  of  morality,  including 
even  dancing  and  similar  amusements.  Imprisonment  and  severe 
penalties  were  often  inflicted  for  slight  offences.  Public  worship  was 
organized  with  extreme  simplicity,  preaching  and  instruction  forming 
the  chief  part  thereof.  Images,  and  all  sorts  of  decorations  were 
excluded  from  the  churches.  The  constitution  of  the  Calvinistic 
sect  was  rigidly  Presbyterian. 

148.  The  distinguishing  characteristic  of  Calvinism  is  the  doctrine 
of  absolute  predestination.  According  to  this  doctrine,  God  ordains 
some  to  everlasting  life,  others  to  everlasting  punishment.  The 
decree  of  predestination,  the  consequence  of  Adam's  fall,  is  eternal 
and  immutable.  The  whole  nature  of  fallen  man  is  utterly  corrupt, 
and  devoid  of  all  goodness;  man  has  an  unconquerable  tendency  to  da 
wrong.  As  man  is  acting  under  divine  impulse  which  is  irresistible, 
it  follows  that  there  can  be  no  question  of  merits  foreseen  on  account 
of  which  God  predestines  some  to  salvation,  others  to  eternal  damna- 


i 


GAL  Vims  TIC  MO  VEMENT.  651 

tion.  With  Luther,  Calvin  taught  justification  by  faith  alone,  which, 
according  to  him,  consisted  not  in  man's  real  sanctification,  but  in  the 
guilt  of  sin  not  being  imputed  to  him.  With  Zwingle,  he  agreed  in 
teaching  that  the  Lord's  Supper  was  a  figure  only,  of  the  Body  and 
Blood  of  Christ.  He  denied  transubstantiation,  but  held  that  at  the 
moment  of  communion,  a  divme  power,  emanating  from  the  Body  of 
Christ,  which  is  now  in  heaven,  is  communicated,  but  only  to  those 
predestined  to  eternal  life. 

149.  Calvin  could  brook  no  contradiction.  His  language  was. 
often  quite  as  vulgar  and  coarse  as  that  of  Luther.  In  his  '•  Insti- 
tutes," he  calls  his  adversaries  "  wicked  men,  rogues,  drunkards, 
slanderers,  fools,  madmen,  furious  beasts,  impure  dogs,  pigs,  asses, 
and  vile  slaves  of  Satan."  The  opposition  party,  who  went  under  the 
name  of  "  Libertines,  or  Patriots,"  charging  him  with  tyrannizing  over 
the  c©nsciences  of  men,  were  made  to  feel  the  full  force  of  his 
dictatorial  power.  Sebastian  Castellio,  a  famous  preacher  and  trans- 
lator of  the  Bible,  and  Bolsec,  a  physician,  were  banished  from 
Geneva,  for  disputing  the  doctrine  of  predestination.  Members  of 
the  Council  were  imprisoned  for  speaking  disrespectfully  of  the 
"Reformer,"  while  the  preacher,  James  Gruet,who  had  called  him  a  dog 
and  the  Consistory  tyrannical,  was  tortured  and  beheaded,  in  1547,  by 
Calvin's  order.  In  1553,  Calvin  had  Michael  Servetus,  a  Spanish 
physician,  burnt  at  Geneva,  over  a  slow  fire,  for  his  work  against  the 
Trinity.^  The  "Libertine,"  Berthilier,  underwent  a  like  punishment. 
Valentine  Gentilis,  who  accused  Calvin  of  heresy  against  the  Trinity, 
was  compelled  to  apologize  publicly  ;  but  was  nevertheless  beheaded 
at  Berne,  in  1566.  Nor  was  this  intolerance  confined  to  the  city  of 
Geneva  ;  the  new  gospel  was  forcibly  introduced  also  among  the 
peasantry,  who  were  compelled  to  listen  to  the  sermons  of  the 
"reformed"  preachers.  Abstinence  on  Friday  and  Saturday  was 
punished  with  imprisonment. 

150.  To  insure  permanency  to  his  system,  Calvin  founded  at 
Geneva  an  academy  of  theology  and  philosophy,  in  1558.  Young^ 
men,  from  all  countries  of  Europe,  flocked  to  this  nursery  and  semi- 

1.  Calvin  justified  the  burning  of  Servetus  in  a  special  work,  and  his  deed  was 
approved  by  Beza,  and  by  Melanehton  in  a  letter  he  wrote  to  him  and  in  a  special 
treatise.  Gibbon  saj's:  "  I  am  more  deeply  scandalized  at  the  single  execution  of  Serve- 
tus than  at  the  hecatombs  (?)  which  have  blazed  in  the  Auto  da  Fes  of  Spain  and  Portugal. 
1.  The  zeal  of  Calvin  seems  to  have  been  envenomed  by  personal  malice  and  perhaps  of. 
envy.  2.  The  deed  of  cruelty  was  not  varnished  by  the  pretence  of  danger  to  the 
Church  or  State.  In  his  passage  through  Geneva,  Servetus  was  a  harmless  stranger, 
who  neither  preached,  nor  printed,  nor  made  proselytes.  3.  A  Catholic  inquisitor  yields 
the  same  obedience  which  he  requires,  but  Calvin  proscribed  in  Servetus  the  guilt  of  his 
own  rebellion."    Decline  and  Fall.    Chap.  liv.    Note. 


553  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

nary  of  the  "reformed  faith."  The  ecclesiastical  organization  of 
Calvin  became  the  model  for  other  Protestant  countries.  It  was 
adopted  by  the  reformed  Churches  of  France,  Holland,  Germany, 
Poland,  England,  and  Scotland.  In  all  these  countries  the  Calvinistio 
principles  prepared  popular  insurrections  against  the  lawfully  consti- 
tuted authorities.  Calvin  openly  preached  armed  resistance  to  princes 
who  opposed  the  introduction  of  his  "gospel,"  and  defended  the 
proposition  that  the  people  might  take  up  arms  and  expel  or 
depose  their  rulers,  if  they  were  bad  or  hostile,  or  threatened  their 
"religion."  Calvin  died  in  1564.  Theodore  Beza,  his  faithful  friend 
and  biographer,  succeeded  him  in  the  government  of  the  "  reformed 
Church." 

151.  A  more  cheerless  and  repulsive  system  than  that  of  Calvin, 
■ecclesiastical  history  does  not  record.  It  outrages  the  principles  of 
natural  as  well  as  revealed  religion.  How  revolting  the  doctrine 
which  calls  God  the  author  of  all  evil  and  makes  him  issue  forth  his 
decrees  of  election  or  reprobation,  irrespective  of  merit  or  demerit, 
inflicting  eternal  torments  on  innumerable  souls  which  never  could  be 
saved,  and  for  whom  the  Son  of  God  did  not  die !  No  system  of 
pretended  religion  could  go  further  in  atrocity  than  this.  It  generated 
in  its  disciples  a  spirit  of  arrogant  self-sufficiency,  which  made  them 
I)elieve  that  all  men,  not  belonging  to  their  sect,  were  the  enemies  of 
God  and  had  God  for  their  enemy,  and  look  upon  them  as  the  neces- 
sary objects  of  the  blind  wrath  of  God,  cast  off  by  him  and  reprobate 
from  all  eternity,  for  whom  "  the  elect "  can  feel  no  more  pity  than 
for  the  arch-fiend  himself.  The  "  Papists,"  in  particular,  were  worse 
than  idolaters,  and  to  root  them  out  was  only  to  render  a  service  to 
God.  Happily,  in  our  titiies,  theserevolting  doctrines  have  been  radi- 
cally modified,  having  long  since  lost  their  hold  on  Protestants  of 
the  better  class. 


DIVORCE  QUESTION.  553 

III.     THE  REFORMATION  IN  ENGLAND. 


SECTION  XV.     HENRY  VIII.   (a.  D.  1509 1547) — THE  DIVORCE  QUESTION. 

Accession  and  Marriage  of  Henry  VIII.— Cardinal  Wolsey — Henry's  contro- 
versial Answer  to  Luther — His  early  married  Life  with  CathariDe  of 
Arragon — Anne  Boleyn — The  King's  Scruples — A  Divorce  demanded  of 
the  Pope— Pliable  Bishops— The  Pope  refuses  to  decree  Nullity  of 
Marriage — Appoints  Legates  to  hear  the  Cause — Appeal  of  the  Queen 
— The  Pope  inhibits  a  New  Marriage— Wolsey's  Disgrace— His  Death 
— Thomas  Cranmer — Opinions  of  the  Universities — Remonstrance  of 
Lords  and  Commons — The  Pope  prohibits  Sentence  of  Divorce — The 
King  separates  from  the  Queen— Death  of  Queen  Catharine. 

152.  England  continued  to  hold  communion  with  the  Roman  See, 
until  the  criminal  passions  of  Henry  YIII.  produced  a  violent  schism 
and  prepared  the  way  for  the  present  Anglican  Establishment.  Henry 
VIII.  was  the  second  son  of  Henry  VII.  His  elder  brother,  Prince 
Arthur  of  Wales,  born  in  1488,  was  married  to  the  Princess  Catharine 
of  Arragon,  daughter  of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella  of  Spain,  in  1501;  he 
died  three  months  afterwards.  Henry  YII.,  desirous  of  maintaining 
the  family  alliance  with  the  House  of  Spain  and,  unwilling  to  restore 
Catharine's  rich  dowry,  looked  forward  to  a  marriage  between  his 
widowed  daughter-in-law  and  his  younger  son  Henry.  Such  a  marriage 
being  within  the  forbidden  degrees,  a  dispensation  was  applied  for, 
and  given  by  Pope  Julius  11.  Dec.  26.  1502.  Yet  the  marriage  was  not 
celebrated  till  six  weeks  after  the  death  of  the  old  king,  in  1509. 

153.  Henry  YIII.'s  chief  adviser  was  Thomas  Wolsey,  who,  by 
his  abilities  and  by  royal  favor  rose  to  the  highest  dignities  in  Church 
and  State.  Born  at  Ipswich,  in  1471,  young  Wolsey  was  educated  at 
Magdalen  College,  Oxford,  where  he  obtained  his  degree  when  hardly 
fifteen.  Wolsey  soon  secured  the  notice  of  Henry  YII.,  who  made  him 
dean  of  Lincoln.  His  advancement,  under  Henry  YHI.,  was  rapid 
and  brilliant.  He  became  almoner  to  the  king,  and  in  quick  succession 
was  promoted  to  the  bishopric  of  Lincoln,  the  archbishopric  of  York, 
and  the  office  of  Lord  Chancellor,  which  dignities  were  crowned,  in 
1515,  by  the  reception  of  a  cardinal's  hat  from  Pope  Leo  X.  and  the 
appointment  to  be  Legatus  a  latere  for  England.  He  was  devoted  to 
the  interest  of  the  king,  more  so  yet,  perhaps,  than  to  those  of  the 
Church,  and  was  bent  upon  exalting  the  royal  authority. 

154.  In  his  earlier  years,  Henry  YIH.  had  been  remarkable  for  his 
attachment  to  the  religion  of  his  forefathers  and  his  zeal  in  upholding 
the  ancient  faith  against  the  new  heretics.     He  took  a  prominent 


554  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

position  against  LiUther,  not  onl}^  by  prohibiting  his  books  within  the 
English  dominions,  but  also  by  entering  the  lists  against  the  German 
Reformer.  In  1521,  he  published  a  Latin  treatise,  entitled  "^  Defence 
of  the  Seven  Sacraments  against  Martin  Luther^''''  which  he  dedicated  to  the 
Pope.  The  book  received  the  highest  approval  of  the  Pontiff,  who 
conferred  upon  its  author  the  title  of  "Defender  of  the  Faith,"  a  title 
which  neither  Henry  nor  his  successors  have  deemed  it  inconsistent  to 
retain  to  the  present  day  !  ^ 

155.  During  more  than  seventeen  years,  Henry  lived  with  his 
queen  without  the  least  sign  of  a  scruple  respecting  the  validity  of 
their  marriage.  While  her  union  with  Arthur  had  never  been  con- 
summated, Catharine  bore  Henry  five  children;  but  they  all  died  in 
their  infancy,  except  one  daughter,  afterwards.  Queen  Mary.  During 
this  period  Henry  proved  anything  but  a  faithful  husband.  An 
illegitimate  son,  Henry  Fitz-Roy,  by  Elizabeth  Blunt,  was  created 
Duke  of  Richmond,  and  educated  as  heir-apparent,  but  he  died  at  the 
age  of  seventeen. 

156.  Among  the  fairest  and  gayest  ladies  of  the  royal  court,  was 
Anne  Boleyn,  who  soon  won  the  heart  of  Henry.  But  as  Anne  was 
resolute  in  her  determination  not  to  be  the  king's  mistress,  although 
she  was  not  unwilling  to  become  his  wife  and  queen,  a  desire  for  a 
divorce  all  at  once  took  possession  of  Henry's  mind.  He  affected 
scruples  respecting  the  validity  and  lawfulness  of  his  marriage,  believ- 
ing that  he  was  living  in  sinful  wedlock,  because  he  was  married  to 
his  brother's  wife,  and  that  Providence  had  cut  off  his  male  progeny 
in  punishment  of  his  sinful  connection.  By  whose  suggestion, the  idea 
of  a  divorce  was  first  presented  to  the  king,  it  is  not  easy  to  determine. 
Some  point  to  the  French  king;  others,  to  Wolsey;  while  Cardinal 
Pole  states  that  Anne  Boleyn  herself  suggested  it,  by  means  of  certain 
friends  at  court. 

157.  From  the  year  1527,  we  find  Henry  pressing  Pope  Clement 
"VII.  to  grant  a  divorce.  He  sought  to  establish  his  case  on  three 
grounds: — 1.  That  the  bull  of  Julius  H.,  granting  the  dispensation,  had 
been  obtained  under  false  pretences; — 2.  That  it  had  been  solicited  with- 
out the  consent  of  Henry,  the  party  chiefly  interested  in  it; — 3.  That  no 
dispensation  could  legalize  marriage  with  a  brother's  widow,  because 

1,  "That  the  treatise  In  defence  of  the  seven  sacraments,  which  the  king  published, 
■was  his  own  composition,  is  forcibly  asserted  by  himself;  that  it  was  planned,  revised, 
and  improved  by  the  superior  judgment  of  the  cardinal  and  the  bishop  of  Kochester 
(Wolsey  and  Fisher),  was  the  opinion  of  the  public"— Lingard.  It  has  been  very  generally 
admitted  that  Fisher,  if  he  was  not  the  author,  had  at  least  a  considerable  hand  in  the 
work.  He  also  published  a  Defence  of  the  king's  treatise  against  Luther's  "Captivity  of 
Babylon." 


DIVORCE  QUESTION.  555 

such  a  union,  from  the  plain  testimony  of  the  Scripture  (Lev.  xviii. 
]6,  and  xx.  21,  and  Marc.  vi.  18.),  was  forbidden  by  the  law  of  God, 
and  consequently  beyond  the  power  of  even  the  Holy  See  to  allow. 
Consulting  only  his  passion,  the  licentious  prince  would  not  notice 
that  the  Baptist  declared  it  unlawful  for  Herod  "  to  have  his  brother's 
i(;i/e,"  only  because  her  husband  was  still  living;  and  that  among  the 
Jews  leviratical  marriage  was  even  commanded  by  the  Law  of  Moses. 

158.  The  English  bishops,  with  one  exception,  were  all  found 
pliant  to  favor  the  scheme  of  the  divorce.  That  one  exception  was 
Bishop  Fisher  of  Rochester,  who  always  expressed  himself  strongly 
against  the  divorce,  maintaining  that  what  had  been  done  by  the  Pope's 
dispensation  could  not  now  be  undone.  Henry's  envoys  at  Rome, 
Dr.  Gardiner  and  Dr.  Fox,  left  no  stone  unturned  to  extort  from  the 
Pope  immediate  consent  to  the  divorce,  or  a  permission  for  the  king  to 
remarry  without  any  divorce  at  all.  But  neither  pleadings,  nor 
promises,  nor  threats,  could  move  Clement  to  grant  Henry's  most  unjust 
request;  neither  would  he  issue  a  decretal  bull  declaring  that  the  pro- 
hibition in  Leviticus  admitted  of  no  exception  or  dispensation. 

159.  The  Pope,  however,  granted  a  dispensation  to  Henry,  in 
case  the  former  marriage  proved  to  be  invalid,  to  marry  any  person, 
even  if  she  were  related  to  him  in  the  first  degree  of  affinity.^  He, 
moreover,  consented  to  have  the  case  tried  in  England,  and  appointed 
Cardinals  Campeggio  and  Wolsey,  his  legates,  to  examine  into  the 
facts  upon  which  Henry  rested  his  application.  Campeggio,  who  held 
the  English  bishopric  of  Salisbury,  had  been  asked  for  as  judge  in  the 
divorce  case,  from  the  belief  that  he  would  favor  the  king's  cause. 
He  bore  special  instructions  from  the  Pope  to  bring  about,  if  possible, 
a  reconciliation  between  Henry  and  the  Queen,  but  under  no  circum- 
stances to  pronounce  sentence  before  consulting  the  Holy  See. 

160.  After  long  delays,  the  two  legates  opened  their  court  in  the 
Parliament  chamber  at  the  Blackfriar's  palace  and  summoned  the 
King  and  the  Queen  to  attend  in  person,  on  June  18,  1529.  But  the 
Queen  disdained  to  plead  before  the  legates,  who  being  English  sub- 
jects, were  looked  upon  as  the  king's  partisans.  Following  the  advice 
of  Bishop  Fisher,  her  counsellor,  Catharine  appealed  to  the  Pope. 
The  Pontiff  having  received  the  formal  appeal  of  the  Queen,  avoked 

1.  "This  dispensation,"  says  Canon  Flanagan  (Vol.  II.  p.  37,  note)  "evidently  refers  to 
AnneBoleyn;  and  as  it  was  to  relax  the  impediment  of  even  the  first  degree  of  afllnity, 
it  points  to  the  known  fact  of  Mary  Boleyn,  Anne's  sister,  having-  been  the  royal  con- 
cubine. What  a  face  of  brass  must  Henry  have  had,  to  pretend  to  have  a  scruple  at  the 
supposition  of  being  within  the  first  degree  of  affinity  to  his  queen  Catharine,  and  yet 
having  none  to  enter  upon  a  marriage  with  Anne  Boleyn,  whom  he  knew  well,  thi-ough 
his  own  sinful  connection  with  her  sister  Mary,  to  be  in  that  very  same  first  degree  of 
aflGinity." 


556  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  cause  before  himself  by  brief  of  July  15,  1529.  This  was  followed 
on  March  7,  1530,  by  an  inhibition,  interdicting  the  English  monarch 
from  marrying  while  the  divorce  case  was  yet  under  adjudication. 

161.  The  Pope's  action  in  thus  remanding  the  case  having  put  an 
end  to  the  trial.  Cardinal  Campeggio  returned  to  Rome,  Henry  now 
became  furious;  his  wrath  fell  at  once  on  Wolsey,  to  whose  indecision, 
chiefly,  Anne  Boleyn  attributed  the  failure  of  the  royal  plans.  Prose- 
cuted in  1529,  under  the  "Statute  of  Prgemunire,"  "Wolsey  was  deprived 
of  the  Great  Seal,  and  all  his  personal  property,  which  was  declared 
forfeited  to  the  Crown;  in  his  place  Sir  Thomas  More  became  Lord 
Chancellor.  The  year  after,  Wolsey  was  again  arrested  on  the  charge 
of  high  treason.  On  his  way  to  London,  the  fallen  minister  died  at 
Leicester,  Nov.  29,  1530,  uttering  a  little  before  his  death  these  remark- 
able words:  "  Had  I  but  served  my  God  as  faithfully  as  I  have  served 
my  king.  He  would  not  have  thus  abandoned  me  in  my  gray  hairs. 
But  this  is  my  just  reward  for  my  pains  and  study,  not  regarding  my 
service  to  God,  but  only  my  duty  to  my  prince." 

162.  To  bring  further  pressure  to  bear  on  the  Pope,  Henry,  by 
the  advice  of  Thomas  Cranmer,  domestic  chaplain  of  the  Boleyn  family, 
had  the  question  of  the  papal  power  to  grant  a  dispensation  for  a 
marriage  with  a  brother's  widow,  submitted  to  the  chief  universities 
of  Europe.  Through  the  influence  of  bribes  and  intrigues,  a  favorable 
reply  was  wrung  from  Oxford  and  Cambridge  and  a  few  French  uni- 
versities, while  those  of  Germany,  including  even  the  Protestant 
faculties,  condemned  the  divorce.^  In  the  place  of  these  opinions, 
which  fell  short  of  his  expectations,  Henry  deemed  it  more  prudent 
to  substitute  a  menacing  remonstrance  to  the  Holy  See,  subscribed  by 
a  large  body  of  Lords  and  Commoners,  in  which  complaint  was  made 
of  the  Pope's  partiality  and  tergiversation.  Clement  replied,  justifying 
himself  as  acting  according  to  law  and  conscience;  and  to  meet  the 
interference  of  the  universities,  the  Pope,  in  1531,  issued  a  brief,  by 
which  he  inhibited  any  person  or  court  from  pronouncing  sentence  of 
divorce  between  Henry  and  his  lawful  Queen,  and  reserved  the  cause 
to  himself. 

163.  About  this  time  the  final  separation  between  Henry  and 
his  Queen  took  place.  Catharine  being  ordered  to  leave  the  royal 
palace,  removed  to  Ampthill,  where  she  spent  the  remainder  of  her 
life.     She  was  no  longer  treated  as  Queen,  but  as  princess-dowager. 

1.  Luther  and  Melanchton  openly  condemned  Henry's  plan  of  divorce.  The  former 
declared  that  he  would  rather  allow  the  king-,  after  the  example  of  the  patriarchs,  two 
wives  than  sanction  the  divorce.  Melanchton  was  of  the  same  opinion,  and  further 
added:  "We  believe  the  law  of  not  marrying  a  brother's  wife  may  be  dispensed  with, 
although  we  do  not  believe  it  to  be  abolished !" 

r 


ROYAL  SUPREMACY.  557 

Henry  did  not  cease  trying  to  procure  from  her  the  resignation  of  her 
rights  as  his  wife  and  Queen  and  the  withdrawal  of  her  appeal  to  the 
Pope.  But  she  remained  firm  in  her  just  contention  that  she  was  the 
king's  wife  by  decree  of  the  Holy  See  and  lawful  marriage,  and, 
until  the  Court  of  Rome  declared  against  her  marriage,  she  would 
maintain  her  rights  as  wife  and  Queen.  She  died  in  1536;  on  her 
death-bed  she  wrote  to  her  "  Dear  Husband  and  King  "  a  touching 
letter,  assuring  him  of  her  forgiveness,  and  commending  to  his  care 
their  daughter  Mary. 

SECTION    XVI.      HENEY    VIII.,    CONTINUED ESTABLISHMENT   OF  ROYAL 

SUPREMACY. 

Henry  wavers,  but  is  confirmed  in  his  Resolution — Thomas  Cromwell — The 
Clergy  in  Praemunire — The  Convocation  of  1531— Acknowledges  the  King 
Head  of  the  Church — Submission  of  the  Clergy — The  Pope  writes  to 
Henry — Appeals  to  Rome  forbidden— Henry  marries  Anne  Boleyn — 
Cranmer  made  Archbishop — He  pronounces  a  Divorce — The  Pope  annuls 
it — Excommunication  of  Henry — Act  of  Supremacy — Statutes  respecting 
the  Church— Separation  of  England  from  the  Catholic  Church. 

164.  AH  expedients  to  obtain  the  much  desired  divorce  had  been 
exhausted.  Henry  saw  that  it  was  impossible  to  overcome  the 
opposition  of  the  Queen  and  of  her  imperial  nephew,  Charles  V.,  and 
that  it  was  equally  vain  to  expect  the  consent  of  the  Pope.  He 
impudently  complained  that  he  had  been  deceived  by  the  false  assur- 
ance that  the  papal  approbation  might  be  easily  obtained!  He  began 
to  waver,  and  thought  of  abandoning  the  project  of  divorce  altogether, 
when  the  crafty  Cromwell  induced  him  to  persist.  This  bold  and 
unscrupulous  advice  gave  a  new  turn  to  events,  which  led  the  way  to 
the  entire  separation  of  England  from  the  See  of  Rome. 

165.  Thomas  Cromioell^  born  of  obscure  parentage,  served  in  his 
early  youth  as  a  common  soldier  in  the  wars  of  Italy.  Returning  to 
England,  he  studied  law  and  entered  the  service  of  Wolsey,  who 
employed  him  as  his  agent  in  suppressing  the  smaller  monasteries  for 
the  endowment  of  various  colleges  which  the  Cardinal  had  founded. 
In  this  occupation  Cromwell  was  unscrupulous  and  became  very 
unpopular.  On  the  fall  of  Wolsey,  he  passed  over  to  the  service  of 
the  king.  In  a  private  interview  with  Henry,  Cromwell  advised  him 
to  disavow  the  papal  authority,  declare  himself  head  of  the  Church 
within  his  realm,  and  obtain  a  divorce  from  his  own  ecclesiastical 
courts!  The  advice  struck  Henry;  he  made  the  artful  man  a  member 
of  the  Privy  Council,  and  soon  afterwards  a  Secretary  of  State. 

166.  To  secure  the  submission  of  the  clergy  to  the  scheme  contrived 


558  HISTOBY  OF  THE   CHURCH. 

by  Cromwell,  Henry  threatened  them  with  the  penalties  of  Praemunire. 
A  year  had  passed  since  Wolsey,  through  pusillanimity  or  motives  of 
prudence,  had,  notwithstanding  the  royal  license  under  the  great  seal, 
pleaded  guilty  of  a  breach  of  that  monstrous  statute.  On  the  ground 
of  his  conviction,  the  whole  clergy  were  brought  under  the  same  law, 
because,  by  admitting  Wolsey's  legatine  authority,  they  had  become 
his  "fautors  and  abettors,"  and  were  consequently  liable  to  the  same 
penalties. 

167.  Henry,  at  the  suggestion  of  Cromwell,  determined  to  use  the 
opportunity  for  the  purpose  of  exacting  from  the  clergy  a  definite 
declaration  of  the  royal  supremacy.  In  1531,  the  Convocation  was 
held,  and  its  members  were  told  that  pardon  for  their  offence  could 
be  purchased  only  by  the  payment  of  a  heavy  fine  and  by  the  acknowl- 
edgment of  the  King  as  "  the  chief  protector  and  only  supreme  head 
of  the  clergy  and  Church  of  England."  To  the  first  demand,  the 
assembled  prelates  consented  at  once,  promising  to  pay  a  hundred 
thousand  pounds  (in  modern  money  about  one  million  and  a  half ) ; 
against  the  second  they  struggled  hard,  but  finally  assented  to  a 
qualified  recognition  of  the  royal  supremacy  "as  far  as  the  law  of 
Christ  would  allow  "  (quantum  per  Christi  legem  licet). 

168.  Thus  the  Convocation  officially  recognised  the  supremacy  of 
the  Crown  over  all  persons,  ecclesiastical  as  well  as  secular.  This 
incidental  declaration  of  the  royal  supremacy  was  followed  in  the 
succeeding  year  by  its  more  positive  acknowledgment,  which  is 
generally  known  as  "  the  Submission  of  the  Clergy."  By  it,  the 
Convocation  agreed: — 1.  That  no  new  canons  or  constitutions  should 
be  passed  or  enacted  without  the  king's  sanction; — 2.  That  a  review 
of  the  existing  canons  should  be  made  by  a  Commission  of  thirty-two 
persons,  to  be  appointed  by  the  king,  and  that  all  constitutions  inter- 
fering with  the  royal  prerogative  should  be  repealed.  In  1534,  this 
submission  was  embodied  in  an  act  of  Parliament,  called  the  "  Statute 
of  Submission.'*'* 

169.  When  the  tidings  reached  the  Pope  that  Catharine  was 
banished  from  court  and  that  Anne  Boleyn  occupied  her  place,  he 
wrote  to  the  king,  attempting  to  awaken  in  him  some  sense  of  justice 
and  feelings  of  penitence.  In  November  1532,  Clement  signed  a  brief, 
declaring  Henry  excommunicated  if  he  did  not  separate  from  his 
mistress,  and  forbidding  marriage  with  her  till  the  case  was  tried. 
But  the  time  was  past  when  Henry  sought  conciliation;  he  now 
resorted  to  intimidation.  At  his  bidding,  Parliament,  in  1533,  forbade 
all  appeals  to  the  papal  court,  and,  on  a  petition  of  the  clergy  in 
convention,  granted  power  to  the   king  to  suspend  the  payment  of 

r 


1 


) 


BOYAL  SUPREMACY.  559 

annates,  or  first-fruits,  to  the  Holy  See.  The  Convocation  even 
prayed  that,  in  case  the  Pope  should  persist  in  requiring  such  payments, 
the  obedience  of  England  should  be  withdrawn  from  the  See  of  Rome. 

ITO.  Henry  had  gone  too  far  to  retrace  his  steps.  On  January  25, 
1533,  he  was  privately  married  to  Anne  Boleyn,  who  was  found  to  be 
with  child.  The  ceremony  was  performed  by  Dr.  Rowland  Lee,  one 
of  the  royal  chaplains.  The  marriage,  however,  was  carefully  kept 
secret,  in  order  not  to  intercept  the  papal  confirmation  for  the  appoint- 
ment of  Cranmer  to  the  See  of  Canterbury,  which  had  become  vacant 
by  the  death  of  Archbishop  Warham,  in  1 532,  Clement  YII.  confirmed 
Cranmer's  nomination  and  his  consecration  took  place  in  March  1533. 
Cranmer  accepted  the  office  of  Archbishop,  and  by  his  proctor  at  Rome 
swore  obedience  to  the  Pope,  and  made  a  solemn  profession  of  the  Cath- 
olic faith,  which  pledges  he  gave  personally  again  at  his  consecration. 
Yet,  before  receiving  that  solemn  rite,  the  deceitful  prelate  in  the 
presence  of  witnesses  swore,  that  by  the  oath  of  obedience  to  the 
Pope,  which,for  the  sake  of  form  he  was  to  take,  he  did  not  intend  to 
bind  himself  to  anything  contrary  to  the  law  of  God,  or  prejudicial 
to  the  rights  and  prerogatives  of  the  king,  or  prohibitory  of  such 
reforms  as  he  might  deem  useful  to  the  Church  of  England! 

171.  Cranmer  suited,in  every  respect,  the  wishes  of  the  king.  He 
bad  shown  his  zeal  for  the  royal  cause  in  writing  a  book  in  favor  of 
the  "  Divorce."  While  in  Germany,  he  was  infected  with  the  teaching 
of  Luther,  and,  though  a  priest,  was  secretly  married  to  the  daughter 
of  Osiander,  a  prominent  "  Reformer," — a  marriage,  which  he  ever 
took  great  pains  to  conceal.  The  first  act  of  the  new  primate  was  the 
divorce  of  Henry  from  his  lawful  Queen.  He  at  once  laid  the  question 
of  the  king's  marriage  before  the  Convocation,  which  voted,  that, 
marriage  with  a  brother's  widow  being  contrary  to  the  law  of  God, 
the  dispensation  of  Pope  Julius  II.  had  been  beyond  the  papal  power, 
and  the  marriage  which  it  authorized  was  void.  Despite  the  prohib- 
itory brief  of  the  Pope,  Cranmer,  in  May  1533,  pronounced  his  decision, 
declaring  that  the  marriage  with  Catharine  was  void  and  the  union  with 
Anne  Boleyn  a  lawful  wedlock.  The  new  Queen  was  shortly  after 
crowned  by  him  with  great  pomp.  On  Sept.  7,  she  gave  birth  to  a 
daughter,  Elizabeth. 

172.  When  the  report  of  Cranmer's  proceedings  reached  Ropie, 
Pope  Clement,  by  brief  of  July  12th,  promptly  annulled  the  presump- 
tuous judgment,  and  declared  that  Henry  and  Anne  had  incurred 
excommunication.  To  forestall  the  papal  sentence,  the  king  and  his 
primate  had  appealed  to  a  General  Council.  In  the  spring  of  the 
following  year,  the  Pope  published  his  long-delayed  decision,  which 


660  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

asserted  the  lawfulness  of  Catharine's  marriage,  condemned  the  pro- 
ceedings against  the  Queen  of  injustice,  and  commanded  Henry  ta 
restore  her  to  her  rights.  Yet,  not  to  imperil  the  condition  of  the 
English  Catholics,  Clement  refrained  from  further  measures.  But  his 
successor,  Paul  III.,  on  Aug.  30.  1535,  signed  a  bull  formally  declaring 
Henry  excommunicated,  his  children,  by  Anne,  illegitimate  and  incap- 
able of  inheriting  the  Crown,  and  the  king's  subjects  free  from  their 
oath  of  allegiance  and  fidelity.  The  papal  sentence,  however,  was 
not  published  till  December  1538. 

173.  The  annulment  of  Henry's  adulterous  union  with  Anne 
Boleyn  by  the  papal  court,  was  the  signal  for  more  decisive  measures 
against  the  See  of  Rome.  The  king  and  Parliament  united  to  complete 
the  national  schism.  A  series  of  acts  were  passed,  in  1534,  abolishing- 
papal  jurisdiction  in  the  realm, and  making  the  king  "  Supreme  Head 
of  the  English  Church.'*^  By  the  "  Act  of  Supremacy  "^  authority  in 
all  matters  ecclesiastical  was  vested  solely  in  the  Crown,  and  by  the 
"  Oath  of  Supremacy,'''*  enforced  by  the  same  act,  all  officers,  civil  and 
ecclesiastical,  were  required  to  recognise  the  spiritual  supremacy  of 
the  king,  and  abjure  that  of  the  Pope;  those  refusing  to  take  the  oath 
were  adjudged  guilty  of  high  treason. 

1Y4.  By  another  act,  the  election  of  bishops  was  indeed  conceded 
to  the  chapters,  but  they  were,  with  bitter  irony,  commanded,  on  pain 
of  Praemunire,  always  to  choose  the  person  named  by  the  king  in  his 
letters  missive.  The  archbishop  of  Canterbury  was  empowered  to 
grant  dispensations  hitherto  reserved  to  the  Pope,  and  to  receive 
appeals;  from  the  archbishop's  tribunal,  suitors  were  allowed  to  appeal 
to  the  royal  chancery.  The  Pope's  name  was  no  longer  heard  in  the 
land;  it  was  erased  from  all  church  books.  The  clergy  were  commanded 
to  preach  the  new  doctrine  of  "royal  supremacy"  to  the  people,  and  the 
schoolmasters  to  teach  the  same  to  their  pupils.  It  is  a  sadly  amazing 
fact  that  the  English  bishops,  with  the  one  exception  already  named, 
were  found  so  pliable  as  to  endorse  these  innovations  by  declaring,  in 
1534,  that  "the  Bishop  of  Rome  had  no  more  authority  conferred  on 
him  by  God  in  this  Kingdom  of  England  than  any  other  foreign  bishop." 

1.  The  "Statute  of  Supremacy"  ordered  that  the  king-  "shall  be  taken,  accepted,  and 
reputed  the  only  head  on  earth  of  the  Church  of  England,  and  shall  have  and  enjoy 
annexed  and  united  to  the  imperial  crown  of  his  realm  as  well  the  title  and  state  thereof 
as  all  the  honors,  jurisdictions,  authorities,  immunities,  profits,  and  commodities  to  the 
said  dignity  belonging,  with  full  power  to  visit,  repress,  redress,  reform  and  amend  all 
such  errors,  heresies,  abuses,  contempts  and  enormities,  which  by  any  manner  of 
spiritual  authority  or  jurisdiction  might  or  may  lawfully  be  reformed."— To  solace  the 
English  monarch  for  the  burden  of  his  new  dignity,  he  was  assigned  the  flrst-f ruits  of  ah 
benefices,  offices,  and  spiritual  dignities,  and  the  tenth  of  annual  incomes  of  all  livings. 


n 


VICTIMS  OF  ROYAL  SUPREMACY.  581 

SECTION     XVII.       VICTIMS    OF   EOYAL    SUPEEMACY ENFORCED    DISSOLU- 
TION OF  MONASTERIES. 

Henry,  Head  of  the  English  Church— Cromwell,  Vicar  General— Enslave- 
ment of  the  Episcopate — Dissolution  of  Monasteries — The  Pilgrimage  of 
Grace— Suppression  of  the  Greater  Monasteries— Act  of  Succession- 
Execution  of  Fisher  and  More— Cardinal  Pole— Execution  of  Pole's 
Mother — Arrest  and  Execution  of  Anne  Boleyn— Execution  of  Crom- 
well— Efforts  of  the  German  Reformers — The  Book  of  Articles— The 
Statute  of  Six  Articles — The  "  Institution  of  a  Christian  Man" — Execu- 
tions of  Heretics — Death  of  Henry  VHI — Number  of  Catholic  Martyrs 
under  his  reign— Desire  for  Reunion  with  the  Roman  Church. 

175.  Henry  soon  made  it  appear  that  the  novel  position  assigned 
him  by  his  fawning  courtiers  really  meant  something.  He  formally 
took  the  title  of  "on  earth,  supreme  ruler  of  the  English  Church," 
and  appointed  Cromwell  "the  royal  vicar-general,  vice-gerent,  and 
principal  commissary,  with  all  the  spiritual  authority  belonging  to  the 
king  as  head  of  the  Church."  To  extort  from  the  clergy  a  practical 
acknowledgment  of  the  royal  supremacy,  all  the  dignitaries  of  the 
Church  were  suspended  for  a  time;  on  their  recognizing  the  king's 
{Spiritual  authority,  they  were  restored  to  the  exercise  of  their  usual 
powers.  To  repress  opposition  against  these  and  other  intended 
innovations,  it  was  made  high  treason  not  only  to  deny  to  the  king 
the  dignity,  title,  or  name,  of  his  royal  estate,  but  also  to  call  him 
heretic,  tyrant,  or  infidel. 

176.  A  second  step  in  the  way  of  reform  followed  hard  on  the 
enslavement  of  the  episcopate.  The  bold  stand  which  the  Carthu- 
sians and  other  religious  had  made  against  the  royal  assumption  of 
spiritual  authority,  was  not  to  be  forgiven.  Irritated  by  their  oppo- 
sition and  tempted  by  their  wealth,  Henry  resolved  on  the  ruin  of  all 
monasteries  within  his  dominions.  With  this  view,  a  general  visita- 
tion of  the  monasteries  was  enjoined  by  the  "  head  of  the  church," 
which  work,  the  "royal  vicar-general"  accomplished  in  a  manner  worthy 
of  a  grasping  tyrant.  The  effect  of  this  visitation  was  the  immediate 
breaking  up  of  many  monasteries  and  the  passage  of  a  bill,  in  1536, 
for  the  suppression  of  the  smaller  monastic  houses  whose  income  fell 
below  two  hundred  pounds  a  year.  Of  the  thousand  monasteries 
which  then  existed  in  England,  nearly  four  hundred  were  suppressed 
under  this  first  "  Act  of  Dissolution;"  their  revenues  were  granted  to 
the  Crown. 

177.  These  spoliations,  but  particularly  the  religious  innovations 
introduced  by  Henry,  created  great  popular  discontent,  which  ripened 
into  an  open  revolt,  in  1537.     The  Pilgrimage  of  Grace,  as  the  rising 

9 


683  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

was  called,  headed  by  Robert  Aske,  was  joined  by  most  cf  the 
nobility  of  Yorkshire  and  Lincolnshire;  30,000  men  appeared  in 
arms,  demanding  a  reunion  with  Rome,  the  restoration  to  Princess 
Mary  of  her  right  of  succession,  to  the  despoiled  monks  the  posses- 
sion of  their  monasteries,  reparation  of  the  wrongs  done  to  thy 
Church,  and  above  all,  the  expulsion  of  Henry's  chief  counsellors, 
Cromwell  and  Cranmer.  The  king's  promises  and  concessions 
induced  the  insurgents  to  disband.  Instead,  however,  of  keeping  hisv 
pledged  word,  the  faithless  prince  had  the  leaders  of  the  movement 
arrested  and  put  to  death.  The  country  was  covered  with  gibbets 
and  whole  districts  were  given  up  to  military  executions.  A  heavy 
vengeance  fell  particularly  on  the  clergy  and  monks  who  had  in  any 
way  compromised  themselves  in  the  uprising.  Twelve  abbots  were 
of  the  number  of  those  brought  to  the  scaffold. 

178.  The  "Pilgrimage  of  Grace"  was  made  a  pretext  for  the 
suppression  of  the  remaining  monasteries.  They  were  charged  with 
duplicity  in  the  late  armed  remonstrance.  The  new  visitation 
appointed  for  all  the  monasteries  of  the  kingdom  was  carried  out 
with  great  barbarity.  Many  monuments  of  art  were  destroyed, 
valuable  manuscripts  and  whole  libraries  scattered  to  the  winds.  The 
shrine  of  St.  Augustine,  the  Apostle  of  England,  and  that  of  St. 
Thomas  k  Becket,  which  had  been  the  glory  of  the  English  nation, 
were  ransacked  and  despoiled.  The  bones  of  the  latter,  by  order  of 
the  king,  were  exhumed  and  publicly  burned,  as  a  warning  to  the 
living  of  the  consequences  of  resisting  the  king's  spiritual  authority. 
In  1540,  a  second  "  Act  of  Dissolution"  was  passed,  authorizing  the 
suppression  of  all  monasteries  in  England  and  placing  all  their  prop- 
erty in  the  hands  of  the  king.  In  1542,  an  act  was  passed  giving 
over  to  the  king  the  revenues  of  colleges  and  hospitals.  By  this  act, 
90  colleges,  110  hospitals,  and  2,3*74  chantries  and  free-chapels  were 
suppressed.  It  is  supposed  that  the  annual  value  of  the  monasteries 
and  hospitals  of  which  the  king  took  possession  was  about  two  mil- 
lions four  hundred  thousand  pounds  in  modern  money.  The  suppres- 
sion of  the  monasteries  failed,  however,  to  benefit  the  nation  or  to 
lighten  the  burden  of  the  people,  as  had  been  promised.  Its  most 
conspicuous  results  were  the  increase  of  pauperism  and  the  decay  of 
learning.* 

1.  "The  suppression  of  monasteries  poured  in  an  Instant  such  a  torrent  of  wealth 
upon  the  crown  as  has  seldom  been  equalled  In  any  country  by  the  confiscations  follow- 
ing- a  subdued  rebellion.  The  clear  yearly  value  was  rated  at  £  181,607;  but  was  in  reality, 
if  we  believe  Burnet,  ten  times  as  great;  the  courtiers  undervaluing  those  estates  in 
order  to  obtain  grants  or  sales  of  them  more  easely.  The  greater  part  was  dissipated  in 
profuse  grants  to  the  courtiers,  who  frequently  contrived  to  veil  their  acquisitions  under 


i 


VICTIMS  OF  ROYAL  SUPREMACY,  563 

179.  With  unheard  of  cruelty,  Henry  persecuted  all  who  op- 
posed his  innovations.  He  stained  his  reign  with  the  blood  of  many, 
often  noble,  victims.  The  "  Act  of  Supremacy,"  as  already  stated, 
strongly  intrenched  the  king  in  all  his  usurpations.  The  "  Act  of 
Succession,"  passed  in  1534,  pronounced  the  i^arriage  with  Catharine 
illegal  and  null,  and  that  with  Anne  Boleyn  lawful  and  valid.  The 
same  act  annulled  the  title  of  Catharine's  daughter,  Mary,  and  settled 
the  Crown  on  the  children  of  Anne.  To  speak  against  the  second 
marriage  was  made  misprision  of  treason.  The  "Oath  of  Succession," 
which  every  Englishman  was  compelled  to  take  under  penalty  of  high 
treason,  was  made  the  test  of  loyalty. 

180.  Under  these  acts,  England's  two  best  men.  Bishop  Fisher 
of  Rochester,  the  preceptor  of  Henry  YIII.,  and  Sir  Thomas  More 
who  had  lately  resigned  the  chancellorship,  were  condemned,  in  1535, 
to  die  as  traitors,  because  of  their  disapproval  of  the  king's  divorce 
and  their  opposition  to  the  royal  supremacy.  While  a  prisoner  in  the 
Tower,  Fisher  was  created  Cardinal  by  Paul  III.,  but  the  king  re- 
fused to  allow  the  emblem  of  this  dignity  for  the  glorious  confessor 
to  be  brought  into  his  dominions.  The  ruthless  monarch  took  a  spite- 
ful revenge  on  his  kinsman,  Cardinal  Reginald  Pole.  Rather  than 
acquiesce  in  the  religious  changes,  Pole  gave  up  all  prospects  of  the 
highest  ecclesiastical  preferments  and  retired  to  the  continent.  He 
even  arraigned  Henry  for  his  second  marriage  and  wrote  a  book  on 
the  "  Unity  of  the  Church^''  condemning  royal  supremacy.  Failing 
to  procure  the  extradition  of  the  fearless  champion  of  right,  for  which 
he  had  offered  fifty  thousand  ducates,  the  tyrant  had  the  cardinal's 
mother,  the  venerable  Countess  of  Salisbury,  his  two  brothers,  and 
other  relations,  arrested  and  brought  to  the  block,  in  1539. 

181.  Henry  VIII.  was  as  brutal  to  his  wives  as  he  was  cruel  to 
his  dissenting  subjects.  But  a  few  months  after  the  edifying  death 
of  Queen  Catharine,  her  supplanter,  Anne  Boleyn,  was  suddenly 
charged  with  adultery  and  sent  to  the  tower.  The  servile  Cranmer, 
ever  ready  to  lend  himself  to  every  caprice  of  the  heartless  monarch, 
declared  null,  from  the  beginning,  the  marriage  of  Henry  with  Anne 
which  he  himself  had  sanctioned.  A  few  days  later,  the  unfortunate 
queen  was  condemned  and  executed.  Henry  is  said  to  have  wept  at 
the  death  of  Catherine;  but  as  if  to  show  his  contempt  for  the  mem- 
ory of  Anne,  the  heartless  prince  arrayed  himself  in  white  on  the 

cover  of  a  purchase  from  the  crown.  It  has  been  surmised  that  Cromwell,  in  his  desire 
to  promote  the  Reformation,  advised  the  king  to  make  this  partition  of  abbey  lands  to 
the  nobles  and  g-entry,  either  by  grant,  or  by  sale  on  easy  terms,  that,  being  thus  bound 
by  the  sureties  of  private  interest,  they  might  always  oppose  any  return  to  the  dominion 
of  Rome."    Jlallam.  Constit.  History.  Ch.  II. 


564  BISTORT  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

day  of  her  execution,  and  on  the  following  morning  was  married  to 
the  Lady  Jane  Seymour,  with  whom  he  already  had  an  intrigue  of 
some  duration.  In  1537,  this  queen  died  in  giving  birth  to  a  boy, 
the  future  Edward  YI. 

182.  By  the  advice  of  Cromwell,  Henry  now  agreed  to  marry  the 
Lutheran  Princess  Anne  of  Cleves.  But  the  licentious  monarch  was 
disappointed  in  his  new  wife  and  sought  to  rid  himself  of  her.  This 
unsuccessful  marriage  hastened  the  downfall  of  Cromwell.  He  was 
arrested  and  condemned  by  "Bill  of  Attainder;"^  he  perished  on  the 
scaifold,  lamenting  his  sins  and  declaring  that  he  died  a  Catholic, 
A.  D.  1 540.  His  execution  was  quickly  followed  by  the  divorce  of 
Henry's  fourth  queen.  Cranmer,  who  dissolved  the  king's  marriage 
with  Catharine  and  the  adulterous  match  with  Anne  Boleyn,  was  now 
called  upon  to  divorce  Henry  from  Anne  of  Cleves.  "Within  a  month, 
Henry  married  Catharine  Howard,  who  was  shortly  after  arrested  on 
a  charge  of  adultery  and  beheaded.  She  was  replaced  by  a  widow, 
Catharine  Parr,  who,  fortunately,  outlived  the  royal  monster. 

183.  So  far  Henry's  innovations  had  not  extended  to  dogma  ;  he 
had  not  affirmed  any  proposition  then  contrary  to  the  defined  teach- 
ings of  the  Catholic  Church.  He  was  only  a  schismatic,  or  separatist, 
inasmuch  as  his  difference  with  Rome  was  confined  to  the  rejection 
of  papal  jurisdiction  and  supremacy.  The  efforts  of  the  German  Re- 
formers to  win  the  English  monarch  to  embrace  their  cause  and  teach- 
ings were  unavailing.  The  attempt  to  unite  the  Lutherans  in  one 
common  doctrine  with  the  Church  of  England,  failed  so  soon  as  the 
Sacraments  came  under  consideration,  and  a  union  with  the  continen- 
tal Protestants  proved  to  be  hopeless. 

184.  With  a  view  of  putting  an  end  to  the  religious  contentions, 
Henry  VHL,  in  1536,  published  the  ^^Booh  of  Artides,^^  sls  a  standard  of 
English  orthodoxy!  This  work  professed  the  belief  of  the  seven 
Sacraments,  Justification,  Invocation  of  the  Saints,  Purgatory,  and  the 
usefulness  of  Images,  but  strongly  inculcated  royal  supremacy  and 
passive  obedience  to  the  king.     This  was  shortly  followed  by  "  The 

1.  "A  Bill  of  Attainder"  was  a  legislative  act.  which  declared  a  person  or  persons 
attainted  or  convicted  for  alleged  crimes  with  judgment  of  death.  The  hearing  of 
evidence  might  be  dispensed  with  in  such  a  mode  of  procedure;  even  the  presence  of 
the  accused  was  considered  unnecessary.  The  judges  whom  Cromwell  consulted  on 
the  subject,  decided  that  Parliament  could  condemn  a  man  to  die  for  treason  without 
hearing  him,  and  that  an  attainder  could  never  be  reversed  in  a  court  of  law,  on  the 
ground  that  there  can  be  no  authority  superior  to  statute.  The  kinsmen  of  Cardinal 
i'ole,  Including  his  aged  mother,  were  thus  cut  off  by  Bill  of  Attainder.  By  a  just  retri- 
bution of  Providence,  Cromwell  himself  was  made  to  feel  the  iniquitous  measure,  which 
ho  first  employed  against  others.  When  under  trial,  he  was  not  allowed  to  speak  in  his 
own  defence. 


VICTIMS  OF  ROYAL  SUPREMACY.  565 

Godly  and  Tious  Institution  of  a  Christian  Man,^^  commonly  known  as 
"TTie  Bishop^s  Book,^^  which  was  but  an  expansion  and  explanation  of 
the  "Articles."  It  consists  of  an  Exposition  of  the  Creed,  the  seven 
Sacraments,  the  Ten  Commandments,  the  Lord's  Prayer,  and  the 
Ave  Maria.^ 

185.  Free  discussion  of  dogmatic  questions  was  not  according  to 
Henry  VIII.'s  views.  To  abolish  diversion  of  opinions  in  certain 
articles  concerning  the  Christian  Religion,  Henry,  in  1539,  caused 
Parliament  to  enact  the  Statute  of  Six  Articles^  more  commonly  known 
as  the  "Bloody  Statute,"  also  as  the  "whip  with  six  strings."  These 
articles  affirmed  Transubstantiation,  the  reception  of  Holy  Communion 
under  one  kind,  Clerical  Celibacy,  the  observance  of  Yows,  private 
Masses,  and  Auricular  Confession.  By  a  statute  of  ]533,  offences 
against  the  See  of  Rome  were  declared  not  to  be  heresy.  The  Bill  of 
the  Six  Articles  specified  what  opinions  were  heretical,  and  any 
infringement,  or  violation,  of  this  statute  was  severely  punished  with 
forfeitures  and  death.^  Henry's  last  attempt  to  define  a  creed  for  his 
subjects  was  the  publication,  in  1543,  of  the  ^^ Necessary  Doctrine  and 
Erudilimi  for  any  Christened  Manf'^  commonly  known  as  the  ^'King^s 
Booh.^^     It  was  an  enlarged  and  amended  edition  of  the  "Institution." 

186.  It  is  nof  the  province  of  a  compendium  of  history  to  men- 
tion all  the  barbarous  executions  which  disgraced  the  reign  of  the 
tyrannical  Henry  VIII.  Persecutions  raged  against  Catholics  and 
Lutherans  alike.  The  former  were  hanged  and  quartered  as  traitors, 
the  latter  burned  as  heretics.  An  individual,  named  Lambert,  was 
tried  by  the  king  in  person,  and  condemned  to  be  burned,  for  deny- 
ing the  real  presence.  Twenty-six  executions  for  heresy  occurred 
between  1533  and  1546.  In  1535,  twenty-five  German  Anabaptists 
were  tried,  of  whom  fourteen  were  condemned  to  be  burned.  The 
unscrupulous  Cranmer,  under  whose  direction  these  trials  were  con- 
ducted, did  not  hesitate  to  condemn  others  to  the  stake  for  the  denial 
of  opinions  which  he  himself  afterwards  rejected,  when  he  had 
nothing  more  to  fear. 

1.  "The  Institution,"  Dr.  Ling-ard  says,  "is  chieflj'  remarkable  for  the  earnestness 
with  which  It  refuses  salvation  to  all  persons  out  of  the  pale  of  the  Catholic  Church,  yet 
denies  the  supremacy  of  the  Pontiff  and  inculcates  passive  obedience  to  the  king-.  It 
teaches  that  no  cause  whatever  can  authorize  the  subject  to  draw  the  sword  ag-ainst  his 
prince;  that  sovereigns  ax*e  accountable  to  God  alone;  and  that  the  only  remedy  ag-ainst 
oppression  is  to  pray  that  God  would  changre  the  heart  of  the  despot,  and  induce  him  to 
make  a  rig-ht  use  of  his  power." 

2.  Cranmer  with  other  bishops  at  first  offered  much  opposition  to  the  enactment 
which  enforced  clerical  celibacy,  but,  finally,  in  deference  to  the  king-,  voted  for  it.  To 
avoid  the  consequences  of  the  Statute,  he  despatched  in  haste  his  children,  with  their 
mother,  to  ber  friends  in  Germany. 


566  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

187.  Henry  YIII.  died  in  1547,  leaving  his  kingdom  a  moral  and 
financial  wreck.  The  last  eighteen  years  of  his  reign  were  one  con- 
tinued source  of  rapine,  oppression,  and  bloodshed.  During  those 
years  the  tyrant  sent  to  the  scaffold  a  countless  number  of  the  nobility, 
clergy,  country  gentry,  and  many  persons  of  other  classes.  He 
ordered  the  execution  of  two  queens,  two  cardinals,  two  archbishops, 
eighteen  bishops,  thirteen  abbots,  five  hundred  friars  and  monks, 
thirty-eight  doctors  of  divinity  and  law,  one  hundred  and  ten  ladies, 
besides  a  great  number  of  gentlemen  and  commoners. 

188.  A  near  contemporary,  Nicholas  Sanders,  in  his  ^''History  of 
the  English  Schism,^^  asserts  that  shortly  before  his  death,  King  Henry 
Vni.  contemplated  a  reconciliation  with  the  Holy  See.  But  the 
crowd  of  flatterers  that  surrounded  him,  afraid  lest  the  return  of  the 
kingdom  to  the  obedience  of  the  Church  would  force  them  to  part 
with  the  ecclesiastical  lands,  dissuaded  the  dying  monarch  from 
carrying  out  the  design.  Henry's  three  surviving  children  success- 
ively occupied  his  throne;  but  they  all  died  childless,  and  his  family 
became  extinct.  Thus  Providence  cut  off  the  race  of  a  powerful 
sovereign  for  abusing  his  authority  to  the  prejudice  of  the  Church. 

SECTION  XVin.      INTRODUCTION  OF  PROTESTANTISM    UNDER   EDWARD  VI. 

(a.  d.  1548 — 1553.) 

Accession  of  Edward  VI — Council  of  Regency — Cranmer's  Duplicity — New 
Commissions  to  the  Bishops — Foreign  Religionists— Religious  Innova- 
tions—Book of  Homilies — Laws  respecting  Religion— Book  of  Common 
Prayer — Articles  of  Religion — Code  of  Ecclesiastical  Laws — The  Mass- 
prohibited— The  Majority  of  the  Nation  in  favor  of  the  old  Religion- 
Cruel  Laws  against  Paupers. 

189.  By  an  act  of  Parliament,  passed  in  1544,  it  had  been  provided 
that  the  crown  should  pass  to  Edward,  Henry's  son  by  Jane  Seymour, 
and  on  Edward's  death  without  issue,  to  Mary,  the  daughter  of  Catha- 
rine of  Arragon.  Should  Mary  die  without  issue,  the  crown  was  to  go 
to  Elizabeth,  child  of  Anne  Boleyn.  At  the  same  time  power  was 
granted  to  the  king  to  make  further  provisions  by  will.  As  Edward 
was  but  nine  years  old,  Henry  had  appointed  a  Council  of  regency, 
consisting  of  sixteen  members,  most  of  whom  were  men  of  the  *'new 
learning,"  who  were  either  friendly  to  the  continental  Reformers,  or 
influenced  by  self-interest  to  acquiesce  in  their  policy.  But  in  defiance 
of  this  provision,  the  young  king's  uncle,  Edward  Seymour,  Earl  of 
Hertford,  afterwards  Duke  of  Somerset,  had  himself  appointed 
^'  Protector  of  the  king's  dominions  and  governor  of  his  person,"  and 
assumed  supreme  control  of  the  realm. 

190.  Henry  VIII.  had  no  sympathy  with  the  German  Reformers 


I 


EDWARD  VI.  56r 

he  would  allow  of  no  change  in  religion,  save  the  abolition  of  papal 
supremacy  which  he  claimed  for  the  Crown.  Even  Cranmer,  though 
favoring  the  teaching  of  Luther  and  Melanchton,  accomodated  himself, 
externally  at  least,  to  the  religious  views  of  his  monarch.  It  would 
have  cost  him  his  life,  if  he  had  acted  otherwise.  But  no  sooner  had 
the  old  king  died,  than  the  wily  prelate  manifested  his  real  sentiments. 
"This  year,"  writes  a  contemporary,  "the  archbishop  of  Canterbury 
did  eat  meat  openly  in  Lent  in  the  Hall  of  Lambeth,  the  like  ot  which 
was  never  seen  since  England  was  a  Christian  country." 

191.  With  the  assistance  of  the  royal  Protector  and  foreign  religion- 
ists— Bucer,  Martyr,  a'Lasco,  Knox,  and  others^  —  Cranmer  under- 
took to  change  the  religion  of  the  English  nation.  Acknowledging 
that  all  authority,  ecclesiastical  and  secular,  emanated  from  the  Crown, 
and  that  his  powers  had  expired  with  the  demise  of  the  king,  he 
petitioned  the  youthful  successor  to  be  restored  to  his  former  juris- 
diction, and  compelled  his  brother  bishops  to  do  the  same.  This 
degrading  act  was  followed  by  a  rapid  succession  of  sweeping  changes. 
To  prepare  the  way  for  the  intended  innovations,  a  general  visitation 
of  the  Church  was  determined  on,  and  a  promise  of  obedience  exacted 
from  the  clergy  to  a  series  of.  insidious  injunctions  regarding  faith 
and  discipline. 

192.  By  these  injunctions,  which  were  thirty-seven  in  number, 
bishops  were  inhibited  from  exercising  their  ordinary  jurisdiction  and 
all  clergymen  from  preaching,  unless  under  a  special  license  from  the 
Crown;  preachers  were  strictly  commanded  to  announce  nothing  from 
the  pulpit  beyond  what  was  contained  in  the  Book  of  Homilies^  and 
Erasmus'  ^'Paraphrase  on  the  New  Testamentf  images  and  even  altara 

1.  Martin  Bucer  and  Peter  Martyr,  two  apostate  friars,  each  living-  in  concubinage 
with  a  nun,  came,  the  one  from  Strasburg-,  the  other  from  Florence,  and  wore  appointed 
professors  of  Divinity  at  Cambridgre  and  Oxford  respectively.  They  strong-ly  opposed 
the  doctrine  of  Christ's  presence  in  the  Eucharist  as  set  forth  in  the  "First  Prayer-Book" 
of  Edward  VI.,  and  most  of  the  alterations  suggested  by  Bucer  in  his  book  entlMed 
"A  Censure,"  were  adopted  in  the  "Second  Prayer-Book."— John  a'Lasco,  a  Polish 
nobleman,  was  appointed  "Superintendent"  of  all  the  foreigners  in  the  metropolis,  and 
nominated  one  of  the  thirty-two  Royal  Commissioners  to  frame  new  ecclesiastical  laws. 
for  the  Established  Church.— John  Knox,  the  Scottish  Reformer,  became  chaplain  to  the 
King  and  itinerant  preacher  throughout  the  kingdom;  he  was  consulted  on  the 
composition  of  Cranmer's  forty-two  Articles  —  See  Dr.  Fr.  G.  Lee,  King  Edward  VI., 
Supreme  Head. 

2.  They  were  twelve  in  number,  which  had  been  prepared  some  years  before  by 
Cranmer,  Bonner,  and  others,  for  Convocation.  They  now  form  the  first  part,  or  "former 
book"  of  the  Homilies,  authorized  by  the  3oth  of  the  Thirty-Nine  Articles  of  Religion. 
The  Council  issued  a  proclamation  forbidding  all  sermons  "till  one  uniform  order  be 
made  for  preaching.  Meantime  the  clergy  and  people  are  to  betake  themselves  to 
prayer  and  patient  hearing  of  the  godlj'  Homilies."  A  second  Book  of  Homilies  was 
published  in  1563. 


C68  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CHURCH. 

were  removed  from  the  churches,  and  certain  ceremonies  and  pious 
practices,  which  were  alleged  to  be  superstitious,  were  abolished. 
Parliament  next,  by  a  series  of  acts,  abrogated  the  elective  rights  of 
chapters  and  substituted  direct  nomination  of  bishops  by  the  Crown; 
it  enacted  that  bishops  should  no  longer  act  in  their  own  name  in  matters 
ecclesiastical,  but  in  the  name,  and  as  ministers,  of  the  king;  it  repealed 
the  Six  Articles  of  Henry  VIII.;  ordered  the  administration  of  Com- 
munion under  both  kinds;  and,  finally,  appropriated  all  funds  and 
endowments  of  chantries,  hospitals,  colleges,  free-chapels,  and  guilds, 
for  the  use  of  the  Crown. 

193.  These  changes  prepared  the  English  people  for  the  two  fatal 
measures,  the  adoption  of  a  new  liturgy  and  the  abolition  of  clerical 
celibacy.  *'  The  Book  of  Common  Prayer  and  dhe  Administration  of 
the  Sacraments,^'*  as  the  new  liturgy  was  called,  soon  replaced  the  Mis- 
sal and  the  Catholic  Ritual.  A  rigorous  ^^Act  of  Uniformity,^''  passed 
by  Parliament,  in  1549,  ordered  the  use  of  the  "Book  of  Common 
Prayer"  on  penalty  of  forfeiture  of  one  year's  revenue  and  six 
month's  imprisonment,  with  heavier  punishment  for  the  repeated  of- 
fenses,^ and  all  persons  were  commanded,  under  pain  of  imprison- 
ment, to  attend  the  "  reformed  worship".  A  formal  Statute  of  the 
same  Parliament  gave  priests  the  right  to  marry. 

194.  To  establish  uniformity  of  belief,  Cranmer  was  authorized 
to  prepare  a  code  of  orthodox  doctrines  !  He  drew  up  "  Forty-two 
Articles  of  Religion,^'*  setting  forth  the  doctrines  adopted  by  the  "  Re- 
formed English  Church."  The  new  profession  of  faith,  which  was  a 
compilation  of  Catholic,  Lutheran,  and  Calvinistic  tenets,  was  ap- 
proved by  Convocation,  and,  shortly  before  his  death,  ordered  by  the 
young  king  to  be  subscribed  to  by  all  schoolmasters,  churchwardens,  and 
clergymen. 

195.  To  complete  his  work  of  "reform",  Cranmer  resolved  on  revis- 
ing the  Canon  Law,  and  composed  "  The  Hejormation  of  Ecclesiastical 
LawsP  In  this  new  canon  law,  the  belief  in  Transubstantiation,  in 
the  Supremacy  of  the  Pope,  and  the  denial  of  justification  by  faith 
alone,  were  declared  herej^y,  and  all  that  refused  to  abjure  such  doc- 
trines, were  to  be  consigned  to  the  flames.     But,  fortunately,  the  new 

1.  This  first  Prayer-book  of  Edward  VI.,  which  was  but  a  spoiled  and  mutilated 
translation  of  the  Roman  Missal  and  Breviary,  leaving-  out  the  very  best  parts,  was  re- 
vised and  corrected  within  three  years,  because,  althougrh  done  "by  the  aid  of  the  Holy 
Ghost,"  It  was  found  to  contain  several  superstitious  observances,  such  as  the  Invoca- 
tion of  the  Blessed  Virg^in,  Prayers  for  the  dead,  Exorcisms,  Anointing:  with  oil  in  Bap- 
tism, and  use  of  Vestments.  The  Prayer-book  was  abolished  under  Mary.  Havlnjar  been 
airh">rized  ag-aln  under  Elizabeth,  Parliament  abolished  It  under  the  Commonwealth, 
l)ut  subsequently  sanctioned  it.  under  Charles  II. 

r 


EDWARD  VI.  SeO- 

code  did  not  receive  the  royal  sanction.     Before  it  was  completed, 
Edward  VI.  died,  June  21,  1553. 

196.  The  two  rulers  of  England  throughout  the  reign  of  Edward 
VI. — Somerset  and  Northumberland — headed  the  innovating  party 
which  eventually  destroyed  the  Old  Religion  and  obtruded  a  new  one 
on  the  people  whom  they  had  duped  and  misled,  and  whom,  by  every 
means  in  their  power,  they  compelled  to  conform  to  the  worship  of 
the  new-fangled  Church.  The  Mass  was  declared  to  be  an  act  of 
rank  blasphemy  and  sheer  idolatry.  To  hear  Mass  was  to  participate 
in  an  idolatrous  worship.  To  indirectly  permit  the  Mass  to  be  said, 
even  privately,  was  to  give  license  to  sin  and  idolatry.  Any  one 
saying  or  hearing  it,  was  liable  to  the  sharpest  and  swiftest  punish- 
ment. Hence  all  "massing  priests,"  "mass-mongers,"  and  "mass- 
hearers"  were  exposed  to  a  most  bitter  and  relentless  persecution. 

197.  The  great  bulk  of  the  English  people,  retaining  a  strong 
attachment  to  the  faith  of  their  fathers,  was  totally  opposed  to  the 
religious  changes.  When  orders  were  issued  for  abolishing  the 
ancient  liturgy  and  introducing  the  new  form,  signs  of  ferment 
became  visible  throughout  the  country,  and  everywhere  men  pro- 
tested against  the  novelties  and  called  for  the  retention  of  the  old 
system.  The  cruel  enactments  against  paupers,^  the  ruthless  desecra- 
tion of  churches  and  sacrilegious  destruction  of  altars,  and  the  gross 
immorality  of  the  "reformed"  clergy^  at  last  brought  popular  discon- 
tent to  a  climax.  Formidable  insurrections  broke  out  in  various  parts 
of  the  kingdom.  Everywhere  men  protested  against  the  new  changes 
and  called  for  the  maintenance  of  the  old  system.  Patriots  of  all 
classes  in  Yorkshire,  Devonshire,  and  the  midland  counties  refused  ta 


1.  In  times  of  scarcity,  the  clergy  and  monies  were  the  support  of  the  poor;  but  the 
suppression  of  the  monasteries  and  the  confiscation  of  church  property  stopped  this 
usual  and  abundant  channel  of  charity.  The  number  of  mendicants  that  now  wandered 
through  the  country,  clamoring  for  bread,  became  alarming.  But,  instead  of  alleviating 
their  sufferings,  Parliament,  in  1547,  passed  an  act  against  these  unfortunates,  such  as 
the  most  barbarous  states  have  never  issued.  "  Whoever  lived  idly  or  loiteringly  for  the 
space  of  three  days,"  was  to  be  branded  as  a  vagabond,  with  the  letter  V  on  his  breast, 
and  was  to  be  doomed  for  two  years  to  be  the  slave  of  his  informer.  Bread  and  water 
were  to  be  his  food  and  drink,  and  his  master  was  authorized  to  fix  an  iron  ring  around 
his  neck,  arm,  or  leg,  and  compel  him  to  "  labor  at  any  work,  however  vile  it  might  be, 
by  heating,  chaining,  or  otherwise."  If  the  wretch  absented  himself  for  a  fortnight,  the 
letters  was  burnt  on  his  cheek  or  forehead,  and  he  became  a  slave  for  life;  and  if  he 
thus  offended  a  second  time,  his  flight  subjected  him  to  the  penalties  of  felony.  See 
Waterworth,  "  Historical  Lectures  on  the  Reformation,"  p.  165.  Also  Spalding,  History 
etc.    Vol.  II,  p.  111. 

2.  Robert  Holgate,  the  "  reformed  Archbishop  of  York,"  took  away  the  wife  of  one 
Norman,  on  whose  complaint  the  episcopal  raptor  was  sent  to  the  Tower,  Poynet,  the 
favorite  chaplain  of  Cranmer,  who  usurped  the  See  of  Winchester,  lived  with  the  wife 
of  a  butcher,  who  had  surrendered  her  to  the  worthy  prelate,  for  and  in    consideration 

IC 


670  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CHUBCH. 

receive  the  new  service  and  demanded  the  restoration  of  the  Mass,  as 
well  as  a  partial  re-establishment  of  the  suppressed  monasteries. 
German  and  Italian  mercenaries  had  to  be  introduced  to  stamp  out 
the  revolt.  Thousands  of  insurgents  died  on  the  field  or  the  gibbet; 
martial  law  was  everywhere  proclaimed  and  the  religious  changes 
were  forced  on  the  people  by  foreign  bayonets. 

SECTION  XIX.      THE  RESTORATION  UNDER  QUEEN  MART. 

(a.  d.   1553—1558.) 

Accession  of  Queen  Mary— Her  former  Treatment  by  the  Reforming  Party- 
Deprived  Catholic  Bishops  Re-instated— Mary's  two  Principal  Objects— Par- 
liament of  1553 — Acts  of  Edward  VI.  respecting  Religion  repealed — Cardi- 
nal Pole — Reunion  with  Rome— Bishop  Gardiner — Character  of  Mary — 
Causes  which  provoked  Persecution  —  Conduct  of  Protestants — Execution 
of  Cranmer— Other  Executions. 

198.  The  accession  of  Queen  Mary  was  received  with  great  joy  by 
the  whole  nation,  excepting  the  not  numerous  reforming  party,  which, 
headed  by  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  had 
conspired  to  set  her  aside  and  place  on  the  throne  her  youthful 
cousin,  Lady  Jane  Grey.  Under  the  preceding  reign,  Cranmer  had 
employed  all  his  influence  in  getting  the  bishops  to  adopt  his  inno- 
vations and  introduce  them  in  their  dioceses.  The  majority,  it 
appears,  had  acquiesced  in  the  changes.  Those  of  the  bishops  who  had 
opposed  the  innovations — Gardiner,  Bonner,  Tunstall,  Vasey,  Day, 
and  Heath — were  deprived  of  their  sees.  Gardiner  and  Bonner,  the 
most  outspoken  and  eminent  opponents  of  the  innovating  faction, 
Were  in  prison.  Every  means  had  been  resorted  to  to  compel  Prin- 
€ess  Mary,  especially,  to  conform  to  the  "  Book  of  Common  Prayer." 
She  was  subjected  to  many  vexations,  for  allowing  Mass  to  be  celebra- 
ted in  her  private  chapel ;  her  chaplain  and  officers  were  imprisoned, 
but  nothing  could  shake  her  resolution.  She  answered,  "  that  her 
soul  was  God's  and  her  faith  she  would  not  change.  Rather  than  use 
any  other  service  than  that  used  at  her  father's  death,  she  would  lay 
her  head  on  a  block  and  suffer  death." 

of  a  stipulated  amount.  "These  shocking  facts  respecting  the  bishops,"  writes  the 
Protestant  Dr.  Blunt  (Vol.  II,  p.  151),  "are  supplemented  by  the  evidence  of  a  contempo- 
rary writer,  who  says  of  the  clergy  generally,  who  married  in  Edward  VI's  time,  that 
they  cared  not  what  women  they  married,  common  or  other,  so  they  might  get  them 
wives.  For  true  are  St.  Paul's  words :  They  enter  into  houses,  bringing  into  bondage 
women  laden  with  sin.  The  women  of  these  married  priests  were  such,  for  the  most 
part,  that  either  they  were  kept  of  others  before,  or  else  as  common  as  the  cart-waj', 
....  using  their  bodies  with  other  men  as  well  as  with  their  supposed  husbands. 
....  Archbishop  Cranmer  himself  was  twice  'married,*  and  Mrs.  Cranmer  mar- 
ried two  other  husbands,  after  •  losing  the  Archbishop."— See  also  Dr.  Lee,  King 
Edward  VI. 


r 


BESTORATION  UNDER  MARY  671 

199.  Mary's  first  act  was  to  liberate  the  deposed  bishops,  and 
other  Catholic  and  Protestant  state  prisoners,  lawlessly  detained 
■during  the  late  reigns.  The  bishops  were  instantly  restored  to  their 
sees.  Gardiner,  who  was  appointed  Lord  Chancellor,  performed  the 
coronation  ceremony  according  to  the  ancient  rite.  Mary's  treatment 
of  those  who  had  endeavored  to  deprive  her  of  her  Crown  was 
exceedingly  merciful.  Only  three  of  the  ringleaders  of  the  rebellion 
against  her — the  Duke  of  Northumberland,  John  Gates,  and  Thomas 
Palmer — suffered  the  penalty  of  high-treason.  She  refused  to  bring 
Lady  Jane  Grey,  though  by  no  means  blameless,  to  trial ;  it  was  not 
until  after  the  rebellion  headed  by  her  father,  the  Duke  of  Suffolk, 
and  Thomas  Wyatt,  that  the  unfortunate  lady  and  her  husband  were 
executed. 

200.  On  ascending  the  throne,  the  two  principal  and  dearest 
objects  of  Mary  were  the  removal  from  herself  of  the  stain  of  illegiti- 
macy and  the  restoration  of  the  Catholic  Religion.  To  the  first  she 
anticipated  no  opposition;  but  great  obstacles  were  expected  regarding 
the  second.  For  though  Cranmer's  *'  new  church  "  counted  but  few 
adherents  amongst  the  people,  yet  there  were  the  church  plunderers 
to  deal  with.  The  acknowledgment  of  the  papal  authority,  it  was 
feared,  would  entail  the  restoration  of  church  property,  the  greater 
part  of  which  had  been  seized  eighteen ,  years  before,  and  in  the 
plunder  of  which, thousands  of  families  of  rank  and  influence,  in  one 
way  or  the  other,  had  become  sharers. 

201.  Notwithstanding  these  diflSculties,  the  Queen,  proceed- 
ing with  caution  and  moderation,  soon  saw  her  designs  realized. 
Parliament,  which  met  in  1553,  legalized  the  marriage  of  the  Queen's 
parents,  annulled  all  the  laws  of  Edward  VI.  respecting  religion,  and 
re-established  the  form  of  Divine  Service  as  it  existed  in  the  last  year 
of  Henry  VIII.  The  religious  changes  of  Cranmer  were  declared 
null  and  void,  the  altars  were  replaced,  the  Prayer  Book  was  set  aside, 
and  the  Mass  was  restored.  The  foreign  "  Gospellers  "  were  ordered 
to  leave  the  country  and  the  married  priests  were  deprived  of  their 
I)enefices ;  the  Protestant  bishops  were  removed  and  Catholic  prelates 
appointed  in  their  stead. 

202.  To  smooth  the  way  for  the  reunion  of  the  kingdom  with  the 
Church,  Pope  Julius  III.,  on  petition  of  the  Queen,  issued  a  bull, 
granting  the  holders  of  ecclesiastical  property  full  right  to  possess 
and  keep  the  same.  The  Queen,  however,  considering  the  impov- 
erished state  of  the  Church,  judged  it  her  duty  to  restore  to  it  such 
ecclesiastical  property,  as  during  the  late  reigns  had  been  vested  in 
the  Crown.     Cardinal  Pole  was  sent  as  legate  to  England,  to  complete 


573  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CEURUH. 

the  work  of  reconciliation.  In  full  session  of  Parliament,  the  Cardinal, 
on  Nov.  30,  1554,  in  the  Pope's  name,  solemnly  absolved  "all  those 
present  and  the  whole  nation  from  all  heresy  and  schism  and  restored 
them  to  the  communion  of  Holy  Church."  After  this  solemn  act. 
Parliament  repealed  all  laws  passed  since  the  twentieth  year  of 
Henry  VIII.  against  the  Apostolic  See. 

203.  Mary's  leading  adviser  in  civil  matters  was  Dr.  Stephen 
Gardiner,  one  of  the  most  distinguished  ecclesiastical  statesmen  of 
this  period.  Born  between  1483  and  1495,  Gardiner  became  Sec- 
retary of  State  under  Henry  VIII.  In  1531,  he  was  appointed  bishop 
of  Winchester.  In  the  case  of  Henry  VIII's  disastrous  divorce  from 
Queen  Catharine,  he  warmly  espoused  his  master's  cause  and  acted  a 
prominent  part,  both  as  ambassador  to  the  Holy  See,  and  as  the  king's 
advocate  in  the  Legatine  court  before  Cardinals  Wolsey  and 
Campeggio.  He  also  accepted  the  royal  supremacy,  which  he 
defended  in  his  well-known  treatise:  ^^On  True  Obedience."*^  But  on 
becoming  fully  aware  of  the  evil  he  had  so  greatly  aided,  he  devoted 
his  whole  energies  to  make  atonement  for  his  error.  He  offered  the 
most  determined  resistence  to  Cranmer's  innovations,  for  which  he 
was  deprived  of  his  see  and  held  in  close  confinement  during  the 
reign  of  Edward  VI.  In  his  memorable  sermon,  which  he  preached 
at  St.  Paul's  Cross  in  the*  presence  of  King  Philip  and  the  notables 
of  the  realm,  he  lamented  his  former  conduct,  and  exhorted  all  who 
had  fallen  with  him,  to  return  with  him  to  the  "one  fold  "  of  the  "one 
shepherd."  His  death,  which  occurred  in  November,  1555,  was  a 
subject  of  deep  regret  to  the  Queen,  who  lost  in  him  her  most 
faithful  minister.^ 

204.  Mary  herself  was  humane  and  disposed  to  be  tolerant;  she 
was  averse  to  encroach  upon  other  men's  consciences.  When  she  came 
to  the  throne,  she  assured  her  counsellors  that  "  she  meant  graciously 
not  to  compel  or  strain  other  people's  consciences."  But  this  for- 
bearance was  soon  abused.  The  reformed  preachers  were  her  most 
bitter  enemies,  as  they  had  been  the  most  active  opponents  of  her 
accession;  many  of  them  were  implicated  in  the  rebellions  of  Suffolk 
and  Wyatt.  They  publicly  styled  her  Jezabel,  and  declared  it  to  be 
contrary  to  God's  word  to  be  governed  by  a  woman.     They  circulated 

1.  Protestant  writers  have  ascribed  the  politico-religious  persecution  under  Mary  to 
Bishop  Gardiner,  "more  from  conjecture  and  prejudice  than  from  real  information."  The 
contrary  must  be  maintained.  Gardiner  wrote  to  the  Council  stating  that  "he  would 
not  obey  any  order  that  might  be  Issued  to  him  for  burning  heretics  in  his  diocese." 
Mackintosh  observes  that  "Gardiner  and  the  majority  of  the  Papal  bishops  were  opposed 
to  the  persecution  of  Reformers."— See  J.  Gillow,  Bibliographical  Dictionary  of  the 
English  Catholics.    Vol.  II. 


RESTORATION  UNDER  MARY  573 

the  most  incredible  tales,  and  the  most  atrocious  calumnies  against 
her  person  and  against  the  Catholic  Church.  In  some  places  gross 
excesses  were  committed  by  the  disciples  of  the  new  doctrines,  who 
sometimes  assailed  the  Catholic  clergy  in  the  discharge  of  their  sacred 
f!Tnctions,  and  continually  formed  schemes  for  overthrowing  the 
Queen's  government.  These  and  other  provoking  causes  led  Mary  to 
adopt  severe  measures  for  the  suppression  of  obstinate  dissenters, 
contrary  to  the  advice  of  Cardinal  Pole  and  other  Catholic  prelates, 
who  were  averse  to  persecution. 

205.  The  number  of  those  suffering  the  penalty  of  death  under 
the  reign  of  Queen  Mary,  is  variously  fixed  at  between  two  and  three 
hundred.  We  must  deplore  these  executions, which  can  only  be  ascribed 
to  a  mistaken  policy  adopted  under  great  provocation.  No  principle 
of  the  Catholic  religion  dictated  it.  Unfortunately,  Mary  lived  in  an 
age  of  religious  intolerance  when  punishment,  for  what  was  considered 
heresy,  was  universally  held  right  and  necessary  by  ruling  princes. 
The  persecution  seems  to  have  originated  in  the  Privy  Council  and  to 
have  been  adopted  merely  as  a  measure  of  State  policy,  in  conformity 
with  the  then  prevailing  maxims  and  examples  of  every  state  and 
party.  Besides,  it  must  be  observed  that  the  majority  of  those  executed 
under  Mary,  suffered  for  high  treason  and  felony.  The  most  noted 
sufferers  were  Cranmer,  Ridley,  and  Latimerj  who  were  now  made  to 
feel  the  punishment  which  they  had  so  often  visited  upon  others, — 
Catholics  and  Anabaptists.  They  had  all  changed  their  opinions  more 
than  once,  Cranmer  making  no  fewer  than  seven  recantations,  in  hopes 
of  saving  his  life.  Mary  died  on  Nov.  17,  A.  D.  1558.  Protestants 
have  very  unjustly  styled  her  "  Bloody  Mary;"  yet,  if  compared  with 
the  two  preceding  reigns  and  that  of  her  sister  and  successor,  Elizabeth, 
hers  was  far  less  bloody.^  Cardinal  Pole,  who,  on  the  removal  of 
Cranmer,  had  become  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  died  a  few  hours 
after  Queen  Mary. 

1.  Sixty  individuals  suffered  under  Mary  in  consequence  of  partaking  in  Wyatt's 
insurrection.  In  a  rising-  of  much  less  danger  Elizabeth  sacrificed  hundreds.  Compare 
the  treatment  of  the  insurgents  in  1745,  under  George  II.,  with  that  of  Mary,  and  her 
character  will  not  suffer  by  the  contrast.  "In  Elizabeth's  reign,"  Blunt  says,  "a  vast 
number  of  priests  and  others  were  executed  for  Popery,  by  the  halter  and  the  butcher's 
knife,  and  at  least  three  persons  were  burned  for  Protestant  heresies  I" 


57i  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

SECTION    XX.       REVIVAL    OF    PROTESTANTISM    UNDER    ELIZABETH. 
THE    NEW    CHURCH    "  BY    LAW   ESTABLISHED." 

Accession  of  Elizabeth — Acknowledged  by  the  English  Catholics — Eliza- 
beth's Intentions  respecting  Religion — Resolution  of  the  Catholic  Pre- 
lates— Elizabeth  and  the  Pontiff— Ecclesiastical  Enactments— Opposition 
of  the  Catholic  Clergy— Catholic  Bishops  imprisoned — Firmness  of  the 
Catholic  Prelates— Foundations  of  Anglican  Hierarchy— Embarrassment 
— Parker's  Consecration— The  Validity  of  Anglican  Ordinations  Disputed 
— Thirty-nine  Articles  of  Religion— Their  History — Puritans— Brownists. 

206.  On  the  death  of  Queen  Mary,  in  1558,  her  half-sister  Eliza, 
beth  ascended  the  English  throne,  withoilt  opposition.  In  the  eyes 
of  the  Catholic  world,  Elizabeth  was  utterly  illegitimate,  being  the 
daughter  of  Henry  VIII.  and  Anne  Boleyn,  and  born  during  the  life- 
time of  the  rightful  Queen  Catherine;  while  the  only  lawful  heir  to 
the  throne  was  Mary  SUiart  of  Scotland,  grand-daughter  of  Margaret, 
sister  of  Henry  VIII.,  and  who  afterwards  married  James  IV.  of 
Scotland.  But,  by  the  Act  of  Succession  of  1539,  the  Crown  was 
secured  to  Elizabeth.  A  subsequent  law,  declaring  Henry's  marriage 
with  Anne  Boleyn  null  and  void  from  the  beginning,  virtually  abro- 
gated the  former,  and  excluded  Elizabeth  from  the  throne.  This  law 
was  still  upon  the  statute  book;  yet  Elizabeth,  who,  by  will  of  her 
father,  had  been  declared,  in  the  event  of  Mary's  dying  without  issue, 
to  be  her  rightful  successor,  was  acknowledged  Queen  with  acclama- 
tion by  her  Catholic  subjects,  both  houses  of  Parliament  acquiescing 
in  the  declaration  of  the  Catholic  bishops,  "  that  of  her  right  and 
title,  none  could  make  any  question."  But  the  loyalty  of  the  Catho- 
lics was  soon  very  ill  requited  by  the  deceitful  Queen. 

207.  It  is  possible  that  Elizabeth,  on  ascending  the  throne,  was 
really  indifferent  on  the  subject  of  religion.  But  the  daughter  of 
Anne  Boleyn — whose  marriage  with  her  father,  two  Popes  had  declared 
to  be  null  and  void — found  it  to  her  interest  to  discard  the  Catholic 
religion,  which  declared  her  illegitimate,  and  to  throw  herself  into 
the  arms  of  the  Protestant  party,  which,  in  her  opinion,  could  alone 
give  stability  to  her  throne.  Her  first  care  was  to  choose  for  coun- 
sellors men  who  were  known  to  be  favorable  to  the  "  new  religion." 
Sir  William  Cecil,  who,  like  herself,  had  conformed  under  the  last 
reign,  was  appointed  Secretary  of  State,  and  Nicholas  Bacon,  a 
Protestant,  Lord  Chancellor,  in  place  of  Archbishop  Heath.^ 

1.  It  has  been  said  that  when  Came,  the  English  ambassador  at  Rome,  informed  Paul 
IV.  of  the  accession  of  Elizabeth,  the  Pope  replied  **  that  he  was  unable  to  discover  in 
Elizabeth,  being  illegitimate,  an  unquestionable  right  to  the  English  throne;  that  the 
Qneexx  of  Scots  claimed  the  crown,  as  the  nearest  legitimate  descendant  of  Henry  VII.; 


r 


TEE  CHURCH  ESTABLISHED  BY  LAW.  575 

208.  The  first  indication  of  the  Queen's  intentions,  was  her 
proclamation,  forbidding  the  clergy  to  preach  without  her  royal 
license!  This  interference,  as  well  as  her  command  to  the  bishop  of 
Carlisle  not  to  elevate  at  Mass  the  sacred  host,  startled  the  bishops; 
they  resolved  not  to  assist  at  her  coronation.  Bishop  Oglethorpe,  of 
Carlisle,  was  at  last  prevailed  upon  to  perform  the  ceremony,  when 
Elizabeth  took  the  customary  oath  "  to  maintain  the  laws,  honor, 
peace,  and  privileges  of  the  Church,  as  in  the  time  or  grant  of  King 
Edward  the  Confessor." 

209.  A  Parliament,  which  met  in  1559,  enacted  a  variety  of 
sweeping  statutes  which  dissipated  the  last  hopes,  if  any  they  yet 
entertained,  of  the  Catholics.  The  acts,  which  under  Mary  restored 
Catholic  worship  and  re-established  the  independent  jurisdiction  and 
legislation  of  the  Church,  were  repealed,  and  those  passed  under 
Henry  VIII.,  in  derogation  of  the  papal  authority,  and  under  Edward 
VI.,  in  favor  of  the  Calvinistic  reforms,  were,  for  the  most  part, 
revived.  The  "  Act  of  Supremacy,"  which  declared  the  Queen 
"supreme  governess  in  all  matters,  spiritual  and  temporal,"  excluded 
from  office,in  Church  and  State,  every  Catholic  who  was  not  prepared 
to  sacrifice  his  conscience  and  his  faith  to  his  temporal  interests.  By 
the  "Act  of  Uniformity,"  the  "  new  and  amended  "  Book  of  Common 
Prayer  of  Edward  VI.  was  restored,  and  its  use  made  compulsory. 
For  the  use  of  any  but  the  new  liturgy,  and  for  asserting  the  Pope's 
supremacy,  forfeiture,  imprisonment  and  death  were  the  successive 
penalties  for  repeated  offences. 

210.  The  bishops  unanimously  opposed  all  and  each  of  these 
acts,  and  did  their  utmost  to  prevent  their  passage.  The  clergy  in 
convocation  adopted  five  articles  which  affirmed  their  belief  in  tran- 
substantiation  and  other  Catholic  doctrines,  and  their  acceptance  of 
the  supreme  authority  of  the  Popes  ''  as  vicars  of  Christ  and  supreme 
rulers  of  the  Church; "  they  strongly  protested  that  "  the  authority 
in  all  matters  of  faith  and  discipline  belongs,  and  ought  to  belong, 
only  to  the  pastors  of  the  Church,  and  not  to  laymen."  But  their 
remonstrances  were  disregarded,  and  to  terrify  the  rest,  three  of  the 
most  zealous  of  the  bishops  were  imprisoned.     In  Parliament  itself, 

but  that  if  Elizabeth  submitted  her  claim  to  the  Holy  See,  she  would  be  treated  with 
every  consideration.  The  whole  of  this  narrative  Lingard  (vol.  vii.,  p.  253)  declares  and 
proves  a  fiction,  which  was  invented  by  the  enemies  of  the  Pontiff,  to  throw  on  him  the 
blame  of  the  subsequent  rupture  between  England  and  Rome.  Hallam  says:  "This 
remarkable  f act,which  runs  through  all  domestic  and  foreign  histories,  has  been  disputed, 
and,  as  far  as  appeai-s,  disproved  by  the  late  editor  of  Dodd's  Church  History  of  England, 
on  the  authority  of  Caime's  own  letters  in  the  State  Paper  office."  Hallum,  Constitutional 
History.    Vol.  I.,  p.  118.    Note. 


576  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  ecclesiastical  bills  experienced  a  most  vigorous  opposition;  they 
were  passed  by  a  majority  of  only  three  votes.  The  absence  of  the 
imprisoned  bishops  and  the  creation  of  new  Protestant  peers  had 
secured  their  passage. 

211.  Every  device  was  resorted  to,  to  force  the  compliance  of 
the  bishops  with  the  Acts  recently  passed.  But  they  all  stood  firm, 
with  one  exception,  only  Kitchin  of  Llandaff  was  weak  enough  to 
take  the  oath  of  supremacy.  The  recusant  prelates  were  deprived  of 
their  sees  and  committed  to  custody,  some  of  them  pining  away  in 
life-long  imprisonment.  Of  the  inferior  clergy,  too,  a  large  number, 
about  half,  remained  steadfast  in  their  faith,  while  the  other  half, 
from  fear  or  other  motives,  consented  to  abjure  the  Pope  and  take 
the  oath  of  supremacy.  The  terrors  of  the  penal  laws,  and  espe- 
cially the  ruinous  fines  imposed  for  "recusancy" — as  the  wilful 
absence  of  Catholics  from  Protestant  worship  was  called — com- 
pelled many  of  the  gentry  and  nobility  to  seek  in  other  lands  the 
liberty  of  worshiping  God  according  to  their  consciences. 

212.  It  now  devolved  on  the  Queen  to  provide  a  new  hierarchy 
for  her  establishment.  This,  however,  was  no  easy  matter.  It 
became  a  question,  how  to  procure  the  consecrators  of  her  new 
"prelates,"  three  bishops,  at  least,  being  necessary  for  a  full 
canonical  consecration  and  there  being  left  only  one  diocesan  bishop, 
Kitchin  of  Llandaff.  Knowing  that  the  real  episcopal  character  was 
vested  in  the  persons  of  the  deposed  Catholic  bishops,  Elizabeth, 
although  reluctantly,  addressed  herself  to  these.  She  first  applied  to 
Archbishop  Creagh  of  Armagh,  at  the  time  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower, 
and  next  to  four  other  Catholic  prelates,  urging  them  to  consecrate 
Matthew  Parker,  whom  she  had  appointed  successor  to  Cardinal  Pole 
in  the  see  of  Canterbury.  But  they  all,  including  even  the  obse- 
quious Kitchin,  resolutely  refused  to  act. 

213.  Elizabeth  next  issued  a  mandate  to  William  Barlow  and 
other  nominal  bishops,  naming  them  as  her  commissioners  for  Parker's 
consecration  and  supplying,  "on  account  of  the  necessity  of  the  thing 
and  the  urgency  of  the  time,  by  virtue  of  her  ecclesiastical  supremacy 
every  defect,  which  might  attach  to  any  of  the  parties  ofiiciating." 
Parker,  accordingly,  was  consecrated  by  these  men.  Barlow  "ofiicia- 
ting," according  to  the  Ordinal  of  Edward  VI.,  on  December  lY, 
1559,  more  than  a  year  after  he  had  been  appointed  by  the  Queen.* 

1.  The  validity  of  Anglican  ordinations  rests  wholly  on  the  validity  of  Parker's 
consecration.  This,  however,  has  been  denied  for  weighty  reasons  from  the  very 
Infancy  of  the  "Established  Church."  1.  The  fact  itself  of  Parker's  "consecration," 
such  as  it  was,  has  been  seriously  questioned.  No  contemporary  Protestant  historian 
relates  it.    It  was  not  till  1613—58  years  after  the  alleged  fact— that  Francis  Morau.  chap- 


THE  CHURCH  ESTABLISHED  BY  LAW.  577 

A  few  days  after,  Parker  "confirmed"  the  election  of  Barlow  and  Scory, 
who  had  "confirmed"  his  own;  and,  with  their  assistance,  "confirmed 
and  consecrated"  the  new  "prelates"  appointed  by  Elizabeth  in  place 
of  the  "deposed"  Catholic  bishops.  Thus  was  laid  the  foundation  of 
a  new  fabric,  called  "^Ae  Church  by  Law  EstablishecV 

214.  In  1562,  the  Convocation  promulgated  the  Articles  of  Edward 
YI.,  which  were  considerably  altered  and  reduced  to  thirty-nine,  as 
the  distinct  creed  of  the  newly  "  Established  Church."  "While  the 
Thirty-nine  Articles  inculcate  the  necessity  of  believing  in  the  Trinity, 
the  Incarnation  and  Redemption,  and  of  accepting  the  three  creeds — 
of  the  Apostles,  of  Nice,  and  of  St.  Athanasius — they  reject  the  doc- 
trines of  Purgatory  and  Transubstantiation,  the  Veneration  of  images 
and  holy  relics,  and  the  Invocation  of  the  Saints,  as  repugnant  to  the 
word  of  God.  They  teach  the  Lutheran  doctrines  of  "  Justification  by 
faith  only,"  and  of  the  sufficiency  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  for  salvation, 
asserting  that  all  doctrines,  taught  by  Christ  and  His  Apostles,  are 
therein  recorded.  They,  moreover,  declare  that  general  councils  may 
err;  that  such  assemblies  cannot  meet  without  the  assent  of  princes; 
that  the  Pope  has  no  jurisdiction  in  the  realm  of  England,  but  that 
the  English  sovereign  has  supreme  authority  over  all  estates,  ecclesias- 
tical or  temporal,  and  in  all  church  matters;  and  that  the  "Established 
Church  "  has  power  to  decree  rites  and  ceremonies,  and  authority  in 
controversies  of  faith.^ 

lain  of  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury,  appealed  to  the  Lambeth  Register,  to  prove  the 
fact  of  Parker's  "consecration."  2.  Barlow  himself,  who  "consecrated"  Parker,  was 
not  consecrated;  no  record  of  his  consecration  is  In  existence;  he  was,  at  the  most, 
only  a  bishop-elect.  3.  Considering  the  religious  persuasion  of  the  consecrator,  it 
-would  bo,  at  the  best,  very  doubtful  whether  he  could  have  had  the  required  Intention 
in  performing  the  ceremony.  Barlow  believed  episcopal  consecration  a  mere  idle  cere- 
mony and  the  imposition  of  hands  unnecessary;  in  his  opinion  the  nomination  for  the 
office  by  the  sovereign  was  of  itself  sufficient  and  equal  to  any  consecration !  4,  The 
"consecration"  of  Parker,  which  was  performed  according  to  the  Ordinal  of  Edward 
YI.,  was  invalid  on  account  of  the  nullity  of  the  form,  which  mentions  neither  the 
order  to  be  conferred  nor  the  peculiar  functions  and  duties  incumbent  on  a  bishop. 
The  "Established  Church"  seems  to  have  felt  this  insufficiency.  To  remedy  the  defect, 
the  Convocation  changed  and  improved  the  form  of  consecration,  in  1662— just  one  hun- 
dred years  too  late,  to  save  Anglican  orders !  Those  desiring  a  more  detailed  treatment 
of  this  interesting  question,  are  referred  to  the  works  of  Archbishop  Kenrick,  "On  An- 
glican Ordinations;"  of  Bishop  Ryan,  "Claims  of  an  Episcopal  Bishop  to  Apostolical 
Succession;"  and  of  J.  D.  Breen,  "Anglican  Orders:  Are  they  Valid?" 

1.  See  Lingard,  vol.  vli.,  note  K.,  where  the  author  analyzes  the  divergencies  of  the 
Anglican  system  from  the  Catholic  belief  .—The  Thirty-nine  Articles  were  sanctioned  by 
Parliament  in  1571,  and  a  statute  was  enacted  requiring  subscription  from  all  candidates 
for  the  ministry.  No  one  could  teach,  or  even  enter  a  university,  without  subscribing 
to  these  Articles.  These  disabilities  were  removed  by  the  University  Tests'  Act  of  1871. 
The  Clerical  Subscription  Act  of  1866  exempted  also  the  clergy  from  subscribing,  and 
substituted  a  declaration  of  assent  to  the  Thirty-nine  Articles  and  the  Prayer-Book. 
Thus  the  Articles  ceased  to  be  used  as  a  standard  of  orthodoxy  in  the  Anglican  Church, 
at  least  for  the  laity. 
11 


678  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

215.  The  new  Church  was  no  sooner  established  than  dissensions 
arose  among  its  adherents,  especially  the  clergy.  Many  of  that  body^ 
imbued  with  Calvinistic  ideas,  objected  to  the  institution  of  Episcopacy 
and  to  the  new  liturgy,  as  being  still  too  Roman.  To  secure  uniform- 
ity, Parker  issued  his  book  of  "Advertisements,"  containing  orders 
and  regulations  for  the  discipline  of  the  clergy.  Such  as  refused  to 
conform  to  the  new  service  were  called  Puritans,  or  Norv-confoi'mists. 
A  party  of  ultra- Puritans,  regarding  the  *'  Established  Church  "  as 
impure,  refused  to  hold  communion  with  it,  and  formally  separated 
themselves,  whence  they  were  called  Separatists,  or  from  their  leader, 
Robert  Brown,  Brownists.  In  1593,  a  statute  was  passed  imposing  the 
penalty  of  imprisonment  upon  any  person  not  conforming  to  the  new 
"  worship." 

SECTION   XXI.       THE    SUFFERINGS    OF   THE   ENGLISH    CATHOLICS   UNDER 

ELIZABETH. 

Pius  IV.  and  Elizabeth— Acts  of  Parliament— Elizabeth  rejects  the  Inter- 
cession of  Emperor  Ferdinand— Northern  Insurrection— Object  of  the 
Insurgents— Massacre  of  Catholics— Excommunication  of  Elizabeth — 
Object  of  the  Sentence— Ridolfi's  Conspiracy— Enactments  against  Catho- 
lics—Court of  High  Commission— Catholic  Martyrs  under  Elizabeth- 
Catholic  Loyalty— Dr.  Allen— Establishes  a  Seminary  at  Douay— Other 
Seminaries— Elizabeth's  last  Days— Her  Private  Life. 

216.  The  Holy  See  regarded  with  sorrow  and  alarm  the  second 
apostasy  of  England  from  the  Catholic  faith  and  the  sufferings  of  the 
Catholics  in  that  country.  Immediately  on  his  accession.  Pope  Pius 
rV.,  made  friendly  overtures  to  Elizabeth,  assuring  her  of  his  good 
will,  and  that  he  earnestly  desired  to  accord  her  whatever  she  might 
wish  for  establishing  and  strengthening  her  royal  dignity.  He 
determined  to  send  a  special  legate  to  the  English  Queen  to  confer 
with  her,  and  to  invite  the  attendance  of  ambassadors  at  the  Council 
of  Trent  which  was  about  to  meet  again.  But  the  Papal  legate  was 
not  allowed  to  come  to  England.  In  reply  to  a  decision  of  a  com- 
mittee of  theologians  at  the  Council  of  Trent,  condemning  attend- 
ance at  Protestant  worship  as  sinful,  more  severe  laws  were  enacted 
against  Catholics. 

217.  In  1563,  Parliament  extended  the  obligation  of  taking  the 
oath  of  supremacy  to  the  whole  Catholic  population,  and  made  the 
first  refusal  punishable  with  forfeiture  and  imprisonment,  while  a 
second  refusal  subjected  the  recusant  to  death  as  in  case  of  high 
treason.  In  vain  did  Lord  Montague  plead  in  behalf  of  the  persecu- 
ted Catholics,  who  were  proscribed  for  the  mere  refusal  to  apostatize. 
In   vain,  also,  did  Emperor  Ferdinand  I.  intercede  with  the  Queen, 


SUFFERINGS  OF  THE  CATHOLICS.  579 

requesting  licr  to  free  her  Catholic  subjects  from  the  dangers  of  that 
barbarous  law,  and  to  allow  them  the  use  of,  at  least,  one  church  in 
every  city.  In  her  answer  to  Ferdinand,  the  inperious  princess  flatly 
refused  to  grant  toleration  to  those  who  disagreed  with  her  in  re- 
ligion! 

218.  The  insurrection  in  the  North,  which  was  incited  in  1569 
by  two  Catholic  noblemen,  for  the  liberation  of  Mary  Stuart,  con- 
tributed to  aggravate  the  already  pitiful  condition  of  the  English 
Catholics,  though  the  latter  had  flocked  in  large  numbers  to  the  royal 
standard  to  quell  the  rebellion.  It  was  followed  by  a  closer  confine- 
ment of  the  hapless  Queen  of  Scots,  and  an  indiscriminate  massacre  of 
the  northern  Catholics,  of  whom  no  fewer  than  eight  hundred  are 
said  to  have  perished  by  the  hands  of  the  executioners.  When  Pope 
Pius  V.  learned  of  these  cruelties,  and  that  Elizabeth  was  endeavoring 
to  bring  the  Queen  of  Scots,  an  independent  sovereign,  to  trial,  he  at 
last,  in  1571,  published  the  long-expected  bull  which  declared  the 
English  Queen  excommunicated,  and  absolved  her  subjects  from  their 
allegiance.^ 

219.  From  this  time  forward,  Elizabeth  and  her  Parliament 
proceeded  with  ever  increasing  severity  against  the  adherents  of  the 
Catholic  religion.  The  almost  countless  penal  statutes  passed  during 
the  last  thirty  years  of  Elizabeth's  reign,  completely  outlawed  the 
Catholics  and  exposed  them  to  a  continual  risk  of  martyrdom. 
Communication  with  Rome,  and  obedience  to  the  Papal  authority 
were  declared  high  treason.  "Recusancy,"  and  attendance  at 
Catholic  worship  were  visited  with  the  severest  penalties.  Any  one 
absenting  himself  from  church  for  a  month,  was  to  pay  20  pounds. 
The  saying  of  Mass  was  punishable  by  a  year's  imprisonment  and  a 
fine  of  200  marks;  the  hearing  of  Mass, by  a  fine  of  100  marks  and  the 

1.  "  The  grounds  of  this  sentence  were  her  illegitimacy,  the  declaration  of  which 
stood  unrepealed  on  the  statute-book  of  England;  her  profession  of  heresy,  which,  by 
the  ancient  fundamental  law  of  England,  as  in  other  Christian  countries,  induced  the 
forfeiture  of  regal  power;  her  crimes  against  religion,  and  especially  her  persecution  of 
ner  Catholic  subjects.  The  special  object,  however,  of  the  Bull  of  Pius  V.,  was  to  rescue 
the  Queen  of  Scots  from  impending  death ;  a  circumstance  which  does  honor  to  his  humau' 
ity.  In  the  sentence  of  deposition,  St.  Pius  followed  the  precedents  of  holy  and  eminent 
Pontiffs,  and  relied  on  grounds  which  in  themselves  were  not  trivial;  but  the  temporal 
supremacy  of  Rome  had  passed  away,  and  the  strength  of  the  Catholic  faith  was  to  be 
manifested  in  the  patient  endurance  of  persecution,  over  which  it  was  finally  to  tri- 
umph."   Kenrick,  Primacy,  Part  II,  chap.  IV. 

That  Pius  V.  plotted  with  Ridolfl,  a  Florentine,  the  assassination  of  Queen  Eliza- 
beth, is  a  malicious  fabrication.  Ridolfi's  design  of  assassination  has  never  been 
proved,  and  not  a  shadow  of  evidence  exists  to  show  that  the  noble-minded  Pontiff,  who 
is  revered  by  all  Catholics  as  a  saint,  in  any  way  even  favored,  much  less  instigated 
such  a  plot.  No  word  of  the  plot  or  intended  assassination,  is  to  be  found  in  any  of  the 
contemporary  slate  papers.  See  H.  T.  D.  Ryder,  Catholic  Controversy,  Part  II.  charge  V. 


580  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

same  term  of  imprisonment.  In  1584,  laws  proscribing  the  whole 
body  of  the  Catholic  clergy  were  rushed  through  Parliament.  All 
Jesuits  and  priests  were  commanded  on  pain  of  high  treason  to  leave 
the  country  within  forty  days;  anyone  harboring  or  concealing  a  priest 
was  adjudged  a  felon  and  deserving  of  death.  In  1593,  laws  were 
enacted  which  forbade  Catholics  to  travel  five  miles  from  their  homes; 
they  were  excluded  from  Court,  Parliament,  and  all  offices  of  trust 
and  deprived  of  the  right  of  voting. 

220.  Nor  were  the  statutes  merely  designed  for  terror's  sake,  to 
keep  a  check  over  the  disaffected,  as  some  vrould  pretend.  They 
were  executed  in  the  most  sweeping  and  indiscriminating  manner. 
The  "Court  of  High  Commission" — the  English  Inquisition! — was 
erected  for  carrying  out  these  barbarous  enactments.  It  consisted  of 
forty-four  commissioners,  twelve  of  whom  were  bishops.  These 
commissioners  were  to  inquire  into  all  accusations  brought  under 
the  Acts  of  Supremacy  and  Uniformity  and  other  ecclesiastical  laws. 
They  were  to  try  all  persons  charged  with  acting  contrary  to  the  new 
worship,  and  to  enforce  the  laws  against  recusants.  They  made  their 
power  felt  by  fines  and  imprisonment,  limited  by  no  rule  but  their 
own  pleasure.  They  ransacked  the  houses  of  the  people  by  pursui- 
vants and  spies,  and  violated  their  consciences  by  administering  the 
oath  of  supremacy,  terrorizing  them  with  the  rack  and  other  tortures.^ 

221.  The  penal  laws  against  the  Catholics  were  executed  with 
relentless  cruelty  and  the  persecution  increased  yearly  in  violence  and 
inhumanity.  Under  these  laws,  according  to  the  lowest  calculation, 
128  priests  and  members  of  religious  orders,  and  58  laymen  were  put 
to  a  cruel  death  for  no  other  cause  than  their  ministry  and  religion 
Four  women  are  shown  to  have  been  sentenced  to  death  for  the  crime 
of  harboring  priests.  Besides,  hundreds,  if  not  thousands,  died  of 
hardships  in  the  horrible  prisons  of  those  days.  The  more  distin- 
guished Catholic  martyrs  under  Elizabeth  were  Father  Cuthbert 
Mayne,  the  Jesuits,  Campian  and  Parsons,  and  Queen  Mary  Stuart, 
who,  after  an  imprisonment  of  nineteen  years,  was  beheaded  in  1587. 
That  the  one  leading  cause  of  the  condemnation   and  death  of  the 


1.  "The  rack  was  seldom  idle  in  theTower  for  all  the  latter  part  of  Elizabeth's  reigrn." 
Hallam.  For  an  account  of  the  different  instrutnents  of  torture  employed  under  this 
reign  a;?ainst  Catholic  recusants,  see  Waterworth,  Lecture  VI.  p.  397,  note;  and  Lingard, 
Vol.  VITI.  note  E.  Fines  and  imprisonment  were  of  course  the  most  usual  punishments 
decreed  ag-ainst  Non-conformists,  but  the  pillory,  whipping",  and  cutting*  off  the  ears 
were  freely  resorted  to.  Bishop  Aylmer,  of  London,  is  said  to  have  sent  a  young-  lady 
to  bo  whipped  for  refusing:  to  conform.  In  1577,  Roland  Jenks,  a  Catholic  bookseller, 
was  condemned  by  the  Convocation  to  have  his  ears  nailed  to  the  pillory,  and  to  deliver 
himself  by  cutting  them  off  with  his  own  hand ! 


SVFFERINGS  OF  THE  CATHOLICS.  581 

unfortunate  Queen  of  Scots  was  her  religion,  is  undeniable.  Again, 
the  enormous  amercements  for  recusancy,  especially,  weighed  heavily 
on  the  English  Catholics.  By  these  ruinous  fines,  the  rich  were 
impoverished,  and  the  middle  class  reduced  almost  to  beggary. 

222.  And  yet,  notwithstanding  this  barbarous  treatment,  the 
Catholics  in  England  continued  loyal  to  the  Queen  and  her  govern- 
ment. It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  all  who  were  martyred  for  their 
faith  under  this  reign,  with  one  solitary  exception,  acknowledged 
Elizabeth  as  their  lawful  Queen,  and  that  not  a  single  Catholic  in 
England  is  khown  to  have  openly  favored  and  aided  the  Spanish 
party.  When,  in  1588,  the  "Invincible  Armada"  threatened  the 
English  shores,  "it  was  then,"  writes  Hallam,  "that  the  Catholics  in 
every  county  repaired  to  the  standard  of  the  lord-lieutenant,  imploring 
that  they  might  not  be  suspected  of  bartering  the  national  independ- 
ence for  their  religion  itself.  It  would  have  been  a  sign  of  gratitude, 
if  the  laws  depriving  them  of  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion 
had  been,  if  not  repealed,  yet  suffered  to  sleep,  after  these  proofs  of 
loyalty.  But  the  execution  of  priests  and  other  Catholics  became,  on 
the  contrary,  more  frequent,  and  the  fines  for  recusancy  were  exacted 
as  rigorously  as  before."  ^ 

223.  Death  was  rapidly  thinning  the  numbers  of  the  clergy,  and 
there  was  danger  that  the  True  Faith  in  England  might  soon  die  out 
for  want  of  a  ministry.  To  prevent  this.  Dr.  William  Allen^  formerly 
principal  of  St.  Mary's  Hall,  Oxford,  opened,  in  1568,  a  seminary  in 
the  new  University  of  Douay,  in  order  to  train  priests  for  England. 
A-ided  by  liberal  contributions,  he  was  enabled  to  send  thither,  in  the 
course  of  five  years,  no  fewer  than  a  hundred  missionaries.  Similar 
institutions  were  founded  at  Rome  and  Madrid,  in  1576;  at  Valladolid 
in  1589^  at  St.  Omer,  in  1596;  at  Louvain,  in  1606;  and  at  other  pla- 
ces. Dr.  Allen,  who  was  born  in  1532,  was  created  cardinal,  in  1587, 
and  two  years  later,  archbishop  of  Molines.  He  died  at  Rome,  in 
1594. 

1.  The  Anglican  clerg-y  g-enerally  advocated  the  persecution  of  Catholics.  Arch- 
bishop Parker  complained  of  the  Queen's  lenity  in  not  absolutelj'  rooting-  them  out  I 
It  has  frequently  been  asserted  that  the  Catholic  martj'rs  under  Elizabeth  suffered  for 
treason,  and  not  for  religion.  If  it  was  right  to  declare  treason  the  profession  of  a 
religion  which  had  been  that  of  the  nation  for  nine  hundred  years,  then  the  English 
Catholics  were  traitors,  but  not  otherwise.  "  It  cannot  be  truly  alleged,"  says  Hallam, 
"that  any  greater  provocation  had  been  given  by  the  Catholics  than  that  of  pertinaciously 

continuing  to  believe  and  worship  as  their  fathers  had  done  before  them The 

statutes  (enacted  against  Catholics)  were,  in  many  instances,  absolutely  unjust;  in 
others,  not  demanded  by  circumstances;  in  almost  all,  prompted  by  religious  bigotry, 
by  excessive  apprehension,  or  by  the  arbitrary  spirit  with  which  our  government  was 
administered  under  Elizabeth." 


G83  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

224.  Elizabeth,  who  had  been  the  author  of  so  much  grief  to- 
others, was  destined  to  close  her  life  in  sorrow  and  despair.  Some 
time  before  her  death,  which  took  place  on  March  23,  1603,  she 
became  inconsolable  and  fell  into  a  moping  melancholy.  She  would 
sit  silent  in  her  chair  for  days  and  nights,  refusing  to  go  to  bed.  To 
those  who  sought  to  console  her,  she  replied  :  "  I  am  tied  with  an  iron 
collar  about  my  neck,  and  the  case  is  altered  with  me."  "  Many  have 
been  dazzled  with  the  splendor  of  her  life,"  says  Miss  Strickland,  in 
her  Lives  of  the  Queens  of  England,  "  but  few  even  of  her  most 
ardent  admirers,  would  wish  their  last  end  might  be  like^ers."  When 
the  archbishop  of  Canterbury  and  other  prelates  called  to  see  her,  the 
dying  Queen  was  much  offended  at  their  sight  and  exclaimed  :  "  Be 
packing  !  "  telling  them  she  was  no  atheist,  but  knew  full  well  that 
they  were  "hedge-priests" — thus  expressing  her  contempt  for  that 
"  hierarchy,"  which  she  herself  had  established.  The  private  life  of 
Elizabeth,  who  gloried  in  the  title  of  the  *' Virgin  Queen,"  was  sadly 
far  from  being  a  model  of  purity.  Her  amours  with  Leicester,  Essex, 
and  others,  were  open  and  notorious  and  have  been  detailed  by  even 
Protestant  writers.  Contemporaries  designate  the  court  of  the 
"  Virgin  Queen,"  as  a  place  in  which  all  the  enormities  reigned  in 
the  highest  degree.  A  proof  of  her  profligacy,  is  her  assent  to  an 
Act  of  Parliament,  which  secured  the  right  of  succession  to  her 
7iatural  issue} 

SECTION    XXII.       THE    CONDITION    OF   THE    CATHOLICS  UNDER  THE    FIKST 

STUARTS. 

Accession  of  James  I. — Disappointment  of  the  Catholics — Their  Treatment — 
James  rejects  the  Intercession  of  the  Spanish  King — The  Gunpowder 
Plot — Wrongfully  ascribed  to  the  Jesuits — New  Penal  Laws — Oath  of 
Allegiance — Condemned  by  the  Pope— Controversy  respecting  tfle  Oath 
—Number  of  Catholic  Martyrs  under  James— English  Protestant  Bibles— 
The  English  Mission  governed  by  Archpriests — Archpriest  Blackwell — 
Accession  of  Charles  I. — Treatment  of  the  Catholics— Fanaticism  of  the 
Puritans — Arminianism— Consequences  of  England's  Apostasy. 

225.  On  the  death  of  Elizabeth,  James  VI.  of  Scotland,  son  of 
Mary  Stuart  and  Lord  Darnley,  ascended  the  English  throne  as  James 
I.  (A.  D.  1603-1625).  He  assumed  the  title  of  King  of  "Great  Britain 
and  Ireland."  His  accession  was  hailed  with  joy  by  the  English 
Catholics,  who  were  led  to  expect,  if  not  religious  freedom,  at  least  a 
cessation  of  the  cruel  persecution  under  which  they  suffered.     But 

1.  Gobbet,  "  History  of  the  Protestant  Reformation  in  England,"  Letter  10.— See  Ling-- 
ard,  Vol.  VIII,  note  S.,  where  the  author  gives  some  particulars  about  Arthur  DudUy, 
one  of  the  supposed  children  of  Elizabeth  by  Leicester. 


THE  CATHOLICS  UNDER  THE  STUARTS.  SSS 

their  expectations  were  wofully  disappointed  by  James.  Under  him 
the  Catholics  were  treated  with  even  greater  severity  than  under  the 
preceding  reign,  being  subjected  to  all  kinds  of  cruel  vexations,  through 
the  intolerance  of  the  Puritan  faction. 

226.  Before  he  was  securely  seated  on  the  English  throne,  James 
had,  indeed,  bound  himself  to  the  Catholics  by  a  promise  of  toleration. 
But  the  fanaticism  of  the  Puritans,  who  accused  him  of  inclining  to 
"  Popery,"  caused  the  royal  coward,  called  by  Henry  IV.  of  France, 
"  the  wisest  fool  in  Christendom,"  to  retract  his  promise.  He  is- 
sued a  proclamation  ordering  the  magistrates  to  put  the  penal  laws 
against  Catholics  into  immediate  execution.  Severe  penalties  were  en- 
acted against  Catholic  parents  who  should  send  their  children  abroad  to 
be  educated  in  a  Catholic  college  or  seminary.  A  child  or  person  so 
sent,  was  declared  incapable  of  inheriting  or  enjoying  property  in  Eng- 
land, unless,  on  his  return,  he  should  conform  to  the  Established  Church ! 
Nor  could  any  one  teach  even  the  rudiments  of  grammar,  in  public  or 
in  private,  without  special  permission,  which,  of  course,  was  denied  to 
non-conformists. 

227.  The  alarmed  Catholics  petitioned  the  king  for  the  free 
exercise  of  their  religion  in  private  houses,  and  a  mitigation  of  the 
more  oppressive  laws  ;  they  offered  him  a  yearly  sum  in  lieu  of  the 
penalties  payable  by  law.  The  petition  of  the  afflicted  Catholics  was 
supported  by  the  Spanish  ambassador,  who  assured  James  that  Philip^ 
the  Spanish  monarch,  would  consider  every  indulgence  granted  to  the 
English  Catholics  as  done  to  himself.  But  James  remained  inexorable; 
he  declared  that  he  neither  would  nor  could  grant  toleration  to  his 
Catholic  subjects,  for  fear  of  offending  the  religious  feelings  of  his 
Protestant  subjects.  He  at  once  issued  a  proclamation  banishing  all 
the  Catholic  missionaries  from  the  kingdom,  and  ordered  the  magis- 
trates to  exact  all  arrears  of  the  monthly  payment  for  not  attending 
Protestant  worship.  From  the  exacted  fines  for  recusancy,  the  king 
derived  a  net  annual  income  of  thirty-six  thousand  pounds!  Hundreds 
of  Catholic  families  were  ruined,  being  deprived  of  the  last  remnant^ 
of  their  property. 

228.  The  great  body  of  the  English  Catholics,  though  sadly  dashed  • 
in  their  hopes,  submitted  without  opposition  to  the  new  inflictions 
after  so  many  others  they  had  endured,  and  patiently  awaited  the 
designs  of  Providence.  But  a  few  reckless  and  misguided  men,  driven 
to  desperation  by  the  tyrannous  treatment  of  their  Catholic  brethren 
and  the  treacherous  conduct  of  James,  formed  the  wicked  plan  of 
destroying,  by  one  blow,  the  authors  of  the  persecution.  They  con- 
ceived the  atrocious  design  called  the  GtmpoKder  Plot.,  the  execution 


584  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

of  which  they  fixed  on  the  openiDg  of  Parliament,  in  November,  ]  605. 
The  conspirators  acted  entirely  on  their  own  blinded  judgment,  and 
their  attempts  to  obtain  ecclesiastical  approval  of  the  mad  scheme 
had  utterly  failed.  Nor  did  they  receive  any  encouragement  from  the 
Catholic  party;  indeed,  Lord  Monteagle,  a  Catholic  peer,  to  whom  the 
plot  was  revealed,  at  once  forwarded  the  information  to  the  king. 
The  conspirators  were  apprehended  and  executed.  Among  those  who 
were  executed,  wrongfully  accused  of  the  gunpowder  treason,  were 
several  Jesuits,  who  had  no  knowledge  whatever  of  its  existence,  or 
like  Father  Garnet^  refused  to  violate  the  seal  of  confession.* 

229.  To  a  thinking  mind,  the  late  conspiracy  must  have  proved 
the  danger  and  impolicy  of  driving  men  to  desperation  by  religious 
persecution.  But  the  warning  was  lost,  and  the  gunpowder  plot  was 
made  the  pretext  for  new  rigors  against  Catholics.  Catholics  were 
forbidden  to  appear  at  court  and  to  live  within  ten  miles  of  the  bound, 
aries  of  London.  A  new  statute  required  not  only  attendance  at  the 
*'  reformed  worship,"  but  also  participation  in  the  communion,  as  a  test 
of  conformity,  and  made  it  optional  with  the  king  to  take  the  fine  of 
twenty  pounds  a  month  from  recusants,  or  two  thirds  of  their  lands. 
The  house  of  a  recusant  might  be  searched,  his  books  and  furniture, 
having  relation  to  his  religion,  might  be  burnt,  and  his  horses  might 
be  taken  from  him  at  any  time,  by  order  of  any  magistrate. 

230.  In  1606,  *' An  act  for  the  better  discovering  and  repressing  of 
Papist  Recusants,"  enacted  a  new  oath  of  allegiance,  a  kind  of  test- 
oath,  which  every  Catholic  was  compelled  to  take  under  the  penalties 
of  perpetual  imprisonment  and  the  forfeiture  of  his  personal  property. 
This  new  oath  became  the  cause  of  much  confusion  and  dissension 
among  the  English  Catholics.  The  missionaries  were  divided  in 
opinion.  While  some  maintained  its  lawfulness,  others,  particularly 
the  Jesuits,  condemned  it  as  captious  and  as  trespassing  on  the 
spiritual  authority  of  the  Pope. 

231.  The  reigning  Pope,  Paul  V.,  condemned  the  oath  of  allegi- 
ance as  unlawful  to  be  taken,  because  "it  contained  many  things  con- 
trary to  faith  and  salvation."     King  James,  who  jDrided  himself  very 

1.  Hostile  writers  have  ascribed  the  plot  to  the  whole  body  of  Catholics,  and  to  the 
Catholic  religrion,  as  if  Catholics  at  large  could  be  held  responsible  for  the  daring- deed  of 
a  few  desperadoes,  and  the  Catholic  religion  was  answerable  for  a  crime  which  it  always 
abhorred  and  condemned.  That  the  Jesuits  were  implicated  in  the  plot  is  simply  untrue; 
they,  on  the  contrary,  did  all  they  could  to  hinder  the  plot,  short  of  violating  the  seal  of 
confession.  Their  innocence  has  been  solemnly  attested  by  the  conspirators,  both  in 
their  trial  and  on  the  scafiCcld.  It  is  believed,  even  by  Protestant  writers,  that  the  plot 
was  a  political  contrivance,  planned  by  Cecil,  the  prime  minister,  to  furnish  the  g-overn- 
ment  with  a  pretext  for  persecuting  the  Catholics  as  enemies  of  the  state.  See  Cobbet, 
History  of  the  Reformation,  Letter  XII. 


THE  CATHOLICS  UNDER  THE  STUARTS.  585 

much  upon  his  knowledge  of  theology,  published  an  "Apology  for  the 
Oath  of  Allegiance,"  which  Cardinal  Bellarmin  met  with  a  "Response." 
The  papal  condemnation  of  the  oath  of  allegiance  was  followed  by 
the  execution  of  several  priests  and  the  imprisonment  of  numerous 
Catholics.  The  prisons  soon  overflowed  with  Catholic  recusants.  In 
1616,  about  4,000  sufferers  for  religion  were  in  prison  ;  and  in  1622, 
we  find  400  priests  languishing  in  confinement.  Twenty-five  were 
executed  for  their  faith,  under  James  I.,  of  whom  18  were  priests.^ 

232.  The  Catholic  hierarchy  having  disappeared  during  Eliza- 
beth's reign,  England  was  reduced  to  the  situation  of  a  missionary 
country,  and  the  necessity  for  a  recognized  head  of  the  Catholic  clergy 
in  that  country  had  become  very  urgent.  The  Holy  See,  believing  that 
the  time  for  the  restoration  of  episcopal  jurisdiction  was  inopportune, 
appointed  George  Blackwell  superior  of  the  English  mission,  with 
the  title  and  authority  of  *'Archpriest."  This  was  in  1598.  The  arch- 
priest  was  to  be  assisted  by  a  consultative  body  of  twelve  priests,  and 
to  govern  the  English  Church,  under  the  direction  of  a  cardinal  pro- 
tector. In  1608,  Blackwell,  on  account  of  his  course  about  the  new 
oath  of  allegiance,  which  he  obstinately  defended  as  lawful,  notwith- 
standing its  condemnation  by  the  Pope,  was  removed  from  oflSce  and 
superseded  by  George  Birkhead.  The  new  archpriest  governed  with 
great  tact,  but  was  not  able  to  effect  much,  in  consequence  of  the 
fierceness  of  the  persecution  then  prevailing*  The  government  of 
the  English  mission  under  an  archpriest  continued  till  the  year  1623, 
when  William  Bishop  was  appointed  and  consecrated  Yicar- Apostolic 
for  England.  Dr.  Bishop  dying  in  1624,  Dr.  Richard  Smith  was 
named  his  successor,  but  was  compelled  to  withdraw  into  France.  He 
died  in  1655. 

233.  The  accession  of  Charles  I.  (A.  D.  1625-1649),  caused  no 
material  change  in  the  treatment  of  the  English  Catholics.  Charlee, 
indeed,  regarded  the  professors  of  Catholicity  with  no  ill  will,  and 

1.  The  reign  of  King  James  I.  Is  noted  for  the  new  transl|p.tion  of  the  Bible,  the  so- 
called  "authorized  Version,"  made  for  the  express  use  of  the  Anglican  Church.  The 
work  was  committed  by  the  king  to  forty-seven  churchmen,  who  were  divided  into  six 
companies  of  translators,  and  was  completed  in  1611.  It  is  commonly  known  as  "Kingr 
James'  Bible."  Other  English  versions  made  by  Protestants  prior  to  this,  were  the  fol- 
lowing:—!. The  translation  of  William  Tyndal,  published  in  1525.— 2.  The  translation 
of  Miles  Coverdale,  afterwards  bishop  of  Coverdale,  in  1535.— 3.  "Matthew's  Bible,"  a 
revised  edition  of  the  preceding,  published  by  John  Rogers,  under  the  name  of  Thomaa 
Matthew,  in  1537.— 4.  The  "Great  Bible"  of  Henry  VIII.,  which  was  published  in  1540, 
under  the  direction  of  Cranmer,  whence  it  is  also  called  "Cranmer's  Bible."— 5.  The 
♦'Bishop's  Bible,"  made  under  the  supervision  of  Archbishop  Parker  and  published  in 
1568.— 6.  The  "Geneva  Bible,"  which  was  the  work  of  English  exiles  in  Geneva,  where  ifc 
•was  first  published,  in  1560.  That  all  these  translations  were  full  of  gross  errors,  no  un- 
prejudiced Protestant  even,  will  now  deny.  See  "  Ward's  Errata  of  the  Protestant  BxbU.** 
12 


586  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

would  gladly  have  granted  them  toleration,  but  he  had  to  cope  with 
the  bigotry  and  fanaticism  of  the  English  zealots.  His  consort,  Mary 
Henrietta,  of  France,  was  a  Catholic,  and,  by  the  matrimonial  con- 
tract, he  had  promised  free  exercise  of  religion  for  his  queen  and  her 
attendants,  and  some  relaxation  in  the  penal  laws  for  the  English 
Catholics.  This  was  too  much  for  the  intolerant  spirit  of  the  Puritan 
faction.  Whenever  Parliament  met,  their  sessions  resounded  with 
the  cry  of  "No  Popery,"  and  the  king  was  harrassed  with  petitions  to 
execute  more  rigorously  the  penal  laws  against  Catholic  recusants  and 
missionaries.  Charles,  unable  to  resist  this  outburst  of  popular  frenzy, 
issued  proclamations,  commanding  priests  to  quit  the  kingdom  and 
Catholic  parents  to  recall  their  children  from  foreign  schools,  in  order 
to  have  them  educated  in  Protestantism.  He  was  even  compelled  to 
sign  the  death  warrants  of  several  priests,  "to  advance  the  glory  of 
Almighty  God."  In  this  reign  and  during  the  great  rebellion  of 
Parliament  against  the  king,  twenty-three  Catholics  were  martyred. 
234.  It  was  left  for  the  unfortunate  Charles  I.  to  reap  the  bitter 
fruits  of  England's  apostasy  from  the  Catholic  Church,  The  fanatical 
sect  of  Puritans,  or  Presbyterians,  had  grown  very  powerful.  Adopt- 
ing the  Calvinist  doctrines  and  theory  of  Church  government,  they 
regarded  the  Episcopal,  or  High  Church,  party  with  great  dislike,  and 
aimed  at  obliterating  every  vestige  that  yet  reminded  of  Catholic 
worship.  They  assumed  to  combat  for  "pure  religion"  and  civil 
liberty,  and  proclaimed  the  duty  of  separation  from  the  Established 
Church,  which  they  charged  with  "Arminianism,"  a  name  which  then 
came  to  be  applied  to  all  those  who  asserted  the  divine  institution  of 
the  Episcopacy  and  the  dependence  of  the  Church  on  the  Crown. 
Having  gained  the  ascendency,  they  overthrew  both  the  monarchy 
and  the  Established  Church.  Their  rebellion  culminated  in  the  execu- 
tion of  Laud,  the  archbishop  of  Canterbury,  and  lastly,  of  the  king  him- 
self, in  1649.  The  nation  stood  aghast  at  the  crime  of  regicide,  but 
Cromwell's  "army  of  saints"  held  down  every  opposition  with  an  iron 
hand,  and  "Presbyterianism"  reigned  supreme  for  the  next  twenty 
years. 


PROTESTANTISM  IN  SCOTLAND,  687 


rV.    THE  REFORMATION  IN  SCOTLAND  AND  IRELAND. 


SECTION  XXIII.      PROTESTANTISM  IN  SCOTLAND. — JOHN  KNOX. 

XUondition  of  the  Clergy  and  People  in  Scotland  prior  to  the  Reformation — 
Abuse  of  Church  Patronage — First  Preachers  against  "  Popery" — James 
v.— Schemes  of  Henry  Vlll.of  England— Assassination  of  Cardinal  Bea- 
ton— John  Knox — Scotch  Nobility— First  Covenant— Knox's  Fanaticism — 
His  "  Rascal  Mob" — Reformation  at  Perth  and  elsewhere— Destruction 
of  Churches  and  Monasteries. 

235.  In  no  country  of  Europe,  perhaps,  was  the  progress  of  the 
"  Reformation"  more  rapid,  and  the  revolution  which  accompanied  it, 
more  radical  and  thorough,  than  in  Scotland,  This  was  owing  chiefly 
to  the  pitiable  condition  of  both  the  clergy  and  people  and  to  the 
fanaticism  and  violence  of  the  Scottish  "  Reformers."  In  the  years 
preceding  the  "Reformation,"  there  was  great  want  of  discipline 
among  the  clergy  of  Scotland,  both  secular  and  regular  ;  not  that  the 
whole  clerical  body  had  become  corrupt,  but  its  members  were 
largely  neglectful  of  their  priestly  duties  and  remiss  in  preaching  and 
in  instructing  the  flocks  committed  to  their  charge.  The  consequence  • 
was  that  the  people,  not  knowing  their  religion,  often  could  not  tell,' 
whether  what  the  sectaries  taught  them  was  true  or  not. 

236.  This  sad  state  of  affairs  was  the  necessary  evil  outcome  of 
the  scandalous  abuse  of  Church  patronage,  and  of  the  pernicioiife 
practice  of  conferring  ecclesiastical  benefices  on  laymen  in  commendam. 
The  illegitimate  sons  of  the  king  and  nobles  were  commonly  pro- 
vided for,by  conferring  on  them  the  richest  abbeys  and  priories.^  Such 
'^commendatories"  enjoying  the  incomes  of  the  benefices,  and  took  the 
title  of  abbots  or  priors,  but  committed  the  duties  of  their  office  to 
others.  Thbugh  they  seldom  took  orders,  they  were  nevertheless 
ranked  as  clergymen,  and  by  their  vices  brought  disgrace  upon  the 
clerical  state  and  the  Church.  Besides,  the  bishoprics  being  all  in  the 
gift  of  the  Crown,  they  were  not  seldom  conferred  on  men  who,  being 
void  of  all  piety  and  zeal,  concerned  themselves  little  about  the 
spiritual  welfare  of  their  flocks  and  the  moral  conduct  of  their 
inferiors. 

237.  The  first  preachers  against  "Popery"  in  Scotland  appeared 
during  the  reign  of  James  V.     But,  owing  to  the  firmness  of  that 

1.  Thus  five  Illegitimate  sons  of  James  V.  (amongst  them  James  Stuart,  after- 
wards Earl  of  Murray  and  Regent)  were  provided  with  some  of  the  most  lucrative 
benefices  in  the  country.  Patrick  Hamilton  (the  Protestant  "pro to-martyr  of  Scotland"  ) 
was  appointed  to  the  rich  abbey  of  Feme,  merely  because  of  his  "  noble"  birth. 


588  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

monarch  and  the  vigilance  of  the  two  Beatons,  (uncle  and  nephew)^ 
wlio  succeeded  one  another  in  the  archbishopric  of  St.  Andrews,  the 
"  Gospellers"  failed  in  their  attempts  against  the  Church.  In  1525,  the 
Scottish  Parliament  enacted  laws  prohibiting  the  preaching  of  new 
doctrines  and  the  importation  of  heretical  books.  Patrick  Hamilton, 
lay-abbot  of  Feme,  was  the  first  that  suffered  death  for  heresy  under 
these  laws. 

238.  Henry  VIH,  of  England,  who  had  declared  himself  "  Head 
of  the  English  Church,"  earnestly  desired  that  the  Scottish  king,  his 
nephew,  should  follow  his  example.  But  James,  on  whom  a  grateful 
people  conferred  the  honorable  title  of  the  "  Poor  Man's  King,"  refused, 
and  continued  true  to  the  Church  ;  and,  as  if  he  meant  to  condemn  the 
English  schism,  he,  in  1541,  caused  his  Parliament  to  pass  laws  in  sup- 
port of  the  Catholic  doctrine  and  the  papal  supremacy.  Thereupon 
Henry  declared  war,  with  the  avowed  object  of  conquering  Scotland, 
and  of  forcing  the  Scotch  monarch  to  join  in  the  new  crusade  against 
the  Church  of  God.  Unhappily  for  religion  and  Scotland,  the  Scotch 
nobles,  many  of  whom  favored  the  new  doctrines,  treacherously  de- 
serted their  king  ;  James  was  defeated  and  died  heartbroken,  in  1542. 

239.  The  untimely  death  of  James  V.,  was  most  fatal  to  religion 
and  to  the  kingdom.  The  infant  queen — Mary  Stuart — born  only  a 
few  days  before  her  father's  death,  became  the  object  of  contending 
ambitions,  rivalries,  and  hates,  which  were  to  pursue  her  remorselessly 
to  the  melancholy  end.  Encouraged  and  supported  by  the  English 
monarch,  the  "reforming"  faction  became  more  daring  ;  however,  one 
powerful  man  was  still  in  their  way.  This  was  Cardinal  Beaton.  An 
ardent  defender  of  the  Church,  a  far-sighted  statesman  and  true 
patriot,  Beaton  resolutely  opposed  the  designs  of  Henry  VIII.,  and 
the  "Reformers"  upon  the  religion  and  independence  of  Scotland. 
To  remove  the  barrier,  the  English  monarch  gave  his  sanction  to  a 
conspiracy  for  the  assassination  of  the  cardinal.  Among  the  con- 
spirators were  Wishart,  "the  martyr,"  and  other  persons  of  note. 
The  conspiracy  being  discovered,  Wishart  was  executed  (1545). 
But  another  plot  was  soon  set  on  foot  with  better  success.  Cardinal 
Beaton  was  foully  murdered  in  his  palace  at  St.  Andrews,  in  1546.^ 

240.  The  assassination  of  Cardinal  Beaton  was  the  beginning  of  a 
movement,  which  ended  in  the  overthrow  of  the  lawful  sovereign  and 

1.  "  If  Lesley  and  his  associates  were  not  at  first  incited  by  Henry  to  murder  the 
Cardinal,  they  were  in  the  sequel  powerfully  supported  by  him.  Notwithstanding  the 
silence  of  contemporary  historians,  there  are  violent  presumptions  of  the  former  ;  of 
the  latter  there  is  undoubted  certainty.  During  the  siege,  the  conspirators  received 
from  England  supplies  both  of  money  and  provisions."  W.  Robertson,  History  of 
Scotland,  Book  II. 


PROTESTANTISM  IN  SCOTLAND.  58& 

of  the  Catholic  religion  in  Scotland.  The  leader  of  the  movement, 
its  very  life  and  soul,  was  the  fanatical  John  Knox.  Born  in  1505,  he 
was  educated  for  the  Church  ;  he  took  priestly  orders,  in  1530.  To  show 
his  approbation  of  the  murder  of  Beaton,  over  which  he  exulted  as 
over  a  '^godly  fact,"  he  led  140  of  his  disciples  to  the  aid  of  the  con- 
spirators, who  had  taken  refuge  in  the  castle  of  St.  Andrews.  After 
the  capture  of  the  castle,  Knox  was  carried  a  prisoner  to  France  and 
sent  to  the  galleys.  Having  obtained  his  release,  he  went  to  England, 
where  he  remained  till  the  death  of  Edward  YI.,  when  he  retired  to 
Geneva  and  became  the  friend  of  Calvin.  In  1555,  he  married  Mar- 
jory Bowes.  It  was  at  Geneva  that  Knox  wrote  his  *'  Blast  of  the 
Trumpet  against  the  Monstrous  Regiment  of  Women^^''  which  gave 
great  offence  to  Queen  Elizabeth.  The  work  was  a  violent  tirade 
against  Mary  of  Guise,  Regent  of  Scotland,  and  Mary,  Queen  of 
England. 

241.  Meanwhile,  a  fierce  religious  struggle  was  in  progress.  The 
Scottish  Church  was  at  the  time  enormously  rich.  Apart  from  the 
vast  estates  of  the  religious  institutions,  the  annual  revenue  of  the 
Church  is  said  to  have  amounted  to  £350,000.  Many  of  the  Scotch 
nobles  flocked  to  the  "Reformation"  banner,  that  they  might  lay 
hold  on  the  treasures  and  lands  of  the  Church  I  Protestant  noblemen, 
headed  by  the  Earls  of  Argyle,  Glencaim,  and  Morton,  in  1557, 
formed  themselves  into  an  association  which  took  the  name  of  "  Con- 
gregation of  the  Lord"  and  signed  a  solemn  bond — First  Covenant — 
which  pledged  them  to  united  support  against  the  "  Congregation  of 
Satan",  as  they  called  the  Catholic  Church.  "  Abjuration  of  Popery 
and  of  Popish  Idolatry,"  by  which  were  understood  the  Mass,  Invoca- 
tion of  Saints,  Veneration  of  images,  and  other  Catholic  practices, 
were  the  chief  articles  of  their  agreement.  The  people  were  exhorted 
by  proclamation  to  "separate  themselves  from  the  Congregation  of 
Satan,  with  all  the  superstitious  abomination  and  idolatry  thereof." 
Knox  was  invited  to  return  to  Scotland,  for  all  things  were  now  ready 
for  setting  up  the  new  Kirh. 

242.  The  return  of  Knox  gave  a  new  impulse  to  the  fanaticism  of 
the  sectaries.  The  refusal  of  the  queen-regent,  Mary  of  Guise  (mother 
of  the  Queen  of  Scots),  to  reform  the  religion  of  the  kingdom  in  ac- 
cordance with  the  principles  of  the  "  First  Covenant,"  was  followed  by 
riots  throughout  the  country.  Knox  and  his  companions  went  about 
from  place  to  place  ranting  against  the  enormities  of  idolatry  and  the 
infamy  of  the  Pope — "the  beast,"  "the  man  of  sin,"  "the  Antichrist" 
— and  stirring  up  the  multitude  to  pull  down  "the  Synagogue  of 
Satan",  and  exterminate  "the  Canaanites"!     Inflamed  by  such  vio- 


590  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

lent  invectives,  "  the  rascal  mob,'*  as  Knox  himself  called  his  follow, 
ers,  rose  in  Perth,  and  with  tumultuary  violence,  fell  upon  the 
churches,  overturned  the  altars,  destroyed  images  and  pictures  ;  and 
proceeding  next  to  the  monasteries,  demolished  the  magnificent  Car- 
thusian abbey  and  other  convents.  In  the  language  of  "  the  Saints," 
as  the  sectaries  called  themselves,  Perth  was  "  reformed  !" 

243.  In  the  same  violent  and  barbarous  manner,  St.  Andrews, 
Crail,  Scone,  Stirling  and  other  towns  and  cities,  including  the  cap- 
ital, were  "reformed."  The  preachers,  the  fanatical  Knox  at  their 
head,  roused  the  people  to  arms,  and  wherever  they  came,  they  re- 
sumed their  reformatory  labor,  "  with  Gospel  in  one  hand  and  fire- 
brand in  the  other."  Monasteries  and  monuments  of  art  were  de- 
stroyed, the  ornaments  of  the  churches,  and  often  the  churches 
themselves,  were  given  to  the  flames.  These  outrages  manifest  the 
true  character  of  Puritanism  ;  it  is  not  only  against  "Popish  super- 
stition," but  against  the  "  sublime  and  beautiful"  that  the  Puritan 
revolts. 

SECTION  XXIV.      ESTABLISHMENT   OF  THE   SCOTTISH  '*  KIRK." 

The  "Lords  of  the  Congregation— The  Parliament  of  1560 — Penal  Statutes 
against  Catholics— Establishment  of  the  "Kirk" — Knox's  Book  of  Disci- 
pline—Mary Stuart  returns  to  Scotland— Her  Proclamation  regarding 
the  reformed  Religion — Knox,  her  relentless  enemy — Fanaticism  of  the 
Reformers — The  People  at  large  not  in  favor  of  the  new  Doctrines — Plots 
against  the  Queen— Overthrow  and  Execution  of  the  Queen  of  Scots — 
Her  Character — Triumph  of  Protestantism— Presbyterianism  established 
in  Scotland— Form  of  Church  Polity— Andrew  Melville— Episcopal 
Oovernment  abolished  in  the  Kirk — Attempts  to  revive  it  under  James 
VI.,  and  Charles  I. 

244.  The  death  of  the  queen-regent,  in  1560,  led  to  the  triumph 
of  Protestantism  in  Scotland.  The  young  queen,  Mary  Stuart,  being 
absent  in  France,  the  Catholics  were  left  without  protection.  Cath- 
olic priests  and  bishops  were  driven  from  their  houses,  and  the  lands 
and  the  property  of  the  Church  were  seized  upon  by  the  Protestant 
nobles  in  every  part  of  the  country.  Not  satisfied  with  their  first 
claim  of  toleration  for  their  religion,  the  "Lords  of  the  congregation  " — 
as  the  reformed  nobles  were  thenceforth  called — now  openly  aimed 
at  establishing  it  on  the  ruin  of  the  Old  Faith.  The  Scottish  Parlia- 
ment, in  which  the  adherents  of  the  "Congregation"  greatly  outnum- 
"bered  the  Catholics,  after  adopting  the  Genevan  Confession  of  Faith, 
enacted  laws  for  the  total  subversion  of  the  Catholic  Religion.  Three 
acts  were  passed.  The  first  abolished  the  Papal  Supremacy  in  the 
realm ;  the  second  repealed  all  previous  acts  in  favor  of  Catholics ; 


r 


THE  SCOTTISH  KIRK.  591 

the  third  prohibited  the  saying  or  hearing  of  the  Mass,  and  enacted, 
for  the  first  offense,  confiscation  of  property  and  corporal  punishment 
at  the  discretion  of  the  judge  ;  for  the  second,  banishment ;  and  for 
the  third,  death ! 

245.  Although  these  enactments  never  received  the  royal  assent, 
they  nevertheless  obtained  all  over  the  kingdom  the  weight  and  au- 
thority of  laws.  In  compliance  with  their  injunctions,  the  Catholic 
Religion  was  everywhere  overthrown  and  that  recommended  by  the 
■*'  Reformers"  established  in  its  place.  Not  deeming  it  expedient  to 
-depart  altogether  from  the  ancient  system,  Knox  proposed,  instead  of 
IdI shops,  to  appoint  "  superintendents"  in  different  parts  of  the  king- 
dom, who  were  empowered  to  inspect  the  life  and  conduct  of  the 
other  clergy.  To  give  greater  strength  and  consistency  to  his  system, 
he  composed  the  First  Book  of  Discipline^  which,  however,  because  it 
proposed  the  surrender  of  the  confiscated  Church  property  to  the  "re- 
formed teachers,"  did  not  receive  the  sanction  of  parliament.  The 
nobles  held  fast  the  prey  which  they  had  seized  ;  and  treated  the  pro- 
posal of  Knox  as  a  devout  imagination,  with  the  utmost  scorn. 

246.  When  Queen  Mary  Stuart  returned  to  Scotland  (1561),  she 
made  no  attempt  to  restore  the  old  religion  ;  she  only  demanded  toler- 
ation for  herself  and  her  attendants  and  the  free  exercise  of  her  re- 
ligion in  her  private  chapel  at  Holyrood.  In  order  to  quiet  the 
minds  of  those  who  had  embraced  the  "  reformed"  doctrine,  Mary  de- 
clared, **  that  until  she  should  take  final  orders  concerning  religion, 
with  advice  of  Parliament,  any  attempt  to  alter  or  subvert  the  relig- 
ion which  she  found  universally  practised  in  the  realm,  should  be 
deemed  a  capital  crime."  A  second  proclamation  to  the  same  effect, 
she  published  the  following  year.^  The  queen  also  committed  the  ad- 
ministration of  affairs  almost  entirely  to  Protestants.  Her  chief 
ministers  were  James  Stuart,  her  half  brother,  and  Lord  Maitland, 
both  Protestants. 

247.  But  nothing  could  satisfy  the  fanaticism  of  Knox  and  his 
partisans.  The  queen  was  constantly  insulted  and  her  servants  were 
beaten  and  even  threatened  with  death  for  attending  Mass,  which 
Knox  continued  to  denounce  as  the  grossest  idolatry.  '•  One  Mass," 
the  fanatic  declared,  "  was  more  fearful  to  him  than  if  ten  thousand 
armed  enemies  were  landed  in  any  part  of  the  realm."  The  General 
Assembly  of  the  Kirk  had  even  the  assurance  to  present  to  the  queen 
a  formal  demand  to  abolish  the  Mass  in  her  private  chapel  at  Holy- 
rood,  with  the  warning  "  that  idolatry  was  not  to  be  tolerated  in  the 

1.    Robertson.  Book  III,  p.  111. 


592  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

sovereign  any  more  than  in  the  subject,"  while  the  "  Congregation"^ 
were  discussing  the  question  whether  "  the  princess  being  an  idolater 
ought  to  be  obeyed  in  civil  matters."^ 

248.  The  people  at  large,  especially  m  the  northern  counties,  did 
not  favor  the  new  doctrines.  They  were  Catholic  at  the  core,  and 
were  opposed  to  Knox  and  his  Kirk.  But,  unfortunately,  at  this  time, 
a  very  large  portion  of  the  Scotch  was  held  in  the  fetters  of  an  iron 
feudalism  that  was  as  degrading  as  it  was  tyrannical.  They  were 
but  the  serfs  and  slaves  of  their  masters,  whose  doings  or  behests  they 
dared  not  question,  much  less  oppose.  Besides,  the  Catholic  party 
was  without  a  leader,  and  had  to  struggle,  not  only  against  the  govern- 
ment which  was  in  the  hands  of  the  Protestants,  and  against  hundreds- 
of  the  most  influential  men  in  their  own  country  who  had  em- 
braced the  principles  of  the  ''  Reformation"  from  motives  of  self -ag- 
grandisement, but  also  against  the  whole  might  of  England. 

249.  Knox  and  his  partisans  prosecuted  the  war  against  the  Catholic 
Church  with  unabated  and  ever  increasing  rancor.  Catholic  worship 
was  everywhere  suppressed.  Catholic  laymen  as  well  as  priests  were 
made  to  feel  the  rigor  of  the  penal  laws  of  1560.  In  1563,  Arch- 
bishop Hamilton  of  St.  Andrews  was,  with  a  number  of  other 
Catholics,  imprisoned  for  "  practising  the  idolatry  of  the  Mass."  How- 
ever it  is  only  just  to  say,  that  in  comparison  with  the  wholesale 
butcheries  of  England,  Scottish  history  supplies  but  few  examples  of 
the  enforcement  of  capital  punishment.  Sentence  of  death  was  in. 
some  instances  pronounced  upon  Catholics,  yet  the  penalty  was  gen- 
erally commuted  into  perpetual  banishment. 

250.  The  unfortunate  Queen  of  Scots  was  powerless  to  quell  the 
storm  which  Knox  and  other  enemies  of  her  faith  had  aroused  against 
her  authority  and  her  person.  The  attitude  of  the  Protestant  Lords, 
who  were  all  along  encouraged  and  supported  in  their  plots  and  trea- 
sonable attempts  against  their  sovereign  by  the  crafty  queen  and 
statesmen  of  England,  became  every  day  more  threatening.  Her 
unnatural  brother,  the  Earl  of  Murray,  headed  the  combination  of  the 
rebellious  lords  who  forced  her  to  sign  a  deed  of  abdication,  A.  D., 

1.  During  the  queen's  absence  on  a  "progress"  in  the  North,  the  magistrates  of 
Edinburg  issued  a  proclamation  commanding  "  all  monks,  friars,  priests,  nuns,  adulter- 
ers, fornicators,  and  all  such  filthy  persons,  to  remove  themselves  out  of  this  town  and 
bounds  thereof,  within  .twenty-four  hours,  under  pain  of  carting  through  the  town, 
burning  on  the  cheek,  and  for  the  third  offense,  to  be  punished  with  death."  Mary,  on 
her  return  to  the  capital  rescinded  the  mandate;  and  so  in  the  boorish  language  of  Knox, 
"the  queen  took  upon  her  greater  boldness  than  she  and  Balaam's  bleating  priests  durst 
have  attempted  before.  And  so  murderers,  adulterers,  thieves,  w— s,  drunkards,  idol- 
aters, and  all  malefactors,  got  protection  under  the  queens  wings,  under  color  that  they 
were  of  her  religion.    And  so  got  the  devil  freedom  again."    Mac  Leod,  Queen  of  Scots. 


THE  SCOTTISH  KIRK.  ^  693 

1567.     Saving  nothing  but  her  faith,  she  fled  to  England,  where,  in- 
stead of  an  asylum,  she  found  a  dreary  dungeon. 

251.  Abandoned  even  by  her  son,  on  whose  affection  she  had 
rested  her  fondest  hopes,  the  helpless  princess,  after  a  captivity  of 
nineteen  years,  was  brought  to  trial ;  and  upon  a  variety  of  slanderous 
and  atrocious  charges,  was  sentenced  to  death  and  executed  by  order 
of  her  sanguinary  royal  cousin,  Elizabeth,  A.  D.,  1587.  Mary  died 
with  truly  Christian  fortitude,  professing  to  the  end  the  Catholic  faith, 
which,  even  on  the  scaffold,  she  was  rudely,  but  vainly,  importuned  to 
abjure  by  the  fanatical  Dr.  Fletcher,  Dean  of  Petersborough.  Her 
private  life  and  the  motives  that  actuated  her  public  career,  so  far  as 
she  was  free  to  pursue  it,  have  been  triumphantly  vindicated  from  the 
charges  and  insinuations  of  bigoted  calumniators,  by  unimpeachable 
documentary  histor}",  given  in  the  pages  of  the  latest  authors,  worthy 
of  the  name  of  historians.  Her  character  and  bearing  throughout 
the  most  grievous  trials,  are  certainly  among  the  grandest  on  record. 

252.  The  overthrow  of  Mary  Stuart  involved  the  downfall  of  the 
Catholic  party  and  the  final  triumph  of  Protestantism  in  Scotland.  In 
3  567,  Parliament  met ;  all  the  acts  of  1560  in  favor  of  the  Protestants 
were  ratified ;  new  statutes  to  the  same  effect  were  enacted.  It  was 
provided  that  henceforth  no  prince  should  be  admitted  to  the  govern- 
ment without  taking  the  oath  to  maintain  the  Protestant  system.  In 
fact  nothing  that  contributed  to  efface  every  vestige  of  Catholicity,  or 
to  encourage  the  growth  of  the  new  tenets,  was  left  undone.  To 
secure  uniformity  in  conventicle  service,  Knox  compiled  his  Book  of 
dymmon  Order,  that  long  continued  in  use  in  the  Scottish  Kirk,  of 
which  he  is  the  acknowledged  founder.  He  died  in  1572  ;^  and  his 
place  was  filled  by  the  equally  fanatical  Andrew  Melville. 

253.  The  form  of  Protestantism  established  in  Scotland  was  the  ex- 
treme of  Presbyteriamsm,  w^hich  Knox  had  drawn  from  the  rigid  school 
of  Calvin.  The  new  Kirk  was  in  reality  a  religious  republic,  being 
governed  by  presbyters  instead  of  bishops.  The  form  of  church 
polity  included  four  elective  courts,  composed  partly  of  ministers, 
partly  of  laymen.  1.  The  ^'Parochial  Assembly"  consisted  of  the 
presiding  minister  and  lay  elders.  2.  The  '*  Presbytery"  included 
several  parochial  assemblies.  3.  The  "  Synod,"  or  "Provincial 
Assembly,"  represented  a  proportionally  larger  division  of  the  Kirk. 


1.  Knox  was  twice  married.  At  the  ag-e  of  sixty,  he  married  a  girl  of  sixteen, 
Margaret,  daughter  of  Lord  Ochiltree.  Bj-  contemporary  Scotch  writers  Knox  is  charged 
■with  almost  every  moral  turpitude.  See  Spalding,  History  of  the  Reformation,  Vol.  II, 
Jfote  F. 


594  ,  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

4.  The  "  General  Assembly"  formed  the  Great  Council  of  the  national 
Church.  It  was  supreme  in  matters  of  faith  and  discipline,  and  owed 
no  allegiance  but  to  Christ,  its  spiritual  sovereign  ! 

254.  This  form  of  church  polity  is  minutely  laid  down  in  the 
Second  Book  of  Discipline^  which  was  chiefly  the  work  of  Andrew 
Melville.  James  VI.,  who  succeeded  to  the  government  of  the  king-^ 
dom,  in  15*78,  manifested  a  great  dislike  to  Presbyterianism,  and,  side 
by  side  with  the  ministers  of  the  Kirk,  maintained  a  small  Protestant 
"hierarchy!"  But  these  "bishops" — devisedly  called  by  the  Scotch 
people  Tulchan  bishops — were  merely  nominal,  though  receiving 
episcopal  revenues  !  In  1581,  the  General  Assembly  resolved  ta 
abolish  "episcopacy,"  and  James  was  unable  to  prevent  it.  In  1592, 
Presbyterianism  was  formally  established  by  Act  of  Parliament  and 
confirmed  by  King  James. 

255.  After  his  accession  to  the  English  throne,  James  again  re- 
stored "  episcopacy"  in  Scotland.  No  change,  however,  was  made,  in 
the  established  form  of  worship.  The  attempt  made  by  Charles  I.,  to 
substitute  the  English  Prayer  Booh,  for  the  BooJc  of  Common  Ordery 
led  to  the  outbreak  of  the  civil  war.  The  Presbyterian  party,  in  1638, 
signed  the  Second  Covenant,  for  the  defense  of  their  national  church. 
Soon  the  whole  country  was  in  arms.  The  Scotch  "  Covenanters" 
united  with  the  English  rebels  ;  and,  when  after  his  defeat  at  Naseby 
in  1645,  Charles  took  refuge  among  the  Scots,  they  basely  delivered 
their  king  to  the  English  army,  for  the  sum  of  £400,000. 

SECTION  XXV.      FUTILE  ATTEMPTS  OF  THE  KEFQRMERS  IN  IRELAND. 

Ireland  under  Henry  VIII — Irish  Parliament  of  1536 — Acts  in  favor  of  the 
Reformation— Constancy  of  the  Irish  Bishops — Dr.  Browne  of  Armagh — 
Suppression  of  Monasteries— Reformers'  Attempts  under  Edward  VI — 
Restoration  under  Queen  Mary— Attempts  to  reform  Ireland  under 
Elizabeth — Penal  Statutes — Suffering  of  the  Clergy — Irish  Martyrs— 
Geraldine  War  —  Wholesale  Confiscation  —  Catholic  Ireland  under 
James  I.,  and  Charles  I. — Constancy  of  the  Irish  Catholics— Irish  Col- 
leges and  Seminaries. 

256.  The  imperious  Henry  VIII.,  who  was  determined  to  rule  in 
Ireland,  as  thoroughly  and  effectively  as  he  ruled  in  England,  bent  all 
his  energies  to  force  the  royal  supremacy  and  his  religious  system  on 
the  Irish  nation.  He  employed  Thomas  Cromwell  to  execute  his 
will.  The  royal  vice-gerent  commenced  his  work  by  the  same  meas- 
ures which  met  with  so  great  success  in  England.  In  1536  a  Parlia- 
ment was  summoned   from  which  the  spiritual  proctors,   who  had 


J 


REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND,  695 

hitherto  voted  in  the  Irish  parliaments,  were  excluded;  it  thus  became 
an  obedient  tool  in  the  hands  of  the  English  government. 

257.  It  confirmed  Henry  YIII.  and  his  successors,  in  the  title  of 
"  Head  of  the  Church  of  Ireland,^"*  with  power  of  correcting  errors  in 
religion  !  All  appeals  to  Rome  were  prohibited,  and  the  Pope's  au- 
thority was  declared  an  usurpation.  An  "  Oath  of  Supremacy"  was 
imposed  on  all  ecclesiastical  and  lay  officers,  and  the  refusal  to  take 
this  oath  was  made  high-treason.  Other  acts  regarding  the  spiritual 
administration  were  passed  in  quick  succession.  The  same  Parlia- 
ment, in  1541,  proclaimed  Henry  King  of  Ireland} 

258.  Henry's  innovations  in  religion  were  viewed  with  abhorrence 
by  the  Irish.  The  bishops  in  a  body,  with  Cromer,  primate  of 
Armagh,  at  their  head,  vigorously  opposed  them.  Only  Dr.  Browne, 
an  apostate  English  Augustinian,  who,  on  the  death  of  Archbishop 
Allen  in  1534,  had  been  thrust  by  Henry  into  the  See  of  Dublin,  fa- 
vored the  impious  changes.  Browne,  a  rank  Lutheran  at  heart,  was 
commissioned  by  the  king,  and  by  Cranmer,  his  consecrator,  to  dis- 
seminate at  once  the  novel  teachings  throughout  Ireland.  The  intrud- 
ing prelate  commenced  the  work  of  "  reform,"  by  demolishing  the 
images  and  relics  of  the  Saints  in  the  churches  of  his  diocese.  Among 
the  relics  destroyed  by  the  vandal  *'  Reformers,"  was  the  crozier  of  St. 
Patrick — "  Staff  of  Jesus" — which  had  ever  been  highly  venerated  in 
Ireland. 

259.  The  destruction  of  images  and  relics  was  followed  by  the 
suppression  of  the  monasteries.  The  first  grant  of  religious  houses 
made  to  the  king  by  the  "Irish"  Parliament  of  1536,  comprised  three 
hundred  and  seven  monasteries.  In  the  following  year,  eight  abbeys 
were  suppressed  ;  and,  in  1538,  an  order  was  issued  for  the  suppression 
of  all  monasteries  and  abbeys.  Many  of  the  religious  houses  were 
totally  destroyed  and  their  inmates  put  to  death,  for  their  devoted  at- 
tachment to  the  Catholic  faith.**  The  pretext  for  the  destruction  of 
tbe  monasteries  w^as  of  course  the  same  in  Ireland  as  in  England — 
th^ir  need  of  "  reformation."  But  the  main  incentive  which  stimu- 
lated the  tyrannical  Henry  YIII.  to  the  suppression  of  these  institu- 

1.  "  The  Parliament  which  had  fabricated  the  above  named  laws,  and  by  which  the 
schism  of  Henry  VIIT,  was  introduced  into  Ireland,  was  the  Parliament  of  the  English 
province  and  not  that  of  all  Ireland;  it  was  composed  solely  of  Englishmen  by  birth  or 
origin  ;  the  ancient  Irish  had  no  seat  in  it;  they  were  excluded  from  all  offices  in  the 
militia  and  magistracy,  which  is  the  cause  of  their  being  scarcely  ever  mentioned  by 
English  writers."    Mac  Geoghegan. 

2.  See  Cardinal  Moran,  History  of  the  Catholic  Archbishops  of  Dublin,  where 
••  some  particular  instances  of  the  sufferings  of  the  Religious  Orders"  are  recorded  by 
the  illustrious  author. 


596  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

tions,  was,  besides  the  desire  to  appropriate  their  treasures,  his  hatred 
for  their  inmates,  who  were  the  chief  opponents  of  his  "royal 
supremacy." 

260.  Under  Edward  VI.  every  effort  was  employed  to  thrust  on  the 
Irish  people  the  new-fangled  Anglican  service.  In  1550,  the  bishops 
were  summoned  before  the  royal  deputy,  Sir  Anthony  St.  Leger,  to  re- 
ceive the  new  liturgy.  Dr.  Dowdall,  who  had  been  appointed  by  Henry 
VIII.  to  the  primatial  See  of  Armagh,  vigorously  opposed  the  inno- 
vation. His  example  was  imitated  by  all  the  Irish  bishops  ;  the  only 
prelates  who  accepted  the  royal  order,  were  Browne,  of  Dublin, 
Staples,  of  Meath,  Travers,  of  Leighlin,  and  Lancaster,  of  Kildare — all 
Englishmen,  who  had  been  obtruded  into  their  respective  sees,  under 
the  preceding  reign. 

261.  The  accession  of  Queen  Mary  and  the  restoration  of  the 
Catholic  worship  were  hailed  by  the  Irish  with  great  rejoicing.  Dr. 
Dowdall,  who,  by  his  sufferings  for  the  Catholic  cause,  had  merited  to 
be  confirmed  by  the  Holy  See  as  successor  to  the  deceased  Arch- 
bishop Wauchop,  of  Armagh,  convened  a  National  Synod  in  1554,  at 
Drogheda,  where  decrees  were  passed  providing  for  the  cprrection  of 
morals  and  restoring  the  ancient  rights  of  the  Church.  The  Irish  Par- 
liament, meeting  in  1556,  annulled  the  **  Act  of  Royal  Supremacy," 
and  restored  the  authority  of  the  Pope  in  spiritual  matters.  The 
Catholic  faith  was  fully  re-established  throughout  the  whole  island  ; 
nevertheless,  Protestants  were  left  unmolested  in  the  practice  of  their 
peculiar  worship.  Many  Protestant  families,  who  had  to  flee  from 
England  during  Mary's  reign,  found  a  refuge  and  hospitable  home  in 
Ireland. 

262.  When  Elizabeth  succeeded  to  the  English  throne,  a  system 
of  cruel  oppression  was  inaugurated  against  Catholic  Ireland,  which 
continued,  with  little  interial^sion,  until  the  close  of  her  long  reign. 
In  1560,  a  Parliament  was  convened  in  Dublin,  for  the  purpose  of 
"  setting  up  the  worship  of  God  as  it  was  in  England."  Yet,  the  bill 
which  re-established  the  royal  supremacy,  met  with  violent  oppo- 
sition and  was  carried  only  by  fraud  and  deception  practised  on  the 
majority  by  the  queen's  agents. 

263.  It  was  decreed  that  the  queen  was  the  Head  of  the  Church  of 
Ireland,  and  that  the  **  Book  of  Common  Prayer"  should  be  used  in- 
stead of  the  Roman  Liturgy.  A  fine  of  twelve  pence  was  imposed  on 
every  person  who  should  not  attend  the  new  service  ;  bishops  were 
to  be  appointed  only  by  the  Crown.  All  officers  and  ministers,  ecclesias- 
tics or  laymen,  were  bound  to  take  the  oath  of  supremacy.  Any  person 


REFORMATION  IN  IRELAND.  597 

maintaining  the  spiritual  supremacy  of  the  Pope  was  to  suffer  the 
confiscation  of  all  his  property,  for  the  first  offense  ;  the  penalties  of 
Praemunire,  for  the  second  ;  and  be  adjudged  guilty  of  high-treason, 
for  the  third.  In  1566,  The  Book  of  Articles,  copied  from  the  English 
Articles,  was  published  as  the  standard  of  doctrine  in  the  Church  of 
Ireland,  by  order  of  the  "  Commissioners  for  Causes  Ecclesiastical." 

264.  These  laws  were  not  destined  to  remain  a  dead  letter  ;  they 
were  enforced  with  the  utmost  severity,  especially  against  the  clergy. 
In  1561,  Catholic  priests  and  friars  were  prohibited  from  meeting  in 
Dublin,  or  even  sojourning  within  the  city's  gates.  A  price  was  set 
upon  the  heads  of  Irish  priests,  as  upon  the  heads  of  wild  beasts 
of  prey ;  they  were  compelled  to  wander  from  place  to  place  and  to 
fiee  for  safety  to  mountain  recesses.  In  1591,  a  royal  proclamation 
commanded  all  the  natives  of  Ireland  to  give  to  the  government  the 
names  of  the  priests  and  religious  who  had  visited  their  houses  with- 
in the  past  fourteen  months,  and  enacted  the  penalties  of  high- treason 
against  any  one  harboring  or  relieving  a  priest. 

265.  The  sufferings  to  which  the  faithful  pastors  of  the  Irish 
Catholics  were  subjected  under  the  reign  of  Elizabeth,  recall  the 
worst  days  of  Nero  and  Domitian.  Bishops  and  priests  were  hunted 
down  like  wild  beasts,  and,  when  arrested,  made  to  endure  the  most 
frightful  tortures.  Some  priests  were  beaten  with  stones,  on  their 
tonsured  heads,  till  their  brains  were  exposed.  Some  had  pins  put 
beneath  the  nails  of  their  fingers,  or  the  nails  themselves  torn  out  by 
the  roots.  Some  were  racked  or  pressed  beneath  heavy  weights  ; 
whilst  others  actually  saw  their  entrails  protrude  and  their  flesh  torn 
from  their  bodies  by  iron  combs. 

266.  Amongst  the  more  illustrious  Irish  martyrs  who  suffered 
under  Elizabeth  for  their  faith,  was  the  venerable  Dermot  O'Hurley, 
archbishop  of  Cashel :  arrested  by  order  of  the  Protestant  "arch- 
bishop" of  Armagh,  he  was  slowly  burned  to  death.  Patrick  O'Hely, 
Bishop  of  Mayo,  was  executed  with  an  uncommon  degree  of  barbarity. 
So  were  Bishops  Walsh,  of  Meath,  and  O'Brien  of  Emly.  Arch- 
bishop Creach,  of  Armagh,  was  chained,  thrown  into  prison,  and 
finally  put  to  death  by  poison.  An  almost  countless  number  of 
priests,  secular  and  regular — the  latter  chiefly  Franciscan  and  Cister- 
cian friars — were  put  to  death  for  the  exercise  of  their  priestly 
functions. 

267.  Nor  were  the  laity  exempt  from  persecution.  They  were 
deprived  of  their  liberties,  in  innumerable  instances,  of  their 
property,  and  even  of  the  opportunity  of  worship.     Wherever  the 


598  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

English  agents  penetrated,  the  monasteries  were  ransacked  and  de- 
stroyed, the  churches  desecrated,  and  the  altars  overthrown.  The 
Irish,  notwithstanding  their  weak  resources,  were  determined  to  put 
a  stop  to  these  high-handed  acts  of  persecution.  Having  received 
promises  of  assistance  from  the  Pope,  and  the  King  of  Spain,^  they  rose 
in  revolt — "  Geraldine  War,"  1579 — for  the  defense  of  their  country 
and  their  faith.  But  the  Irish  chieftains — the  Desmonds,  O'Neills^ 
O'Donnells  and  others — not  acting  in  concert,  were  defeated  in  detaiL 
268.  The  usual  sequel  of  every  suppression  of  rebellion  was  the 
forfeiture  of  the  lands  of  the  insurgents  to  the  Crown.  Thus  the 
estates  of  the  Earl  of  Desmond,  comprising  570,000  acres,  were  con- 
fiscated and  bestowed  on  the  English  and  Scotch  adventurers  who 
were  to  form  the  nucleus  of  that  odious  "  Plantation"  from  which 
was  to  spring  the  turbulent  faction  to  be  known  later  on  as  the 
"Orangemen".  The  policy  of  the  English  government  was  not  to 
subdue,  but  to  destroy.  By  the  advice  of  the  poet  Spenser,  who  him- 
self obtained  large  estates  in  Ireland,  a  plan  for  the  extermination  of 
the  Irish  race  was  definitely  adopted !  Wholesale  massacres  of  Irish 
Catholics  by  the  English  were  of  frequent  occurrence.  Even  women 
and  children  were  successively  murdered.  A  well-planned  famine 
removed  the  fugitives  who  escaped  the  sword. 

269.  The  accession  of  James  I.,  on  whose  promises  they  had 
rested  their  fondest  hopes,  brought  the  Irish  Catholics  no  relief. 
Following  in  the  steps  of  the  late  queen,  James  caused  the  existing 
penal  laws  to  be  put  in  force  against  the  Catholic  clergy  and  recusants, 
and  commanded  all  priests  and  religious  to  withdraw  from  the  king- 
dom. Confiscations  continued  as  during  the  preceding  reign.  In 
3  610,  six  whole  counties  in  Ulster  were  by  one  decree  declared  the 
property  of  the  Crown.  In  Dublin,  Waterf ord,  Westmeath,  Longford 
and  other  counties  immense  tracts,  amounting  to  over  400,000  acres,, 
were  confiscated.     The  spirit  of  religious  persecution  under  James, 

1.  "  The  Roman  Pontiffs,  as  rulers  of  the  Papal  States,  the  Emperors  of  Germany, 
as  heads  of  the  German  Empire,  and  the  Kings  of  Spain  and  France,  always  covertly, 
and  sometimes  openly,  received  the  envoys  of  O'Neill,  Desmond,  and  O'Donnell,  and 
openly  dispatched  troops  and  fleets  to  assist  the  Irish  in  their  strugrgrle  for  their  de  factxy 
independence.  All  this  was  in  perfect  accordance,  not  merely  with  the  authority  which 
Catholic  powers  still  recognized  in  the  authority  of  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  but  even  with 
the  new  order  of  things  which  Protestantism  had  introduced  into  Western  Europe,  and 
which  England,  as  henceforth  a  leading  Protestant  power,  had  accepted  and  eagerly  em- 
bracM.  By  the  rejection  of  the  supreme  arbitration  of  the  Popes,  on  the  part  of  the 
new  heretics,  Europe  lost  its  unity  as  Christendom,  and  naturally  formed  itself  into 
two  leagues,  the  Catholic  and  Protestant.  An  oppressed  Catholic  nationality,  above  all 
a  weak  and  powerless  one,  had,  therefore,  the  right  of  appeal  to  the  great  powers." 
Thebaud,  The  Irish  Race. 

r 


RE  FORMA  TION  IN  IRELAND.  599- 

was  exhibited  in  many  cruel  executions.     Bishop  Conor  O'Devany,  of 
Down,  suffered  martyrdom  with  heroic  constancy,  in  1611. 

270.  Charles  I.,  who  succeeded  James  I.,  was  disposed  to  grant 
to  the  Irish  Catholics  religious  toleration  and  even  allow  them  some 
other  privileges — known  as  the  "  Royal  Graces" — without  taking  the 
oath  of  supremacy.  But  the  bigotry  of  the  Protestant  clergy  would 
not  allow  the  king  to  do  justice  to  the  Catholics  of  Ireland.  In  1626, 
we  find  an  assemblage  of  Protestant  bishops,  under  the  guidance  of 
the  famous  Usher,  archbishop  of  Armagh,  denouncing  toleration  of 
the  Catholic  worship  a  heinous  crime,  and  calling  upon  those  in  au- 
thority to  resolutely  oppose  all  "Popery,  superstition,  and  idolatry." 
This  declaration  produced  the  desired  effect.  Charles  ordered  the 
penal  statutes  against  the  adherents  of  the  old  faith  to  be  enforced, 
and  the  bitter  persecutions  of  the  Irish  Catholics  were  renewed. 

271.  The  horrible  penal  enactments  by  which  the  English  gov- 
ernment sought  to  thrust  the  Reformation  on  Catholic  Ireland,  in- 
flicted frightful  evils  on  that  country;  but  they  utterly  failed  of  their 
object.  The  Anglican  Establishment  which  had  been  imposed  by 
brute  force  and  was  used  as  a  means  of  anglicising  the  Irish,  never 
got  a  firm  footing  in  the  island.  The  Irish  people  adhered  firmly  to 
the  religion  of  their  forefathers,  and  persecution  served  only  to  in- 
tensify their  steadfastness  in  the  Catholic  faith  and  their  loyalty  to 
the  Holy  See. 

272.  By  the  penal  statutes  of  Elizabeth  and  her  successors,  not 
only  were  Catholic  schools  interdicted  at  home,  but  the  Irish  youtk 
was  prohibited  to  seek  instruction  abroad.  To  remedy  this  evil  and 
to  supply  the  persecuted  Church  of  Ireland  with  missionaries,  colleges, 
and  seminaries  were  established  in  various  places  on  the  continent. 
Philip  III.,  of  Spain^took  the  lead  in  founding  the  Irish  continental 
colleges.  The  cities  of  Madrid,  Seville,  Salamanca,  Compostella,  and 
Valence  were  adorned  with  institutions  which  for  many  years  sup- 
plied the  Irish  Church  with  missionaries.  Dr.  Eugene  Mathews,^  Arch- 
bishop of  Dublin,  was  the  founder  of  a  new  seminary  for  secular 
priests  at  Louvain.  Owing  to  the  various  continental  seminaries,  the 
number  of  priests  rapidly  increased,  and  the  succession  of  pastors 
was  maintained  uninterrupted  in  the  Irish  Church. 


1.  For  particulars  of  the  life  of  this  zealous  prelate  and  that  of  his  distinguished 
successor.  Dr.  Thomas  Fleming,  who  governed  the  See  of  Dublin  under  the  most  trying 
circumstances  during  the  reigns  of  James  I.  and  Charles  I.,  the  reader  is  referred  to 
Cardinal  Moran,  "  History  of  the  Catholic  Archbishops  of  Dublin." 


600  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

V.     THE     REFORMATION  IN    FRANCE   AND  NORTHERN  EUROPE. 


SECTION    XXVI. — PROTESTANTISM    IN     PRANCE — THE    HUGUENOTS. 

Spread  of  Protestantism — Causes — Fanaticism  of  the  Huguenots — Plots  and 
Insurrections— Elizabeth  of  England  aids  the  Huguenot  Rebels — Affair  of 
Vassy — Civil  War — Horrid  excesses  committed  by  the  Huguenots — 
Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew — Pope  Gregory  XIII. — Number  of  Victims 
— Henry  of  Navarre — Edict  of  Nantes — Cardinal  Richelieu — Revocation 
of  the  Edict  of  Nantes. 

273.  Various  circumstances  contributed  to  prepare  the  way  for 
the  introduction  of  Protestantism  in  France.  The  pernicious  influ- 
ence which  the  sects  in  Southern  France,  especially  the  Waldenses, 
continued  to  exercise  among  the  people  ;  the  frequent  conflicts  of  the 
French  kings  with  the  Popes,  which  could  not  but  be  hurtful  to  the 
cause  of  the  Church  ;  their  arbitrary  interference  in  affairs  purely 
ecclesiastical  ;  the  appointment  of  bishops  who  afterwards  proved 
more  servile  to  the  king,  than  obedient  to  the  Holy  See — these  and 
•other  circumstances  concurred  to  pave  the  way  for  the  new  faith. 

274.  Moreover,  Francis  I.  and  his  successors,  by  allying  themselves 
with  the  Lutheran  princes  of  Germany  against  the  Catholic  Emperor, 
had,  though  unwillingly,  favored  the  spread  of  Protestant  ideas  in 
France,  where  Calvinism  had  already  gained  a  wide-spread  influence, 
especially  among  the  nobility.  Protestantism  early  numbered  among 
its  votaries  persons  of  rank,  and  even  princes  of  the  royal  blood. 
Berquin,  the  counsellor  of  state  ;  Bellay,  the  king's  chamberlain  ;  his 
brother,  the  bishop  of  Paris  ;  Queen  Margaret  of  Valois,  the  sister, 
and  Madam  d'Etampes,  the  profligate  mistress  of  Francis  I.,  were 
•ardent  admirers  of  the  new  faith.  The  first  Protestant  community  in 
France  was  organized  at  Meaux  by  William  Farel,  who  is  described  by . 
Erasmus  ^'^as  the  most  arrogant,  abusive,  and  shameless  man  he  had 
ever  met  with.'' 

275.  Relying  on  the  protection  of  their  powerful  patrons,  the 
Huguenots,  as  the  French  Protestants  were  called,  broke  through  all 
restraints  of  law  and  order.  The  emblem  of  the  Redemption,  a  statue 
of  the  Blessed  Virgin,  or  any  sacred  image  would  arouse  their  rage 
and  provoke  them  to  atrocious  profanations.  Among  the  intolerant, 
not  to  say,  sacrilegious  acts  of  the  lawless  sectaries  were  the  mutilation 
of  a  public  statue  of  the  Virgin  Mary  and  the  Infant  Jesus  ;  the  post- 
ing of  placards  denouncing  ''  the  horrible  and  great  abuses  of  the 
Popish  Mass  ; "  and  other  wanton  deeds,  which  were  calculated  to 
isting  the  religious  feelings  of  the  Catholics.     These  outrages  upon 


PROTESTANTISM  IN  FRANCE.  601 

religion  and  public  order  caused  Francis  I.  (1515-1547)  and  Henry  II. 
(1547-1559)  to  adopt  severe  measures  towards  the  Huguenots,  and 
again  enforce  the  old  penal  statutes  against  heresy  and  sacrilege. 

276.  During  the  minority  of  Francis  II.  (1559-1560)  and 
Charles  IX.  (1560-1574),  and  while  the  queen-mother,  the  ambitious 
and  intriguing  Catherine  de  Medici,  held  the  reins  of  power,  the 
Huguenots  grew  daily  more  daring  and  turbulent.  Headed  by  the 
Prince  of  Conde,  and  Admiral  Coligny,  they  formed  a  revolution- 
ary party  dangerous  to  the  altar  and  the  throne.  By  intrigues  and 
secret  conspiracies  they  sought  to  drive  out  the  Catholic  party  of 
the  Guises  and  to  establish  their  new  religion  on  the  ruins  of  the  old.- 
In  1559,  at  a  general  synod  held  at  Paris,  their  theologians  and 
preachers  decreed  that  all  heretics  should  be  put  to  death  ;  the  year 
following  they  formed  what  is  known  as  the  '^  Conspiracy  of  Am- 
boise,"  the  object  of  which  was  to  seize  the  king  and  usurp  the 
government.     The  plot,  however  was  unsuccessful. 

277.  The  Calvinists  formed  not  more  than  a  hundredth  part  of  the 
population  ;  yet,  not  content  with  the  toleration  which  had  been 
granted  to  them,  they  aimed  at  the  destruction  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  France,  even  if  necessary,  by  the  overthrow  of  the  existing 
form  of  government.  For  this  purpose,  they  resorted  without  scruple 
to  treasonable  intrigues  and  alliances  with  Protestant  England  and 
Germany.  They  turned  traitors  to  their  country.  By  express  treaty 
(Sept.  20,  1562)  with  the  Huguenots,  Queen  Elizabeth  sent  them  a 
force  of  6000  men  ;  and  in  return,  was  put  in  possession  of  Havre  and 
Dieppe.  Envoys  were  sent  to  Germany  to  levy  Protestant  troops,  who 
were  to  pay  themselves  by  pillage  and  plunder,  and  to  live  at  the 
cost  of  the  "  Papists.''' 

278.  To  oppose  the  treasonable  designs  of  the  Huguenots,  the 
Duke  of  Guise  organized  a  league  of  the  Catholics.  Everything  be- 
tokened war.  An  accidental  affray,  which  Protestant  writers  term  the 
"  Massacre  of  Vassy,"  but  in  which  the  Calvinists  were  the  aggresors, 
was  the  signal  for  the  actual  outbreak  of  hostilities.  France  was  soon 
divided  into  two  hostile  camps  that  attacked  each  other  with  bitter 
animosity  and  religious  fanaticism.  Long  and  terrible  was  the  con- 
test between  the  turbulent  Protestant  minority  and  the  determined 
Catholic  majority,  who  fought  for  their  religion  and  their  country. 
The  civil  war  which  began  in  1562,  lasted,  with  but  brief  intervals, 
until  1628,  a  period  of  about  seventy  years  ;  and  long  afterwards,  the 
fire  which  continued  to  smoulder  beneath  the  ashes,  burst  at  times 
into  flames. 

279.  Acting   upon   the  resolutions  of   the   Calvinistic   Synod  of 


€02  HISTORY    OF  THE   CHURCH. 

Nismes  (1562),  the  Huguenots  attempted  to  root  out  what  they  were 
pleased  to  call  ''idolatry."  Wherever  it  was  possible,  they  put  an 
end  to  Catholic  worship,  or  violently  interrupted  it ;  they  forcibly 
compelled  Catholics  to  listen  to  the  sermons  of  their  preachers  and 
assist  at  Protestant  services.  They  pillaged  Catholic  churches  and 
monasteries  and  laid  whole  provinces  waste.  They  burnt  down  hun- 
dreds of  towns  and  villages,  and  as  many  as  five  hundred  churches, 
and  fifty  cathedrals.  In  the  little  kingdom  of  Beam  alone,  no  less 
than  three  hundred  churches  were  destroyed  by  the  insurgent  Hugue- 
nots. 

280.  Led  on  by  their  preachers,  the  lawless  sectaries  committed 
profanations  so  atrocious  that  nothing  else  in  history  approaches  them. 
At  Rouen  they  destroyed  the  sepulchral  monuments  of  the  Norman 
dukes  ;  at  Lyons  they  demolished  the  coffin  of  St.  Bonaventure  ;  at 
Tours  they  threw  the  bones  of  St.  Irenaeus  and  St.  Martin  into  the 
river  Seine  ;  at  Plessis  they  broke  open  the  coffin  of  St.  Francis  of 
Paula,  and  on  finding  the  body  incorrupt,  dragged  it  through  the 
streets  and  threw  it  into  the  fire ;  and  they  pulled  down  the  statue  of 
Joan  of  Arc,  the  ''  Maid  of  Orleans."  Scarcely  a  monument  of 
Christian  art  escaped  their  fury  ;  amongst  the  many  libraries  to  which 
they  set  fire  was  also  the  famous  library  of  Cluny  which  contained 
about  6000  precious  manuscripts. 

281.  These  acts  of  vandalism,  committed  in  the  name  of  ''the 
pure  Gospel"  and  for  "the  overthrow  of  idolatry,"  were,  as  a  rule, 
accompanied  by  bloodshed  and  murder.  Priests  and  monks  were 
murdered  in  great  numbers,  frequently  by  being  thrown  from  the 
towers  of  their  churches.  In  Sully,  Coligny  ordered  thirty-five  priests 
to  be  slaughtered  ;  in  Pithiviers,  he  commanded  all  the  priests  to  be 
slain.  At  the  Council  of  Trent,  the  Cardinal  of  Lorraine  reported 
three  thousand  religious  to  have  been  murdered  within  a  few  months 
because  of  their  refusal  to  renounce  their  allegiance  to  the  Apostolic 
See.  Briquemont,  a  Huguenot  leader,  wore  a  necklace  made  of  the 
ears  of  slain  priests.  In  the  Dauphine  alone  two  hundred  and  fifty- 
six  priests  and  a  hundred  and  twelve  monks  were  murdered.  . 

282.  The  Catholic  laity  fared  no  better.  At  Orthez,  in  Beam, 
Count  Montgomery  caused  the  slaughter  of  three  thousand  Catholics, 
including  women  and  children.  In  the  Dauphine,  Baron  des  Arets 
forced  Catholics  to  throw  themselves  down  from  a  precipice  on  the 
pikes  of  his  soldiers  and  made  his  children  wash  their  hands  in  Cath- 
olic blood.  In  the  civil  wars  which  they  stirred  up  in  France,  the 
ferocious  Huguenots,  wherever  they  happened  to  be  in  power,  slaugh- 
tered unarmed  Catholics  by  thousands.      At  Nismes,  in  1567,  the  Hu- 

n 


PROTESTANTISM  IN  FRANCE  G03 

•guenots  carried  out  a  massacre  in  which  several  hundred  Catholics 
perished.  This  terrible  slaughter  was  called  the  Michaelade  from  the 
fact  of  its  having  occurred  on  St.  MichaeFs  day. 

283.  The  atrocities  perpetrated  by  the  Huguenots  but  too  often  in- 
flamed the  passions  of  the  Catholics  and  enraged  them  to  deeds  of  fearful 
retaliation.  But  here  we  must  remember,  that  the  Catholics,  in  most 
instances,  acted  only  in  self-defense  against  the  Huguenots  who  were 
the  offenders  and  aggressors  ;  and  that  whatever  cruelties  and  excesses 
were  committed  by  the  Catholic  party  were  done  in  obedience  to  regal 
authority.  The  Church,  therefore,  cannot  be  held  responsible  for 
deeds  of  cruelty  which  she  ever  condemns.  Such  is  especially  true 
of  the  Massacre  of  St.  Bartholomew,  in  1572. 

284.  In  order  to  cement  the  peace  of  St.  Germain-en-Laye  (1569), 
which  put  an  end  to  the  third  civil  war,  a  marriage  was  concluded  be- 
tween the  young  king  of  Navarre  (Henry  IV.,)  and  Margaret,  the  sis- 
ter of  Charles  IX.  The  Huguenot  chiefs  who  had  come  to  Paris  to  as- 
sist at  the  wedding,  availed  themselves  of  the  occasion,  and  on  August 
23,  concerted  a  plan  for  murdering  the  whole  royal  family  and  pro- 
claiming Henry  of  Navarre  king  of  France.  To  anticipate  the  bloody 
and  traitorous  designs  of  the  conspirators,  Catharine  de  Medici,  who 
w^as  as  unscrupulous  as  she  was  adroit  in  the  management  of  affairs, 
persuaded  her  son,  the  king,  to  command  the  horrible  Massacre  of  St. 
Bartholomeiv.  Coligny  and  his  chief  counsellors  were  slain.  The 
populace  joined  in  the  work  of  blood,  and  not  only  Paris,  but  several 
of  the  provincial  towns  that  had  suffered  most  from  the  Huguenots, 
now  took  a  fearful  reckoning. 

285.  When  the  tidings  of  the  tragic  event  reached  the  Papal 
court,*  Gregory  XIII.,  the  then  reigning  Pontiff,  congratulated  King 
Charles  IX.,  on  his  escape  from  the  plot  against  his  life,  and  a  service 
was  held  in  thanksgiving  for  the  preservation  of  the  royal  family,  be- 
cause the  deed  had  been  represented  to  the  Pope,  as  to  the  other  sov- 
ereigns, as  a  necessary  act  of  self-defense  against  the  machinations  of 
Coligny  and  the  Huguenots.'  But  wiien  he  afterwards  learned  the 
true  state  of  affairs,  Gregory  expressed  his  horror  at  the  deed,  even 

^  "  Charles  IX.,  whose  object  it  was  to  represent  the  deed  in  the  most  favorable  liprht  possible,  had 
besought  the  nuncio  not  to  despatch  a  courier  until  the  royal  message  was  prepared,  and  expressed 
the  wish  that  his  ambassador  might  be  the  first  to  bring  the  news  to  the  Pope.  Beauville  (the  French 
ambassador)  represented  to  the  Pope  the  danger  and  audacity  of  the  plot  that  had  been  so  fortunately 
frustrated,  as  well  as  the  necessity  for  rigorous  measures. .  .  This  was  how  the  affair  was  under- 
stood in  Rome.  On  the  5th  of  September  a  Te  Deum  was  sung  in  the  Church  of  St.  Mark,  in  thanks- 
giving for  the  preservation  of  the  royal  family  and  of  the  Catholic  religion  in  France ;  and  on  the 
8th  a  solemn  service  was  held  In  the  church  of  the  French  nation.  The  service  was  not  held  in 
thanksgiving  for  the  destruction  of  the  heretics,  but  for  the  preservation  of  the  King."  Hergen- 
roether ;  Church  and  State,  Vol.  H.,  378. 


604  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

with  tears.'  All  Europe  abhorred  the  horrible  slaughter,  the  German 
Lutherans  excepted,  who  regarded  the  massacre  as  a  just  punishment 
of  God  upon  the  Huguenots. 

286.  The  number  of  victims  in  the  cruel  massacre  cannot  be  ascer-> 
tained  with  accuracy  ;  but  it  has  been  much  exaggerated  by  hostile 
writers.  The  most  reliable  account,  corroborated  by  documentary 
evidences,  estimates  the  number,  for  all  France,  at  less  than  two  thou^ 
sand.  According  to  an  old  record  of  Paris,  the  grave-diggers  of  that 
city  at  the  time  buried  eleven  hundred  bodies.  Foxe,  the  martyrol- 
ogist,  in  his  Acts  and  Monuments,  commonly  known  as  the  Booh  of 
Martyrs,  gives  the  names  of  seven  hundred  and  eighty-six,  who 
perished  in  the  inhuman  slaughter.' 

287.  The  bloody  tragedy  of  Paris,  which  was  but  a  political 
scheme,  and  had  nothing  whatever  to  do  with  religious  interests,  a& 
such,  was  followed  by  another  civil  war.  The  Huguenots  who  occupied 
the  fortress  of  La  Eochelle,  established  a  council  at  Millaud,  with 
power  to  raise  troops,  appoint  commanders  ;  in  short,  assume  all  the 
functions  of  an  independent  government.  To  oppose  this  confederacy, 
the  Catholics  formed,  under  the  gallant  Duke  Henry  of  Guise,  a 
League  for  the  protection  of  their  faith,  their  churches  and  clergy. 

288.  The  contentions  and  bloody  conflicts  between  the  Catholics 
and  Calvinists  continued,  with  constant  alternation  of  war,  truce,, 
and  treaties  of  peace,  during  the  whole  reign  of  Henry  III.,  till  the  ac- 
cession of  Henry  of  Navarre,  in  1589,  who,  to  pacify  the  much  distracted 
country,  became  a  Catholic,  and  also  granted  the  Protestants  the  Edict 
of  Nantes  (1598),  whereby,  according  to  Ranke,  ''^  they  were  not  only 
confirmed  in  the  possession  of  the  churches  actually  in  their  hands,  but 
had  also  conferred  upon  them  an  interest  in  the  public  educationdl  insti- 
tutions, equality  with  the  Catholics  as  regarded  the  composition  of  Par- 
liament, and  the  occupation  of  a  great  number  of  fortified  places ;  and 
in  general,  were  allowed  a  degree  of  independence,  of  which  it  might 
well  be  questioned,  whether  it  was  consistent  with  the  idea  of  a  state/^ 

>  "  When  asked  by  the  Cardinals  wherefor  he  wept,  Gregory  answered :  I  weep  at  the  means  the 
king  used,  exceedingly  unlawful  and  forbidden  by  God,  to  inflict  such  punishment.  I  fear  that  one 
will  fall  upon  him  and  that  he  will  not  have  a  very  long  bout  of  it  (will  not  live  very  long.)  I  fear 
too,  that  amongst  so  many  dead,  there  died  as  many  Innocent  as  guilty."— Guizot,  History  of  France, 
Iv.  p.  384. 

-  "  By  some  Protestant  writers,  the  whole  number  of  persons  killed,  has  been  exaggerated  to  the 
number  of  a  hundred  thousand :  an  account  published  in  1582,  and  made  up  from  accounts,  collected 
from  the  ministers  in  the  different  towns,  made  the  number,  for  all  France,  amount  to  only  786 
persons.  Dr.  Lingard,  with  his  usual  fairness,  says ;  If  we  double  this  number,  we  shall  not  be  far 
from  the  real  amount !  The  Protestant  writers  began  at  100,000  ;  then  fell  to  70,000 ;  then  to  30,000 ; 
then  to  20,000;  then  to  15,000;  and  at  last  to  10,000  !  All  in  round  numbers !  One  of  them  in  an 
hour  of  great  Indiscretion,  ventured  upon  obtaining  returns  of  names  from  the  ministers  themselves 
and  then  came  the  786  persons  In  the  whole."— Gobbet,  History  of  the  Reformation.    Letter  X. 


PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  NETHERLANDS  606 

289.  After  the  death  of  Henry  IV.,  who  fell  by  the  poniard 
of  a  base  assassin,  in  1610,  the  Huguenots  again  grew  restive  and  tur- 
bulent, and  broke  out  in  open  war  against  their  government.  From 
1617  to  1629,  they  excited  no  less  than  three  civil  wars.  Cardinal 
Richelieu,  prime  minister  of  Louis  XIII.,  at  length,  put  an  end  to  a 
bloody  strife,  which  for  nearly  three  quarters  of  a  century  had  de- 
vastated France.  The  kind  and  persuasive  efforts  of  the  Catholic 
clergy,  headed  by  such  apostolic  men  as  Sts.  Francis  de  Sales  and 
Vincent  de  Paul,  brought  great  numbers  of  the  Calvinists  back  to  the 
Church.  Louis  XIV.,  in  1685,  revoked  the  Edict  of  Nantes,  and  by 
despotic  measures,  (Dragonnades),  which  the  Popes  invariably  con- 
demned, attempted  to  stamp  out  Protestantism  in  Fraace,  and  force 
its  adherents  into  the  Church.'  This  caused  eighty-six  thousand 
Huguenots  to  emigrate. 

SECTION    XXVII. — PROTESTANTISM    IN     THE    NETHERLANDS     AND     THE 
SCANDINAVIAN  KINGDOMS. 

Repressive  PoUcy  of  Charles  V. — Revolt  of  Protestants — William  of  Orange — 
Edicts  against  Catholics — Catholic  Martyrs — Christian  II.  of  Denmark — 
Introduction  of  Lutheranism — Christian  III. — The  Reformation  in  Norway — 
In  Iceland — In  Sweden — Gustavus  Vasa — Persecution  of  the  Catholic  Clergy 
— Diet  of  Westerces — The  Church  under  the  Successors  of  Gustavus  Vasa. 

290.  To  avert  the  evils  which  accompanied  the  Reformation  in 
Germany  from  the  Netherlands,  Charles  V.,  himself  a  native  of  that 
country,  resolved  to  adopt  a  severe  policy  of  repression.  He  had  the 
Edict  of  Worms  against  Luther  strictly  enforced,  and  ordered  the 
magistrates  to  carry  out  the  existing  laws  against  heretics.  Henry  Vaes 
and  John  Esch,  in  1523,  were  burned  for  heresy.  But  in  spite  of  this 
rigor,  the  Netherlands  soon  became  the  scene  of  commotions  and  in- 
surrections excited  by  the  men  of  the  '^^'new  learning." 

291.  On  the  accession  of  Philip  II.,  the  Reformation  had  already 
made  considerable  progress  in  the  Netherlands.  The  nobility,  who  coveted 
the  possessions  of  the  Church,  supported  the  movement.  An  insurrec- 
tion of  the  Protestants  broke  out  in  1566,  during  which  great  ravages 
were  committed  on  churches  and  monasteries.  The  excesses  of  the 
Dutch  Calvinists  rivaled  in  atrocity  those  of  the  Huguenots  in  France.' 

1  "  It  has  been  alleged  that  Pope  Innocent  XI.  was  privy  to  and  an  abettor  of  the  design ;  but  in 
reality  this  was  not  the  case.  The  Roman  court  would  have  nothing  to  do  with  a  conversion  effected 
by  armed  apostles ;  Christ  had  not  employed  such  means ;  men  should  be  led  but  not  be  dragged 
into  the  Church."— Ranke,  History  of  the  Popes. 

-  A  very  graphic  and  complete  account  of  the  sacrilegious  enormities  perpetrated  by  the  first 
champions  of  the  Reformation  in  the  Netherlands  will  be  found  in  Prescott's  "  History  of  the  Reign 
of  Philip  II."    See  also  Spalding  "  History  of  the  Reformation."— Vol.  II. 


606  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

292.  The  ambitious  Prince  William  of  Orange  placed  himself  at 
the  head  of  the  reforming  faction,  and  the  obstinate  contest  which 
followed,  ended  in  the  loss  of  the  seven  northern  provinces  to  the 
Spanish  Crown.  England,  under  Elizabeth,  assisted  the  Dutch  Prot- 
estants against  their  sovereign,  and  sent  them  both  money  and  troops. 
Neither  the  severity  of  the  duke  of  Alva,  nor  the  abilities  of  Don 
John  of  Austria,  the  hero  of  Lepanto,  nor  the  heroic  qualities  of 
Alexander  Farnese,  duke  of  Parma,  could  re-establish  Spanish  rule 
in  the  revolted  provinces.  Spain,  in  1648,  was  obliged  to  acknowledge 
the  independence  of  the  *'  Eepublic  of  the  United  Provinces.^' 

293.  William  of  Orange  published  edicts  suspending  Catholic 
worship  in  the  States-General,  as  they  were  called ;  Catholics,  espe- 
cially priests  and  religious,  were  treated  by  the  Dutch  Calvinists  with 
unexampled  cruelty.  Two  of  his  officers,  Sonoy  and  Van  der  Marck, 
slew  all  the  priests  and  religious  on  whom  they  could  lay  hands. 
In  1572,  nineteen  priests  of  Gorcum  were  cruelly  martyred  by  the 
soldiery  of  Orange.  The  persecution  of  the  Catholics  was  not  confined 
to  Holland;  it  extended  itself  to  all  the  Dutch  colonies  of  the  New 
World.     The  Catholic  missionaries  were  special  objects  of  hatred. 

294.  The  subversive  doctrines  of  Luther  were  propagated  in  the 
Scandinavian  kingdoms  soon  after  his  apostasy  from  the  Catholic 
Church.  In  DenmarTc,  as  well  as  in  Sweden  and  Norway,  the  Kefor- 
mation  was  the  work  of  the  king  and  the  nobles;  the  people  were 
generally  opposed  to  a  change  in  religion.  In  every  instance  the 
•efforts  of  the  first  Gospellers  were  powerfully  supported  by  the  tem- 
poral rulers,  who,  in  all  their  proceedings  against  the  Church,  were 
actuated  by  no  other  motive  than  that  of  ambition  and  avarice.  It  was 
the  prospect  of  their  own  authority,  and  the  desire  of  appropriating 
to  themselves  the  ample  possessions  of  the  Church  that  gave  life  to 
their  reformation  projects. 

295.  As  early  as  1520,  Christian  II.,  a  prince  notorious  for  his 
profligacy  and  cruelty,  sought  to  intrude  Protestantism  into  Denmark. 
He  favored  the  new  religion  with  no  other  view  than  to  increase  his 
power  by  seizing  on  the  possessions  of  the  Church.  In  order  to  pre- 
pare the  minds  of  the  people  for  the  contemplated  change  in  religion, 
he  brought  a  certain  Martin,  a  Wittenberg  preacher,  to  Copenhagen, 
and  appointed  him,  against  the  united  protests  of  the  clergy  and  the 
people,  to  one  of  the  parishes  of  the  city.  He  forbade  unmarried 
ecclesiastics  to  acquire  property,  and  put  to  death  the  archbishop  of 
Lund. 

296.  His  successor,  Fredrick  I.,  (1523-1533)  pursued  the  same 
course  with  persevering  energy.     By  every  means  in  his  power  he 


I 


PROTESTANTISM  IN  THE  NETHERLANDS.  607 

sought  to  undermine,  in  his  realm,  the  Catholic  religion,  which  at  his 
coronation  he  had  solemnly  sworn  to  maintain.  He  secured  to  Lu- 
therans the  same  civil  rights  as  were  enjoyed  by  the  Catholics;  broke  off 
all  relations  with  the  Holy  See,  and  reserved  to  himself  the  right  of 
appointing  bishops  from  whom  he  exacted  heavy  fees  on  the  occasion 
of  their  installation.  Lutheranism  spread  rapidly.  The  city  of 
Malmo  suppressed  the  Catholic  worship,  and  its  example  was  followed 
by  other  cities  and  towns. 

297.  Frederic  died  in  1533,  leaving  two  sons.  Christian  and  John. 
Denmark  being  then  an  elective  monarchy,  the  bishops  opposed  the 
succession  of  the  elder  son,who  was  known  to  be  a  friend  of  Luther, 
and  favored  the  election  of  his  brother,  who  had  been  reared  a  Cath- 
olic. But  they  at  last  consented  to  the  election  of  Christian  III.,  on 
condition  that  he  would  not  be  an  enemy  of  the  Catholic  religion. 
Christian,  however,  had  hardly  ascended  the  throne  when  he  had  all  the 
bishops  arrested  and  cast  into  prison.  A  diet  held  at  Copenhagen  in 
1536,  decreed  the  confiscation  of  all  church  property,  and  the  abolition 
of  the  Catholic  worship  in  all  the  Danish  dominions. 

298.  In  1537,  Bugenhagen  was  invited  by  the  king  from  Witten- 
berg to  complete  the  work  of  reformation  begun  by  Christian  II. 
Bugenhagen  appointed  superintendents  in  the  place  of  the  deposed 
bishops,  and  organized  the  new  Lutheran  Church  in  Denmark.  The 
Diet  of  Odensee  (1539)  confirmed  the  new  ecclesiastical  organization; 
and  the  Diet  of  Copenhagen  (1546),  stripped  the  Catholic  Church  of 
all  her  rights.  Catholics  were  pronounced  incapable  of  inheriting 
property  or  filling  public  offices.  Catholic  priests  were  commanded 
under  penalty  of  death,  to  quit  the  kingdom;  the  same  punishment 
was  decreed  for  any  one  harboring  a  Catholic  priest. 

299.  By  the  same  tyrannical  measures,  Catholicism  was  destroyed 
in  Norumy  and  Iceland,  which  were  then  subject  to  Danish  rule.  The 
Norwegians  did  not  take  kindly  to  the  new  doctrines.  They  were 
Catholic  to  the  core  and  made  the  most  determined  resistance  to  the 
religious  innovations.  But,  unfortunately,  they  were  wholly  at  the 
mercy  of  the  Danish  government  which  took  active  measures  to  enforce 
the  new  religion  on  a  reluctant  people.  In  Iceland,  likewise.  Protes- 
tantism was  established  against  the  known  and  clearly  expressed  wishes 
of  the  people.  John  Areson,  bishop  of  Hoolum,  who  opposed  the 
introduction  of  Lutheranism  with  all  his  might,  was  put  to  death,  and 
the  disaffection  of   the  Icelanders  was  overcome  by  the  force  of  arms, 

300.  In  Sweden,  as  in  Denmark,  the  Reformation  was  wholly  and 
exclusively  the  work  of  the  Crown.  Gustavus  Vasa^  who  delivered 
Sweden  from  the  Danish  yoke  and  became  king  in  1523,  favored  Prot- 


608  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

estantism  from  political  and  mercenary  motives.  Aided  by  the- 
brothers  Olaus  and  Lawrence  Peterson,  who  had  become  zealous  dis- 
ciples of  Luther  in  Wittenberg,  and  by  the  apostate  archdeacon, 
Lawrence  Anderson,  whom  he  appointed  Chancellor,  Gu8.tavu8 
prepared  the  way  for  the  subversion  of  the  ancient  faith  and  the 
establishment  of  the  Lutheran  religion  in  Sweden. 

301.  First  by  artifice  and  misrepresentation,  and  afterwards  by 
open  violence  the  wily  monarch  succeeded  in  procuring  the  triumph 
of  Lutheranism  over  Catholicism.  Those  of  the  clergy  who  offered 
resistance  were  made  to  feel  the  wrath  of  the  tyrant.  The  Dominicans 
were  banished  the  country,  while  Archbishop  Knut  of  Upsala,  and 
Bishop  Jacobson  of  Westerces  were  put  to  death,  in  1527. 

302.  Intimidated  by  the  royal  despot,  the  Diet  of  Westerces,  in 
1527,  enacted  that  the  pure  word  of  God,  as  taught  by  Luther,  should 
be  preached  in  all  the  churches  of  the  kingdom,  and  sanctioned  the 
confiscation  of  the  property  of  monasteries.  The  king  was  made 
supreme  in  matters  ecclesiastical,  and  the  nobles  were  authorized  to 
take  back  all  the  property  which  their  ancestors,  as  far  back  as  the 
year  1453,  had  bestowed  on  the  Church.  Sweden  was  thus  severed 
from  Catholic  unity  and  the  king  acted  thenceforth  as  head  of  the 
Swedish  Church. 

303.  The  change  in  religion  was  inaugurated  by  the  abolition 
of  clerical  celibacy  and  the  adoption  of  a  new  Liturgy  in  the 
vulgar  tongue.  The  Assembly  of  Oerebro,  in  1529,  enacted  that  the 
Lutheran  form  of  worship  should  be  introduced  throughout  the 
country.  To  present  the  appearance  that  no  change  in  religion  was 
intended,  many  Catholic  rites  and  practices,  including  the  use  of 
images  and  vestments,  and  even  confession  with  absolution,  were 
retained  ;  the  places  and  even  titles  of  the  Catholic  bishops  were  taken 
by  Protestant  pastors.  Lawrence  Peterson  was  appointed  by  the 
king  archbishop  of  Upsala  and  married,  as  his  brother  Olaus  had 
done  before. 

304.  The  religious  innovations  everywhere  excited  great  indigna- 
tion and  the  people  in  many  places  rose  in  arms  to  oppose  the  obtru- 
sion of  the  new  religion.  But  with  the  aid  of  foreign  mercenaries,  the 
royal  reformer  succeeded  in  stamping  out  the  revolt  and  in  forcing  his 
reluctant  subjects  into  conformity.  Gustavus  Vasa  died  in  1560. 
His  son  and  successor,  Eric  XIV.,  was  deposed  for  various  cruelties,  in 
1568,  when  the  second  son,  John  III.,  was  called  to  the  throne. 

305.  John  III.,  who  was  married  to  a  Polish  princess  returned  to 
the  Church,  making  his  profession  of  faith  at  the  hands  of  Possevin,  a 
distinguished  Jesuit.     He  was  desirous  of  re-establishing  the  Catholic 


I 


MINOR  PROTESTANT  SECTS.  609 

religion  in  his  realm.  But  owing  to  a  refusal  of  the  Holy  See  to 
accede  to  certain  demands  which  it  could  not  grant  without  compro- 
mising Catholic  principles,  John  gave  up  the  design.  His  son,  Sigis- 
muud,  who  had  been  elected  king  of  Poland,  and  had  become  a  Catholic, 
was  deprived  of  the  Swedish  throne  by  his  uncle,  Charles  IX.,  under 
whom  the  Catholic  faith  was  completely   abolished  from  Sweden. 

SECTION  XXVIII. MINOR  PROTESTANT  SECTS. 

Anabaptists — Their  Religious  System — Shocking  Disorders — Mennonites — Bap- 
tists— Independents — Libertines — Antitrinitarians  — Unitarians  —  Socinians 
— Arminians — Gomarists. 

306.  The  Reformation  in  Germany  had  boasted  an  existence  of 
only  five  years  when,  from  the  midst  of  its  adherents,  men  arose  who 
declared  it  to  be  insufficient.  Such  were  the  Gospellers  of  Zwickau,  or 
Anabaptists,  as  they  are  commonly  called.  Alleging  revelations  from 
heaven,  these  sectaries  proclaimed  the  natural  equality  of  all  men,  the 
abolition  of  all  authority  and  the  establishment  of  a  new  '*^  Kingdom 
of  God "  on  earth,  where  everything  would  be  in  common,  without 
any  individual  calling  anything  his  own  property,  or  laying  claim  to 
any  privilege. 

307.  They  were  called  "  Anabaptists y  because  they  admin- 
istered anew  the  rite  of  baptism  to  those  who  joined  their  sect.  They 
rejected  infant  baptism  and  held  that  every  Christian  was  invested 
with  the  power  of  preaching  the  Gospel,  and  consequently,  that  the 
true  Church  stood  in  no  need  of  ministers  or  pastors.  Many  also 
denied  the  divinity  of  Christ,  and  maintained  the  lawfulness  of  polyg- 
amy. An  indescribable  confusion  prevailed  in  the  minds  of  these 
sectaries,  and  a  fearful  fanaticism  drove  them  on  to  every  species  of 
extravagance  and  violence.  We  need  only  to  remind  the  reader  of  the 
atrocities  committed  by  these  turbulent  fanatics  in  the  Peasants^  War 
and  at  Miinster.  As  they  had  the  inmost  conviction  that  they  did 
everything  by  the  impulse  of  the  Divine  Spirit,  all  hope  of  opposing 
their  errors  by  reasoning  and  instruction  was  utterly  fruitless. 

308.  The  excesses  which  the  Anabaptists  committed  in  Holland 
were  likewise  terrible,  and  rivalled  in  atrocity  those  perpetrated  by 
the  '^  Madmen  of  Munster.^'  The  sect  was,  in  fact,  becoming  very 
dangerous  by  the  contagious  rapidity  with  which  their  socialist  and 
infidel  principles  spread  among  the  lower  classes.  They  did  much  to- 
ward alienating  the  latter  still  further  from  the  Church.  The  disorders 
occasioned  by  these  rebellious  enthusiasts,  caused  secular  rulers  to 
enact  severe  laws  against  them,  and  even  to  employ  capital  punish- 
ment to  conquer  their  obstinacy.     Luther  demanded  that  the  Ana- 


610  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

baptists  should  be  punished  with  fire  and  sword.  Many  of  this  sect 
suffered  death  in  the  Netherlands  and  in  England.  Fourteen  were 
sentenced  to  be  burned  under  Henry  VIII.,  and  eleven  in  Queen 
Elizabeth^s  reign. 

309.  Tlie  Anabaptists,  the  everlasting  reproach  of  the  Reformation, 
subsequently  became  known  under  the  name  of  Memionites.  Men  no 
Simonis,  a  native  of  Friesland,  and  an  apostate  priest,  joined  the  sect 
in  153G,  and  assuming  their  leadership,  succeeded  in  appeasing  their 
frenzy,  and  organized  them  into  a  community.  He  drew  up  a  system 
of  doctrine  and  discipline  of  a  much  more  moderate  nature  than  that 
of  the  earlier  Anabaptists.  The  Mennonites  reject  infant  baptism  as 
useless  ;  they  believe  in  the  Millennium  and  assert  the  prohibition  of 
oaths,  the  abolition  of  wars  and  that  it  is  unlawful  for  Christians  to 
hold  public  offices;  on  the  other  hand  they  enjoin  obedience  to  the 
civil   authorities  as  a  religious  duty.     Menno  died  in  1561. 

310.  The  sectaries  in  England  who  adopt  the  custom  of  adminis- 
tering the  rite  of  baptism  only  to  adults,  are  distinguished  by  the 
denomination  of  Baptists.  With  respect  to  infant  baptism,  they  hold 
opinions  similar  to  those  of  the  Mennonites,  but  on  other  points  cannot 
be  distinguished  from  the  English  Calvinists,  whence  they  are  also 
called  "  Calvinistic,^^  or  '^  Peculiar, '^  Baptists.  Originally  they  be- 
longed to  those  Puritans  who  went  under  the  name  '^  Separatists,'*  or 
''  Independents.''  In  1633,  the  Calvinistic  Baptists  separated  from 
the  Independents  and  founded  a  sect  of  their  own. 

311.  The  Libertines  were  a  sect  of  fanatical  Pantheists,  that 
sprang  up  in  the  Calvinistic  establishment.  They  first  appeared  in 
Flanders,  in  1547,  and  thence  spread  into  Holland,  France,  and 
Switzerland,  where  they  gave  Calvin  much  annoyance.  They  taught 
that  God  was  the  sole  operating  cause  in  man,  the  immediate  author 
of  all  human  actions,  denied  the  distinction  of  good  and  evil,  and 
held  that  those  who  have  once  received  the  Spirit  of  God,  are  allowed 
to  indulge,  without  restraint,  their  appetites  and  passions,  and  tliat, 
therefore,  for  them,  even  adultery  was  no  sin. 

312.  As  early  as  1530,  the  doctrine  of  the  Trinity  was  denied  by 
Michael  Servetus,  a  Spanish  physician,  who,  at  Calvin's  instigation, 
was  burned  at  Geneva  in  1553.  The  same  doctrine  was  attacked  by 
Valentine  Gentilis,  a  Neapolitan.  After  having  with  difficulty  es- 
caped the  fiery  death,  destined  for  him  by  the  Genevan  Reformer, 
Gentilis  was  beheaded  as  an  Antitrinitarian  at  Bern,  in  1566.  John 
Campaiius,  a  native  of  Juliers,  disseminated  similar  errors  respecting 
the  dogma  of  the  Trinity.  He  was  cast  into  prison  in  his  own  coun- 
try, where  he  died  in  1578. 

r 


MINOR  PROTESTANT  SECTS.  611 

313.  But  none  of  these  men  succeeded  in  forming  a  regular  and 
permanent  sect.  They  left,  however,  some  followers  who  became 
known  as  Unitarians.  Unitarianism,  which  asserts  the  unity  of  per- 
son in  God,  was  first  propagated  in  Poland,  whither  it  had  penetrated 
almost  contemporaneously  with  the  heresies  of  Luther  and  Calvin. 
The  most  noted  Unitarians  were  the  two  Italians,  LcbUus  Socinus, 
who  died  in  1562,  and  his  nephew  Faustus  iSocinus,  who  died  in  1604, 
They  succeeded  in  elaborating  the  Unitarian  doctrine  respecting  the 
Trinity  into  a  system,  and  in  forming  its  adherents  into  a  community. 
Henceforward  the  Unitarians  exchanged  their  name  for  that  of 
"Socinians." 

314.  Socinianism  is  essentiaWjreitionalistic;  its  fundamental  prin- 
ciple, being,  that,  both  in  the  interpretation  of  the  Scripture  and  in 
explaining  and  demonstrating  the  truths  of  religion,  reason  alone 
must  be  consulted  ;  that  consequently,  anything  contrary  to  "  Right 
Reason, '^  that  is  to  say,  to  the  understanding  of  the  Socinians,  must 
not  be  considered  a  revealed  doctrine.  Respecting  God  and  the  per- 
son of  Christ,  the  Socinians  hold  the  Father  only  to  be  God  ;  the  Son 
of  God  to  be  a  mere  man,  who  was  conceived  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  and 
therefore  called  the  Son  of  God  ;  the  Holy  Ghost  to  be  a  power  and 
efficiency  of  the  Deity.  Christ  was,  before  beginning  His  public  min- 
istry, raised  into  heaven  where  he  received  his  commission  relative  to 
mankind.  They  reject  the  vicarious  satisfaction  on  the  part  of 
Christ,  and  the  imputation  of  his  merits  as  pernicious  to  morality. 
They  declare  justification  to  be  a  mere  judicial  act  of  God,  whereby 
man  is  acquitted  and  absolved  of  all  guilt  ;  finally,  they  deny  original 
sin  and  the  perpetuity  of  hell-punishment,  and  teach  an  annihilation 
of  the  damned. 

315.  Calvin's  rigid  theory  on  predestination  encountered  much 
opposition  even  in  the  bosom  of  his  own  sect.  A  very  violent  contest 
arose  on  that  question  among  his  followers  in  Holland.  There  the 
parties  of  ''  Supralapsarians^'  and  "  Inf ralapsarians"  stood  opposed  to 
each  other  in  battle  array.  The  former  asserted  that,  prior  to  the  fall 
of  Adam,  the  predestination  to  eternal  felicity  and  damnation  was 
already  decreed  ;  the  latter,  that  it  was  so  subsequent  to  that  event. 
Then,  there  were  the  '^  Arminians"  and  "  Gomarists "  wrangling 
on  Calvin's  tenets.  Arminius,  a  preacher  in  Amsterdam,  and,  after 
1603,  a  professor  in  Leyden,  dissented  from  Calvin's  severe  doctrines 
on  Free  Will  and  Predestination,  and  adopted  a  system  which  he 
deemed  less  revolting  to  the  reason  of  man.  He  was  opposed  by 
Gomar,  his  colleague  at  Leyden. 

316.  The  controversy  between  the  Arminians,  also  called  ^'  Remon- 


612  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

straiits/^  from  their  '^  Eemonstrance  "  which,  in  1610,  they  presented 
to  the  States-General,  and  the  Gomarists,  known  also  as  '^Anti- 
Remonstrants,'^  led  early,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  to  violent  com- 
motions. Repeated,  but  ineffectual,  attempts  were  made  on  the  part 
of  the  civil  authorities,  to  bring  about  a  reconciliation  between  the  con- 
tending parties.  The  National  Synod  of  Dort,  in  1618,  upheld  Cal- 
vin's doctrines,  and  condemned  the  Arminians  as  heretics,  who,  in 
consequence,  were  deprived  of  their  situation,  and  even  banished  the 
country.  Though  much  persecuted,  the  Arminians  maintained  them- 
selves as  a  distinct  sect. 

SECTION     XXIX. — CAUSES      AND     EFFECTS     OF     THE    PROTESTANT    REFORMATION. 

Rapid  Spread  of  Protestantism — Two  Questions  put  and  answered — Influences 
contributing  to  the  General  Result — Character  of  the  Reformers — True 
Origin  of  Protestantism — Causes  of  its  Rapid  Progress — How  Protestantism 
was  propagated — Dr.  Brownson — Reaction  of  Catholicity — Causes — Effects 
of  the  Reformation — Religious  Strifes — Thirty  Years'  War. 

317.  Protestantism  had  spread,  chiefly  over  Northern  Europe, 
with  astonishing  rapidity.  Before  half  a  century  had  elapsed,  it  was 
not  only  firmly  established  in  Northern  Germany,  where  it  had 
originated  ;  but  its  dominion  extended  over  England,  Scotland,  Hol- 
land, Denmark,  Sweden,  Norway,  Switzerland,  and  Southern  France. 
The  German  and  Scandinavian  States  had  adopted  the  doctrines  of 
Luther,  as  taught  in  the  Confession  of  Augsburg;  while  England, 
Scotland,  Holland,  Switzerland,  and  the  French  Huguenots  had  em- 
braced the  Calvinistic  faith.  Efforts  had  been  made,  w^th  more  or 
less  success,  to  establish  the  reformed  doctrines  also  in  Bohemia, 
Hungary,  Transylvania,  and  Poland. 

318.  Naturally,  we  ask  how  is  this  rapid  progress  of  Protestantism 
to  be  accounted  for  ?  Is  it  that  the  Church  had  ceased  to  fulfill  its 
mission  among  men  ?  Or  is  it  that  the  doctrines  of  Christianity  had 
become  so  overladen  with  new  and  superstitious  teachings  and  prac- 
tices as  to  be  completely  hidden  from  the  minds  of  the  people  ?  If 
the  promise  of  Christ  that  ^'  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against 
his  Church  "  have  any  meaning,  we  must  maintain  that  the  Church, 
despite  of  scandals,  has  always  been  faithful  to  her  mission,  which  is 
to  proclaim  revealed  truth,  and  furnish  men  with  means  of  sanctifica- 
tion.  If  we  are  to  believe  the  Apostle,  who,  in  speaking  of  the 
Church,  declares  her  to  be  the  object  of  the  special  love  of  Christ,  and 
describes  her  ''  as  glorious,  not  having  spot  or  wrinkle,"  we  must 
recognize  her  as  free  from  all  error  in  her  teaching,  and  from  all 
superstition  in  her  solemn  worship,  since  God  would  not  otherwise 


I 


CAUSES  AND  EFFECTS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  613 

dwell  in  her  as  in  his  chosen  temple,  nor  would  she  be  ^'  the  house  of 
the  living  God,  the  pillar  and  the  ground  of  truth." 

319.  The  Reformation  does  not  owe  its  origin  and  progress  to  any 
of  the  causes  to  which  they  sometimes  are  ascribed,  for  instance,  to 
the  quarrel  between  the  Humanists  and  Schoolmen;  or  the  contention 
between  the  two  rival  orders,  the  Dominicans  and  Augustinians;  or 
the  preaching  of  indulgences;  the  invention  of  the  art  of  printing;  or 
the  revival  of  literature  and  the  arts;  or  to  the  discovery  of  America. 
All  these  influences  may  have  contributed  in  some  degree  to  the  general 
result ;  but  they  were  in  themselves  not  sufficient  to  produce  that 
great  religious  revolution  which,  for  a  time,  seemed  to  threaten  the 
very  existence  of  the  Catholic  Church. 

320.  But  least  of  all,  can  we  ascribe  the  rapid  progress  of  the  Re- 
formation to  the  personal  influence  and  qualities  of  its  recognized 
leaders.  Not  to  Luther,  Zwingle,  or  Calvin  ;  not  to  Henry  VIIL, 
Edward  YI.,  or  Elizabeth  of  England  ;  not  to  Christian  II.  of  Den- 
mark; not  to  Gustavus  Yasa  of  Sweden.  The  Reformers  were  re- 
markable neither  for  their  intellectual  influence,  nor  their  moral 
excellence.  We  see  in  them  little  to  admire  and  much  to  lament  and 
to  censure.  We  find  among  them  individuals  who  were  too  often  false 
and  treacherous;  some  who  were  even  brutal  and  sensual;  men  who 
were  ambitious  and  arrogant,  who  hated  the  Church  because  she  stood 
against  their  sordid  interests  and  unbridled  passions. 

321.  Like  the  heresies  of  preceding  ages.  Protestantism  owed  its 
birth  to  the  pride  and  the  passions  of  its  founders;  while  the  causes 
of  its  spreading  so  widely  are  to  be  found  in  the  tendencies  of  the  age 
and  the  elements  of  which  society  was  then  composed.  Such  causes 
were  in  particular :  1.  The  estrangement  of  society  from  the  Church 
and  its  general  dislike  of  Rome,  which  had  been  brought  about  by  the 
prolonged  conflicts  of  the  Popes  with  the  German  emperors,  and  sub- 
sequently with  the  French  kings;  2.  The  existence  of  numerous  abuses 
and  a  general  relaxation  of  discipline,  against  which  zealous  bishops 
and  churchmen  had  so  loudly  declaimed  during  two  centuries;  3. 
The  ignorance  of  the  people,  and  the  neglect,  on  the  part  of  the 
clergy,  of  preaching  and  otherwise  instructing  the  flocks  committed  to 
their  charge;  4.  The  intrusion  of  worldly  and  even  licentious  men, 
generally  of  high  birth,  into  the  offices  of  the  Church,  coveted  only  for 
their  wealth  and  power;  5.  The  wealth  of  the  Church  which  had  long 
excited  the  cupidity  of  the  secular  princes  and  the  impoverished 
nobles  ;  6.  The  doctrines  of  the  Reformers  so  alluring  to  the  sensual- 
minded  man,  such  as  that  of  justification  by  faith  alone,  of  the  use- 
lessness  of  good  works  and  the  like.     These,  and  not  the  talents  of  a 


614  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

few   individuals,  were  the  true   causes  of  the   deplorable   revolution 
known  as  the  **  Reformation/" 

322.  But  more  than  all,  the  violence  of  princes  and  State  author- 
ities helped  to  propagate  Protestantism.  According  to  the  maxim 
which  then  gained  acceptance  among  Protestants:  ''Who  rules  the 
land,  also  rules  religion,"  (Ciijus  est  regio,  illius  et  religio),  the 
religion  of  each  country  depended  on  the  caprice  of  its  ruling  prince. 
Thus  the  Palatinate  changed  its  religion  four  times  in  sixty  years. 
First  it  became  Lutheran,  then  Calvinist,  then  Lutheran  again,  and 
lastly  Calvinist. 

323.  Almost  in  every  instance  the  people  were  torn  away  from 
the  old  faith  by  the  aid  of  the  secular  power.  ^'  The  Reformers 
would  have  accomplished  little  or  nothing/"  remarks  Dr.  Brownson,  * 
*'  if  politics  had  not  come  to  their  aid.  Luther  would  have  bellowed  in 
vain,  had  he  not  been  backed  by  the  powerful  elector  of  Saxony,  and 
immediately  aided  by  the  Landgrave  Philip  ;  Zwingle,  and  (Ecolam- 
padius  ;  and  Calvin  would  have  accomplished  nothing  in  Switzerland, 
if  they  had  not  secured  the  aid  of  the  secular  arm,  and  followed  its 
wishes ;  the  powerful  Huguenot  party  in  France  was  more  of  a 
political,  than  of  a  religious  party,  and  it  dwindled  into  insignificance 
as  soon  as  it  lost  the  support  of  the  great  lords.  .  .  In  Denmark, 
Sweden,  and  Norway,  the  Reform  was  purely  the  act  of  the  civil 
power  ;  in  the  United  Provinces,  it  was  embraced  as  the  principle  of 
revolt,  or  of  national  independence  ;  in  England,  it  was  the  work, 
confessedly,  of  the  secular  government  and  was  carried  by  court  and 
parliament  against  the  wishes  of  the  immense  majority  of  the  nation  ; 
in  Scotland,  it  was  effected  by  the  great  lords,  who  wished  to  usurp 
to  themselves  the  authority  of  the  crown/" 

324.  Within  the  first  fifty  years  of  its  existence,  the  Reformation 
attained  its  fullest  development.  Of  all  the  nationalities  of  Europe, 
in  the  general  apostasy  from  the  Catholic  Church,  only  Italy,  Spain, 
Portugal,  and  Ireland  remained  wholly  faithful.  For  a  moment  Prot- 
estantism seemed  to  triumph.  But  the  triumph  was  not  real. 
Notwithstanding  the  premature  shouts  of  victory  raised  by  the  new 
sectaries,  the  old  Church  stood  unconquered.  She  began  to  gain 
ground,  and  fully  retrieved  her  losses,  even  in  Europe.  Vast  bodies  of 
Protestants,  especially  in  Austria,  France,  Bavaria,  and  Poland  re- 
entered her  pale. 

325.  One  leading  cause  of  the  reaction  of  Catholicity  was  the 
promulgation  and  general  adoption  of  the  decrees  of  the  Council  of 
Trent.     The  clearer  definition  of  Catholic  doctrine  by  that  Council, 

»  Essays,  "  Protestantism  ends  In  Transcendentalism." 


CAUSES  AND  EFFECTS  OF  THE  REFORMATION.  615. 

and  the  reform  of  discipline  enforced  by  its  enactments,  opposed  a 
powerful  barrier  to  the  further  progress  of  the  new  heresy.  In  every 
land,  except  England  and  the  Scandinavian  kingdoms,  a  decline  of 
Protestantism  commenced,  which,  from  that  hour,  no  effort  has  been 
able  to  arrest.  Thenceforward,  the  Church  was  everywhere  triumph- 
ant, regaining  much  of  what  she  had  lost — a  triumph,  as  Macau  lay 
observes,  *'  to  be  chiefly  attributed,  not  to  the  force  of  arms,  but  to  a 
great  reflux  in  public  opinion.'' 

326.  The  effects  of  the  Eeformation  on  religion  and  society  were 
the  most  deplorable.  Bitter  complaints  were  made  by  the  Reformers 
themselves,  of  the  increasing  corruption  of  morals.  We  find  Luther 
admitting  that  there  was  a  worse  Sodom  under  the  Gospel  than  under 
the  Papacy.  He  owned  that  insubordination,  arrogance,  and  licen- 
tiousness, had  become  almost  universal  and  that  he  would  never  have- 
begun  to  preach  if  he  had  foreseen  these  unhappy  results.  "  Who- 
would  have  begun  to  preach,''  he  writes,  ^'  if  he  had  known  beforehand 
that  so  much  unhappiness,  tumult,  scandal,  blasphemy,  ingratitude 
and  wickedness  w^ould  have  been  the  result  ?  " 

327.  The  Reformation  everywhere  became  the  fruitful  source  of 
political  intrigue  and  discord,  of  long  and  cruel  civil  wars.  The  evil 
seed  it  had  sown  everywhere  bore  bloody  fruit.  The  religious  strifes  in. 
Switzerland  ;  the  revolts  of  the  Huguenots  in  France,  and  of  the  Cal- 
vinists  in  the  Netherlands  ;  the  wars  of  the  Peasants  and  Anabaptists 
in  Germany  ;  finally,  the  wars  of  the  Protestant  princes  of  Germany 
against  the  Empire,  were  the  natural  results  of  the  discord  and  hatred 
which  the  Reformers,  by  their  revolutionary  teachings,  had  enkindled 
among  the  peoples  of  Europe.  It  was  the  Reformation  that  made- 
England  the  scene  of  constantly  recurring  insurrections  and  civil  wars 
from  the  Pilgrimage  of  Grace  till  the  Great  Rebellion,  which  brought 
Charles  I.  to  the  block. 

328.  The  Thirty  Years'  War,  which  converted  Germany  into  a 
vast  field  of  desolation  and  horror,  was  the  distinct  legacy  of  the- 
Reformation.  In  this  terrible  war, — which  lasted  from  1618  to  1648« 
— the  Catholic  party,  or  League,  was  headed  by  the  house  of  Austria, 
and  the  Protestant  party,  or  Evangelical  Union,  was  under  the  leader- 
ship of  the  Palatine  Elector,  Frederic  V.  The  Catholic  forces,  under 
Tilly  and  Wallenstein,  gained  victory  after  victory,  and  Germany  was 
in  a  fair  way  of  recovering  political  and  religious  unity,  when  Catholic 
France  interfered  and  came  to  the  rescue  of  the  Protestants. 

329.  Richelieu,  the  French  prime  minister,  though  a  Cardinal  of 
the  Church,  did  not  scruple  to  league  himself  openly  with  the  Protes- 
tants and  even  enlist  the   Swedish  King  Gustavus  Adolphus,   against 


616  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

the  house  of  Austria,  the  bulwark  of  Catholicity  in  Germany.  Thus 
the  war,  in  which  Spain  also  was  embroiled  by  France,  continued  to 
rage  till  1648,  when  the  Peace  of  Westphalia  put  an  end  to  the  inter- 
necine struggle.  Austria  was  humiliated,  and  valuable  provinces  were 
made  over  to  France  and  Sweden,  the  nations  that  had  helped  the  Ger- 
man Protestants  to  ruin  their  country. 


CHAPTER  IIL 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


SECTION  XXX. THE  COUNCIL  OF  TRENT. 

Demand  for  a  General  Council — Obstacles — Paul  III. — His  Disposition  towards 
a  Council — Summons  the  Council  of  Trent — Opening  of  the  Council — Pre- 
siding Legates — Number  of  Sessions — Decrees — Julius  III. — Continues  the 
Council — Decrees — Suspension  of  the  Council — Marcellus  II. — Paul  IV. — 
Pius  IV. — Resumes  the  Council — Decrees — Dissolution  of  the  Council — 
— Results. 

330.  A  General  Council  had  been  looked  for  by  many  as  the  only 
means  of  settling  the  religious  differences  that  distracted  Europe. 
Gharles  Y.  had  been  especially  urgent  for  the  convocation  of  such  an 
assembly  :  eager  to  conciliate  the  Lutherans  and  secure  their  aid 
against  France  and  the  Turks,  he  had  promised  that  the  affair  of 
religion  should  be  laid  before  a  General  Council  which  he  would 
induce  the  Pope  to  convene.  At  one  time,  Luther  himself  appealed 
from  the  Pope  to  a  General  Council  ;  and  his  followers  were  ever 
demanding,  and  appealing  to  such  a  tribunal.  The  Protestant 
leaders,  however,  were  insincere  in  their  demand  for  a  Council.  They 
clamored  for  its  convocation  only,  because  thus  they  gave  a  show  of 
subordination,  and  loyalty  to  their  pretensions,  and  gained  time,  which 
was  essential  to  their  success.' 

331.  Clement  VII.  found  it  impossible  to  hold  a  Council.  The 
danger  of  the  empire  from  the  Turks;  the  war  between  Germany  and 
France  ;  the  political  differences  between  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor  ; 
the  intrigues  of  the  Lutherans — these  and  other  events  of  great  mag- 
nitude prevented  its  meeting.  Besides,  the  Pope  felt  persuaded 
that  a  Council  could   not   satisfy  the   minds   of  the   Lutherans,  en- 

'  For  a  fuller  treatment  of  these  and  other  matters  to  be  noticed  hereafter  we  refer  the  reader  to 
the  excellent  HMory  of  ilie  Council  of  Trent,  by  the  Rev.  J.  Waterworth. 


THE  COUNCIL   OF  TRENT.  61T 

venomed  as  they  were  against  the  authority  of  the  Holy  See,  which, 
only,  could  convoke  such  an  assembly  and  preside  thereat. 

332.  Paul  III.,  A.  D.  1534-1549,  who  succeeded  Clement  VII., 
was  long  and  favorably  disposed  towards  the  convocation  of  a  General 
Council,  and  this  disposition  had  much  influence  in  his  election. 
From  the  beginning  of  his  pontificate  his  efforts  for  the  summoning 
of  such  an  assembly  were  unwearied.  He  sent  Vergerius  on  a  special 
mission  to  Germany,  and  issued  letters  to  the  bishops  and  Christian 
princes  of  Europe,  proposing  successively  Mantua,  Vincenza  and 
other  cities  as  places  suitable  for  the  holding  of  the  Council. 

333.  The  project  of  convoking  a  General  Council  was  assented  to 
by  the  Catholics,  but  obstinately  opposed  by  the  Protestants.  Assem- 
bling at  Smalkald,  in  1537,  the  Lutheran  princes  drew  up  the  pre- 
texts upon  which  they  rejected  the  proposed  Council.*  They  were 
upheld  in  their  opposition  by  Henry  VIII.  of  England,  who  refused  to 
acknowledge  any  synod  summoned  by  the  Pope,  claiming  that  to 
princes  alone  pertained  the  right  of  summoning  such  an  assembly. 
But  Paul  III.  persevered  in  his  efforts,  and  after  many  years  of  anxious 
labor,  he  had  the  happiness  of  seeing  these  efforts  crowned  with  the 
success  which  they  deserved.  The  Peace  of  Crespy,  which  put  an  end 
to  the  bloody  war  between  Charles  V.  and  Francis  I.,  at  length  ren« 
dered  the  Council  possible,  which  Paul  summoned  to  meet  at  Trent,  a 
city  on  the  confines  of  Germany  and  Italy. 

334.  The  Holy  Ecumenical  Council  of  Trent  opened  Dec.  13,  1545 ^ 
and  continued,  though  with  several  interruptions,  through  twenty-five 
sessions,  till  1563,  when  it  concluded  its  labors.  The  presiding  leg- 
ates were  the  cardinals  Del  Monte,  Cervino,  and  Reginald  Pole.  The 
work  to  be  done  embraced  the  propagation  of  the  faith ;  the  extir- 
pation of  heresies  ;  the  restoration  of  peace  and  concord  among 
Christians ;  the  reformation  of  morals,  and  the  overthrow  of  the 
enemies  of  Christendom. 

335.  Ten  sessions  were  held  during  the  pontificate  of  Paul  III. 
The  first  questions  to  be  determined  by  the  Council,  related  to  the 
right  and  the  mode  of  voting  and  the  order  of  treating  matters.  It  was 
agreed  that,  besides  the  bishops,  also  the  generals  of  religious  orders 
should  be  allowed  to  vote  on  matters  of  doctrine,  and  that  the  votes 
should  be  given  by  individuals,   and  not,  as   had  been  done  at  Con- 

'  "  They  required  that  the  Council  should  be  held  In  Germany,  that  the  Pope  should  neither  con- 
voke nor  preside  at  it,  adding  other  demands  of  a  like  nature,  which  could  not  be  acceded  to  with- 
out at  once  sacrificing  fundamental  points  of  doctrine  and  jurisdiction.  They  were  encouraged  in 
their  opposition  to  the  Council  by  the  ambassadors  of  France  and  England  ;  by  the  former  power 
from  political  motives ;  by  the  latter  as  a  counterpoise  to  the  hostility  of  Rome,  occasioned  by 
Henry's  late  marriage  and  proceedings  in  religion."— J.  Waterworth. 


«18  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

stance,  by  nations.  It  was  further  decided,  that  both  faith  and  dis- 
cipline should  be  treated  together,  and  be  made  to  proceed  concom- 
itantly with  each  other. 

336.  In  the  fourth  session,  the  important  decree  on  Scripture  and 
Tradition  was  adopted.  The  Council  declared  that  it  received  both 
the  written  Word  of  God  and  the  unwritten  Traditions  "with  an  equal 
affection  of  piety  and  reverence,"  and  ordained  that  the  Vulgate  version 
should  everywhere  be  accepted  as  authentic,  and  that  no  one  should 
^'  presume  to  interpret  the  sacred  Scripture  contrary  to  the  declared 
sentiment   of  the  Church,  or  the  unanimous  consent  of  the  Fathers." 

337.  In  the  fifth  session,  the  doctrine  of  Original  Sin  was  defined. 
In  the  sixth,  the  Synod  promulgated  the  celebrated  decree  on  Justi- 
fication, giving  in  clear  and  precise  terms  the  teaching  of  the  Church 
on  that  important  subject.  The  Lutheran  errors  on  free-will,  grace, 
and  justification  were  condemned  in  thirty-three  canons.  The  decrees 
of  the  seventh  session  defined  the  Catholic  doctrine  on  the  Sacraments 

*  in  general,  and  on  Baptism  and  Confirmation  in  particular.  An  epi- 
demic which  broke  out  at  Trent,  necessitated  the  removal  of  the 
Council  to  Bologna.  But  as  the  imperial  bishops  refused  to  leave 
Trent,  the  Pope,  who  had  some  apprehensions  of  a  schism,  would  not 
allow  the  Fathers  at  Bologna  to  publish  any  decrees,  and,  at  length,  in 
Sept.  1547,  suspended  the  Council. 

338.  Paul  III.  died  in  Nov.  1549.  His  successor,  Julius  III., 
A.  D.  1550-1555,  re-opened  the  Council  at  Trent  on  May  1,  1551. 
During  this  second  period  of  the  Council,  extending  from  the  eleventh 
to  the  sixteenth  session,  the  doctrines  of  the  Sacraments  of  the  Altar, 
Penance,  and  Extreme  Unction  were  defined,  and  two  reformatory 
decrees  on  the  jurisdiction  of  bishops  and  the  reformation  of  the 
clergy  were  passed.  The  war  which  had  broken  out  between  the 
Protestant  princes  and  the  emperor  caused  the  Pope,  in  April  1552,  to 
suspend  the  Council  for  two  years. 

339.  After  the  short  administration  of  Marcellus  II.,  of  only 
twenty-two  days.  Cardinal  Caraffa  ascended  the  Papal  throne  as  Paul 
IV.,  1555-1559.  During  his  troubled  pontificate  no  attempt  was  made 
to  reconvene  the  Council  of  Trent.  Paul  IV.  earnestly  supported 
Queen  Mary  in  her  efforts  to  restore  the  Catholic  religion  in 
England.  Charles  V.  having  abdicated  without  consulting  the  Holy 
See,  Paul  refused  to  recognize  the  elevation  of  Ferdinand  to  the 
Empire.  The  Roman  emperor,  henceforward,  not  being  crowned 
but  merely  "  elect,"  had,  from  that  time  no  other  relations  with 
the  Holy  See  than  those  of  other  sovereigns. 

340.  Pius  IV.,  A.  D.  1559-1565,  again  convoked  the  Council  of 


THE  COUNCIL   OF  TRENT.  619 

Trent,  which  was  re-opened,  at  the  seventeenth  session,  in  January 
1562.  The  decrees  adopted,  during  this  third  period  of  the  Council, 
ordered  an  ''Index  of  Prohibited  Books  "  to  be  made,  and  defined 
the  doctrines  of  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  of  Christian  Marriage,  of 
Purgatory,  of  the  Invocation  and  Veneration  of  Saints  and  Holy 
Images,  and  of  Indulgences.  With  the  twenty-fifth  session,  the 
Fathers  of  Trent  concluded  their  labors.  "  Thus  the  Council,''  says 
the  Protestant  Eanke^  ''that  had  been  so  vehemently  demanded,  and 
so  long  evaded,  that  had  been  twice  dissolved,  had  been  shaken  by  so 
many  political  storms,  and  whose  third  convocation,  even,  had  been 
beset  with  danger,  closed  amid  the  general  harmony  of  the  Catholic 
world.  It  may  readily  be  understood  how  the  prelates,  as  they  met 
together  for  the  last  time  on  the  4th  Dec.  1563,  were  all  emotion  and 

joy Henceforth  Catholicism  confronted  the  Protestant  world 

in  renovated  collected  vigor."* 

341.  The  Decrees  of  the  Council  of  Trent  were  signed  by  two 
hundred  and  five  prelates  and  confirmed  by  Pius  IV.,  in  his  Bull, 
^'  Beiiedictus  Deus/'  Jslu.  26,  1564.  Pius  IV.,  also  caused  a  "  Tri- 
dentine  Profession  of  Faith,''  containing  a  summary  of  the  Council's 
dogmatical  decrees,  to  be  published.  The  "  Catechism  of  the  Council 
of  Trent,"  drawn  up  by  order  of  that  assembly,  appeared  in  1566. 
It  is  also  known  as  the  "  Eoman  Catechism,"  and  contains  a  precise 
and  comprehensive  statement  of  all  that  Catholics  believe.  The 
Tridentine  decrees  of  our  faith  were  received  by  all  Catholic  nations 
without  restriction.  France  objected  to  some  of  the  decrees  on  disci- 
pline  as  being  opposed  to  the  liberties  of  the  Gallican  Church  or  to  the 
rights  of  the  Crown.  It  was  only  after  protracted  delays  that  the  disci- 
plinary enactments  of  Trent  were  introduced  in  France. 

342.  The  Council  of  Trent  must  ever  be  regarded  as  one  of  the 
most  important  ever  held  in  the  Church.  No  former  Synod  treated 
so  many  important  and  difficult  subjects  with  such  marked  ability, 
and  defined  so  many  doctrines  with  such  precision  and  clearness.  By 
its  dogmatical  definitions,  it  confirmed  the  faithful  in  their  adherence 
and  loyalty  to  the  Church,  and  instructed  them  in  the  clearest  manner 
concerning  many  articles  of  faith.  By  its  disciplinary  enactments,  it 
inaugurated  a  genuine  reformation  of  all  classes  and  awoke  new  life  and 
zeal  in  the  Church.  And  though  its  efforts  to  re-unite  those  who  were 
separated  from  the  Church  were  vain,  it  yet  stamped  the  new  heresies 
with  the  seal  of  condemnation,  and  thus  opposed  a  powerful  barrier  to 

'  Notwithstanding  the  refusal  of  Queen  Elizabeth  to  join  the  Council,  England  was  not  entirely 
unrepresented  at  Trent.  Besides  Cardinal  Pole  who  attended  some  of  the  earlier  sessions.  Bishop 
Goldwell  of  St.  Asaph  was  present  at  the  latter  sittings  under  Pius  IV.  Ireland  was  represented  by 
three  bishops— D'Herlihy  of  Ross ;  O'Hart  of  Achonry ;  and  McCongail  of  Raphoe. 


620  HISTORY   OF  THE   CHURCH. 

their  further  progress.  Before  the  Council,  entire  nations  abandoned 
the  faith  of  their  fathers  ;  after  the  Council,  no  single  instance  can  be 
adduced  of  any  extensive  revolt  from  the  authority  of  the  Church. 

SECTION  XXXI. — OTHER  POPES  OP  THIS  EPOCH. 

Pius  IV. — Congregatio  Concilii  Tridentini— Pius  V. — Battle  of  Lepanto — Greg- 
ory XIII. —Gregorian  Calendar — Sixtus  V. — Clement  VIII. — Paul  V. — 
Gregory  XV.— The  "  Propaganda  "—Urban  VIII. —Case  of  Galileo- 
Innocent  X. — Peace  of  Westphalia. 

343.  In  his  bull  of  approbation,  Pope  Pius  IV.,  made  it  the  duty 
of  bishops  to  introduce,  without  delay,  and  to  execute  faithfully  the 
reforms  inaugurated  by  the  Council  of  Trent.  He  himself  gave  the 
example  by  his  promptitude  and  perseverance  in  enforcing  the  pre- 
scribed reforms  at  Rome.  He  established  a  congregation  of  cardinals 
— Congregatio  Cardinalium  Co7iciUi  Tridentini  Interpretum — to 
which  was  assigned  the  special  office  of  enforcing  and  interpreting  the 
enactments  of  Trent.  He  also  was  the  first  to  open,  under  the  direc- 
tion of  the  Jesuits,  an  ecclesiastical  seminary,  as  a  testimony  of  his 
admiration  of  that  wise  regulation  which  ordained  the  erection  of  such 
an  institution  in  every  diocese. 

344.  On  the  death  of  Pius  IV.,  mainly  through  the  influence  of 
St.  Charles  Borromeo,  the  pious  Dominican,  Cardinal  Grhisleri,  wa& 
chosen,  who  took  the  name  of  Pius  V.,  A.  D.  1566-1572.  The  pon- 
tificate of  Pius  v.,  though  extending  over  a  period  of  only  six  years 
was  most  advantageous  to  the  Church.  With  indefatigable  zeal  he 
labored  in  restoring  the  discipline  and  enforcing  the  canons  of  reform- 
ation promulgated  at  Trent.  He  obliged  bishops  to  reside  in  their  sees 
and  enjoined  the  strictest  seclusion  both  of  monks  and  nuns. 

345.  In  France  and  Germany  Pius  V.  upheld,  with  firmness  and 
wisdom,  the  cause  of  the  true  faith  against  the  innovations  of  the 
Reformers.  He  showed  much  sympathy  for  the  ill-fated  Mary  Stuart, 
and,  with  every  means  in  his  power,  the  noble-minded  Pontiff  sought 
to  rescue  the  hapless  princess  from  the  clutches  of  her  blood-thirsty 
royal  cousin.  Alarmed  at  the  progress  of  the  Turkish  power  under 
Selim  II.,  Pius  represented  to  the  Catholic  courts  the  danger  that 
threatened  religion  and  civilization  in  Europe.  By  his  efforts  an 
alliance  was  formed  between  the  Holy  See,  the  Venetians,  and  Philip 
II.,  of  Spain,  and  it  is  to  his  foresight  and  energy  that  .Christendom 
is  indebted  for  one  of  the  most  signal  victories  recorded  in  history. 
The  gallant  Don  John  of  Austria  was  given  command  of  the  Chris- 
tian armada,  and  in  the  celebrated  battle  of  Lepanto  (1571),  the  power 
of  the  Turks  was  forever  broken. 


OTHER  POPES  OF  THIS  EPOCH.  621 

346.  Gregory  XIII.,  who  governed    the  Church  from  A.  D.,  1572 
Ho    1585,  continued  the   work   of  reform  begun  by  his  predecessors. 

•  He  established  nunciatures  in  all  the  principal  cities  of  Europe  and 
L  founded  at  Rome  six  colleges  for  the  Irish,  the  Germans,  the  Jews, 
the  Greeks,  the  Maronites,  and  the  youth  of  Rome  respectively.  We 
are  indebted  to  this  Pope  for  the  new  calendar  ;  for  it  was  by  his 
order  that  the  calendar  was  corrected,  and  the  so-called  "  new  style  " 
introduced.' 

347.  Sixtus  v.,  A.  D.,  1585-1590,  who  rose  from  the  very  hum- 
blest degree  to  the  highest  dignity  in  the  Church,  possessed  all  the 
qualities  of  a  great  Pontiff  and  ruler.  By  his  prudence  and  firmness, 
and  by  a  rigorous  administration  of  the  law  he  put  an  end  to  the  dis- 
orders that  then  prevailed.  He  freed  the  Papal  States  from  the 
banditti,  regulated  the  finances,  enlarged  the  Vatican  library,  improved 
and  beautified  Rome  with  many  stately  edifices,  streets,  and  aqueducts. 
He  fixed  the  number  of  cardinals  at  Seventy,  and  reorganized  the 
administration  of  ecclesiastical  affairs  by  appointing  a  number  of  new 
congregations  of  cardinals  and  other  officers. 

348.  Popes  Urban  VII.,  Gregory  XIV.,  and  Innocent  IX.,  reign- 
ing collectively  only  a  little  over  a  year,  adorned  the  Papacy  by  their 
many  virtues  and  their  zeal  for  reform.  The  Pontificate  of  Clement 
VIII.,  A.  D.,  1592 — 1605,  is  remarkable  for  the  reconciliation  of  Henry 
IV.  of  France  in  1595,  and  the  celebration  of  the  great  Jubilee  in  1600, 
which  is  said  to  have  attracted  three  millions  of  pilgrims  to  Rome. 
Clement  is  represented  by  his  contemporaries  as  a  man  of  uncommon 
abilities,  of  great  discretion  and  prudence. 

349.  After  the  brief  reign  of  Leo  XI.,  who  survived  his  election 
only  twenty-six  days,  Paul  V.,  was  raised  to  the  Papacy  A.  D.,  1605- 
1621.  The  new  Pope  became  involved  in  a  dispute  with  the  Republic 
of  Venice  respecting  the  imprisonment  of  several  ecclesiastics  and  the 
passing  of  laws  which  prohibited  the  founding  of  religious  and  char- 
itable institutions,  and  the  acquisition  of  landed  property  by  the 
Church,  without  State  approval.  He  excommunicated  the  Doge  and 
laid  Venice  under  an  interdict.  The  regular  clergy  who  observed 
the  papal  sentence,  were  forced  to  leave  the  Venetian  territory.  The 
dispute  was  settled  to  the  advantage  of  the  Church  through  the 
mediation  of  the  French  king,  in  1507.  Paul  introduced  the  '*  Forty 
Hours'  Adoration  "  and  completed  St.  Peter's  Church  at  Rome. 

'  TJie  "  G  regorian  Calendar  "  was  immediately  adopted  by  all  the  Catholic  States.  It  was  not 
introduced  into  Denmark,  Sweden,  and  the  Protestant  States  of  Germany  until  the  year  1700 ;  in 
England  as  late  as  1751.  "■  The  Protestant  States,"  observes  Hallam,  "came  much  more  slowly  Into 
the  alteration,  truth  being  no  longer  truth  when  promulgated  by  the  Pope."  Russia  and  the 
Schlsmatical  Greeks  adhere  still  to  the  Julian  Calendar. 


622  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

350.  Paul  V.  was  succeeded  by  Gregory  XV.,  A.  D.  1621-1623. 
This  Pope  founded  the  famous  Congregation  De  Propaganda  Fide.  He 
also  gave  to  papal  elections  the  rules  and  forms — by  '^  Scrutiny," 
*'  Compromise,  and  Quasi  Inspiration" — which  have  ever  since  been 
in  force.  Urban  VIII.,  A.  D.  1623-1644,  was  a  man  of  letters,  and  an 
elegant  writer  and  poet,  and  a  generous  patron  of  learning.  He  en- 
larged the  powers  of  the  Propaganda  and  founded  the  college  that 
bears  his  name — Collegium  Urhanum — where  young  men  of  every 
nationality  might  be  trained  and  prepared  for  the  missions  among  the 
heathen  and  heretics.  In  the  pontificate  of  Urban  VIII.,  the  cel- 
ebrated case  of  Galileo  occurred  which  hostile  writers  have  always  used 
to  represent  the  Church  as  an  enemy  of  science.  * 

351.  The  pontificate  of  Innocent  X.,  A.  D.  1644-1655,  deserves 
to  be  numbered  among  the  most  fortunate  ;  but  its  reputation  has 
suffered  somewhat  from  the  undue  influence  which  his  sister-in-law. 
Donna  Olympia  Maldachina,  was  allowed  to  exercise  over  the  admin- 
istration of  ecclesiastical  affairs.  The  charges  made  against  his 
morals  on  that  account  are  the  fabrications  of  bigotry.  His  apol- 
ogist is  the  Protestant  Ranke,  who  says  of  him  :  *'  In  his  earlier 
career,  as  nuncio  and  as  cardinal.  Innocent  had  shown  himself 
industrious,  blameless,  and  upright,  and  this  reputation  he  still  main- 
tained." 

352.  By  his  Bull  '^  Zelus  domus  Dei,''  Pope  Innocent  X.  entered 
a  solemn  protest  against  the  Peace  of  Westphalia,  which  brought  the 
Thirty  Years'  war  to  a  close.  It  was  not  against  the  peace,  as  such, 
nor  against  the  entire  treaty  that  the  Pope  made  objections,  but  only 


*  They  forget  that  the  system  advocated  by  Galileo  had  been  advanced,  without  censure,  by  the 
learned  cardinal  Cusa  nearly  two  hundred  years  before :  that  It  had  been  expressly  maintained,  with 
the  encouragement  of  the  Roman  Pontiffs,  by  Copernicus,  fully  ninety  years  before  the  Congregation 
of  the  Index  pronounced  sentence  against  the  Florentine  astronomer.  They  forget  too,  that  Prot- 
-  estants  were  the  first  who  vigorously  opposed  the  Copernican  system  on  the  ground  of  Scripture. 
"Even  «uchagreat  man  as  Bacon,"  says  Macaulay,  "  rejected  with  scorn  the  theory  of  Galileo." 
'"  Had,"  says  Kenrick,  "  Galileo  confined  himself,  as  he  was  repeatedly  warned,  to  scientific  demon- 
strations, without  meddling  with  Scripture,  and  proposed  his  system  as  probable,  rather  than  as 
IndubifAble,  he  would  have  excited  no  opposition."  It  Is  rather  unfair  and  ridiculous  to  call  the 
Church  an  enemy  of  science  because  she  forbids  writers  to  adduce  the  Scripture  in  support  of  their 
views.  No  corporal  punishment  was  inflicted  In  the  case  of  Galileo ;  and  no  dungeon  was  opened 
to  receive  him.  On  the  contrary  his  disobedience  and  contempt  were  visited  only  with  a  slight  pen- 
ance—to  say  once  a  week  for  three  years  the  seven  penitential  psalms— and  he  was  put  under  some 
.restraint— not  in  a  prison— first  with  the  archbishop  of  Siena,  his  personal  friend,  and  afterwards  In 
his  own  villa,  near  Florence.  The  decree  of  the  Index  against  Galileo  proves  nothing  against 
"Papal  Infallibility ;  It  neither  bears  the  Pope's  name,  nor  any  mark  to  show  the  Pope's  Intention  of 
defining  a  doctrine  to  be  held  by  the  whole  Church.  The  decree  In  question  was  simply  disciplinary, 
not  doctrinal.  "  In  1624  (eight  years  after  the  Decree  of  the  Index  had  been  Issued),  speaking  of 
the  new  theory.  Pope  Urban  VIII.  said  that  the  Church  neither  had  condemned  nor  ever  would 
oxjndemn  the  doctrine  of  the  earth's  motion  as  heretical,  but  only  as  rash."  See  "  Irish  Ecclesiastical 
Becord,"  September,  1886. 

r 


NEW  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS.  623 

against  certain  articles  which  were  prejudicial  to  the  Church. 
The  property  of  which  the  Church  had  been  robbed  by  the  Protestants 
was  made  over  to  them  as  their  own  forever.  Lutherans  were  not  only 
permitted  the  free  exercise  of  their  religion  in  numerous  places,  but 
were  also  admitted  to  certain  bishoprics  and  other  ecclesiastical  dig- 
nities and  benefices.  A  number  of  bishoprics  and  other  Church 
l)enefices  and  properties  were  given  to  Protestant  princes  as  perpetual 
fiefs.  These  and  other  articles  were  gross  violations  of  the  rights  of 
the  Catholic  Church  and  of  all  Catholics  in  general. 

SECTION  XXXII.       NEW  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS. 

Society  of  Jesus — St.  Ignatius — Labors  and  services  of  the  Jesuits — 
Capuchins — Recollects — Alcantarines — Discalced  Carmelites — Augustinians 
— Congregation  of  St.  Maur— Clerks  Regular — Congregations  of  Secular 
Priests— Congregations  of  Women. 

353.  This  period  was  a  very  critical  one  and  of  great  import  for 
the  Church.  Heresy  had  attained  alarming  dimensions  in  Germany, 
Scandinavia,  England,  Scotland,  and  even  in  France  and  Italy.  The 
discovery  of  America  and  of  a  new  route  to  India  had  opened  a  vast 
field  for  missionary  enterprise.  Men  were  wanted  to  combat  heresy  at 
home,  and  to  conquer  new  worlds  abroad  ;  to  revive  the  spirit  of  holi- 
ness in  the  clergy  and  to  reform  the  manners  of  the  people.  This 
want  for  apostolic  men,  who  would  assist  the  Church  in  her  arduous 
and  difficult  task,  prompted  the  founding  of  new  religious  orders. 

354.  At  the  very  period  when  Luther  and  the  other  Reformers 
hade  defiance  to  the  Holy  See,  Divine  Providence  raised  up  an  order 
which  should  support  the  Chair  of  Peter  against  the  new  heretics ; 
sustain,  by  example,  preaching,  and  education  the  cause  of  Catholic 
truth,  and  jarry  the  light  of  the  Gospel  to  the  heathen  of  distant 
countries.  This  order  was  the  noble  and  famous  Society  of  Jesus. 
St.  Ignatius  Loyola,  its  founder,  was  born  in  1491,  of  a  noble  Spanish 
family  and  trained  to  the  profession  of  arms.  But  touched  by  divine 
grace,  he  gave  up  that  profession  to  devote  his  life  to  the  service  of 
the  Church. 

355.  In  instituting  his  order,  the  foundation  of  which  was  laid 
on  the  feast  of  the  Assumption,  1534,  Ignatius  desired  to  create  a 
spiritual  militia  which  should  be  completely  subject  to  the  orders  of 
the  Vicar  of  Christ,  and  whose  services  should  be  ever  ready  to  be 
employed  by  the  Pope  in  whatever  manner,  and  whatever  part  of  the 
world  he  should  judge  best.  The  rules  laid  down  for  the  government 
of  the  society  all  tend  to  this  end.  A  fourth  vow,  that  of  under- 
taking  at  the  bidding  of  the  Pope  any  mission  in   any  part  of   the 


624  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

world  is  added  to  the  other  three  vows  of  poverty,  chastity,  and  obe- 
dience, which  latter  they  declare  to  be  the  duty  of  every  member  of 
the  Society. 

356.  The  Society  of  Jesus  became  the  vanguard  of  the  Church  in 
her  conflict  with  Protestantism.  The  progress  of  heresy  in  Germany 
was  checked,  and  thousands  were  converted  from  their  errors  by  the 
labors  of  the  Jesuits.  Austria,  Bavaria,  and  Poland,  where  heresy 
had  reached  alarming  dimensions  were  confirmed  in  the  Catholic  faith, 
and,  in  the  main  remained  true  to  the  Church.  The  Jesuits  being 
everywhere  the  support  and  bulwark  of  the  Church,  we  cannot  be 
surprised  that  they  soon  won  the  deadly  hatred  of  the  enemies  of 
the  faith.  * 

357.  The  common  calumny  of  the  Protestants,  that  the  Catholic 
Church  was  hostile  to  learning,  has  been  practically  refuted  by  the 
numerous  Jesuit  colleges,  founded  in  almost  every  kingdom  of  Europe, 
in  which  the  humanities,  philosophy,  and  the  sciences  were  taught 
with  great  skill  and  success.  The  society  of  Jesus  increased  rapidly. 
When  St.  Ignatius  died  in  1556,  it  was  firmly  established  in  many 
countries  of  Europe  and  engaged  in  successful  missions  in  Asia,  Africa, 
and  America.  It  possessed  upwards  of  a  hundred  houses  and  colleges, 
and  numbered  more  than  a  thousand  members  divided  among  twelve 
provinces. 

358.  Many  Jesuits  became  martyrs  of  charity,  others  suffered  act- 
ual martyrdom  in  China,  India,  Japan,  and  North  and  South  America, 
Even  European  countries,  where  heresy  prevailed,  were  watered  with 
their  blood.  In  England,  where  the  first  Jesuits  arrived  in  1580, 
they  were  hunted  down  like  wild  beasts.  Fathers  Cornelius,  Walpole, 
Filcock,  Campion,  Briant,  and  Page  were  executed  under  Elizabeth; 
Father  Oldcorne  and  the  two  Garnets  under  James  I.' 

359.  The  Capuchins,  a  branch  of  the  great  Franciscan  Order, 
were  instituted  by  Mattaeo  di  Bassi  of  XJrbino.  Their  special  object  is 
the  strict  observance  of  monastic  poverty  as  prescribed  in  the  Rule  of  St. 
Francis.  They  were  to  have  ^jo  revenues,  but  to  live  by  begging.  In 
1528,  they  obtained  from  Clement  VII.  permission  to  wear  beards  and 

'  The  advice  given  by  Calvin  that  "  the  Jesuits,  who  most  oppose  us,  should  either  be  killed,  or  if 
this  cannot  well  be  done,  driven  away ;  and  at  any  rate,  put  down  by  lies  and  slander  ; ''  remains 
to  this  day  the  common  watch-word  of  heretics  and  Infidels.  "  Use  your  best  endeavors,"  the  Gen- 
evan Reformer  writes,  "  to  rid  the  country  of  these  scoundrels ....  Such  monsters  should  be  dealt 
with  as  was  done  here  In  the  execution  of  Michael  Servetus,  the  Spaniard." 

*  "From  a  rough  calculation  It  would  appear  that,  from  1540-1773,  21,000  Jesuits  were  employed  in 
foreljfn  missionary  work.  During  this  period  500  Jesuits  are  recorded  to  have  won  the  martyr's 
crown  ;  some  at  the  hands  of  the  heathens,  others  through  the  persecutors  of  Northern  Europe.  Of 
these  martyrs,  3  have  been  canonized,  75  beatified,  and  27  declared  venerable."— Catholic  Missions, 
July  1886. 


I 


NEW  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS.  625 

to  use  the  long-pointed  capuche,  or  cowl,  from  which  they  derive 
their  name.  The  new  Order  spread  rapidly  and  became  very  popular. 
The  Capuchins  labored,  with  much  success,  in  reclaiming  to  the  true 
faith  numberless  Protestants  in  Germany,  Savoy,  and  Switzerland. 
There  are  other  branches  of  the  Franciscan  Order  called  the  Recollects 
and  Alcantarines;  the  former  founded,  in  1500,  by  Blessed  John 
Guadalupe,  the  latter  in  1555,  by  St.  Peter  of  Alcantara.  Both  are 
required  to  observe  the  original  rigor  of  the  institute.  There  is  no 
essential  difference  between  the  two  Orders  ;  the  Alcantarines,  how- 
ever, wear  a  white  habit. 

360.  Special  congregations,  aiming  at  the  strict  observance  of  the 
original  rule,  arose,  likewise,  in  other  religious  Orders.  The  Discalced 
Carmelites,  both  male  and  female,  were  instituted  by  St.  Teresa.  The 
new  institute  which  was  approved  by  Gregory  XIII.  in  1580,  extended 
rapidly  into  all  the  Catholic  countries  of  Europe.  About  the  same 
time  the  Discalced  Augustinians  were  founded  by  Father  Thomas  of 
Jesus. 

361.  Among  the  reformed  monks,  particular  attention  is  due  to 
the  Maurists,  who  rendered  such  priceless  services  to  the  cause  of 
secular  and  sacred  learning.  The  Congregation  of  St.  Maur,  as  this 
reformed  institute  called  itself,  was  established  in  France  in  1618, 
w^th  the  view  of  reviving  the  pristine  austerity  of  the  rule  of  St. 
Benedict,  and  for  the  advancement  of  literature  and  learning.  Those 
famous  and  highly  valued  ''  Benedictine  editions  "  of  the  Greek  and 
Latin  Fathers,  all  came  from  members  of  the  Congregation  of  St. 
Maur. 

362.  To  spread  an  ecclesiastical  spirit  among  the  secular  clergy, 
and  reform  the  manners  of  the  Catholic  laity,  were  the  principal  objects 
of  several  new  Orders.  The  ^'  Clerks  Regular  "  as  the  members  of  these 
communities  called  themselves,  were  priests,  observing  a  common  rule 
of  life,  and  devoting  themselves  to  the  education  of  the  clergy,  the 
instruction  of  the  people,  the  care  of  the  sick  and  the  orphans, 
the  conducting  of  missions,  and  similar  works.  They  were  :  1.  The 
*'  Theatines,^'  founded  in  1524,  by  St.  Cajetan  and  Archbishop  Peter 
Caraffa  of  Theate,  afterwards  Pope  Paul  lY. ;  2.  The  "  Clerks  Regu- 
lar of  Somascha,^'  instituted  by  St.  Jerome  ^miliani  in  1530;  3.  The 
^'  Clerks  Regular  of  St.  Paul,"  or,  '*  Barnabites,"  also  founded  in 
1530;  4.  The  "  Clerks  Regular,  Minors,"  instituted  in  1588  ;  and  5. 
The  ^^ Clerks  Regular,"  or  ''Servants  of  the  Sick,"  founded  by  St. 
Camillus  Lelis.  Similar  to  the  last-named  were  the  ''  Brothers  of 
Mercy,"  founded  by  St.  John  of  God  in  1540,  for  the  care  of  the  sick 
in  hospitals,  to  which  they  bind  themselves  by  an  additional  vow. 


626  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

363.  Besides  these,  there  were  the  *'  Congregations  of  Secular 
Priests/'  resembling  in  their  aim  and  organization  the  preceding 
orders:  1.  The  ''  Oratorians,"  founded  by  St.  Philip  Neri,  in  1558  ; 
2.  The  '^Oblates  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  and  St.  Ambrose,"  instituted 
by  St.  Charles  Borromeo  in  1578;  3.  The  *' Piarists,"  or,  "Fathers 
of  the  Pious  Schools,"  an  institute  founded  at  Rome  by  St.  Joseph 
Calasanctius,  about  1600;  4.  The  '^  Lazarists,"  or  "Fathers  of  the 
Mission,"  instituted  by  St.  Vincent  of  Paul,  in  1635;  5.  The 
"  Eudists,"  established  by  Pere  Eudes,  under  the  name  of  Jesus  and 
Mary,  in  1643;  and  6.  The  "  Sulpicians,"  or  "  Priests  of  the  Con- 
gregation of  St.  Sulpice,"  a  community  founded  by  the  sainted 
Jacques  Olier,  in  1642, — their  chief  object  being  the  direction  of 
ecclesiastical  seminaries  and  the  training  of  candidates  for  the  priest- 
hood. 

364.  Among  women,  also,  the  religious  life  underwent  a  most 
beneficial  awakening.  The  Order  of  the  "  Ursulines,"  so  called 
because  it  is  placed  under  the  patronage  of  St.  Ursula,  was  founded 
by  St.  Angela  Merici,  in  1537.  The  work  of  teaching  was,  from  the 
beginning,  the  distinctive  employment  of  this  community.  It  received 
the  papal  approbation,  in  1612.  The  holy  widow  Frances  de  Chantal,. 
under  the  direction  of  St.  Francis  de  Sales,  became  the  foundress  of 
the  "  Order  of  Visitation."  The  venerable  Margaret  Alacoque,  so 
well  known  in  connection  with  the  devotion  to  the  Sacred  Heart, 
belonged  to  this  Order,  which  was  approved  by  Pope  Paul  V.  in  1618. 

365.  The  "  Institute  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,"  was  established 
by  Mary  Ward  about  1603.  These  Sisters  known,  also,  as  "  Loretto 
Nuns,"  in  Germany  as  "  English  Virgins,"  are  principally  devoted 
to  the  care  of  female  boarding  institutions.  The  Order  worked  great 
good  in  England  during  the  persecutions.  "The  institution  of  the 
"  Sisters  of  Charity,"  also  called  "  Grey  Sisters,"  so  famously  known 
all  over  the  world,  owes  its  origin  to  St.  Vincent  of  Paul,  and  vvas 
founded  by  him  in  1634,  while  the  "  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd," 
whose  object  is  the  reformation  of  fallen  women,  date  from  the  year 
1646. 

SECTION. — XXXIII.    THEOLOGICAL   CONTROVERSIES. 

Immaculate  Conception. — Doctrine  of  the  Franciscans — Of  the  Dominicans — 
Of  the  Council  of  Trent — Baius — His  Errors — Controversy  on  Grace — 
Thomists   and   Molinists — Jansenius — His   "Augustinus" — Jansenists. 

366.  In  the  twelfth  century,  the  question  concerning  the  "Im- 
maculate Conception  "  of  the  Blessed  Virgin — that  is,  of  her  immu- 
nity,  through  the  merits  of  her  divine  Son,  from  original  sin — began 


I 


THEOLOGICAL  CONTROVERSIES.  627 

to  agtiate  the  minds  of  theologians.  The  controversy  was  subsequently 
carried  on  with  great  warmth,  especially  between  the  Franciscans  and 
Dominicans.  The  former  following  Duns  Scotus,  who  thought  it 
more  consonant  with  the  teachings  of  the  Church  and  the  testimonies 
of  the  Fathers,  and  more  becoming  the  dignity  of  the  Mother  of  God, 
that  she  never  contracted  original  sin,  defended  the  doctrine  of  the 
Immaculate  Conception  ;  while  the  Dominicans,  on  the  authority  of 
St.  Thomas  Aquinas,  who  held  that  Mary  was  only  sanctified  in  the 
womb  after  the  animation  of  her  body  {post  ejus  animationem),  denied 
that  prerogative  of  the  Blessed  Virgin. 

367.  The  Holv  See,  though  delaying  to  declare  it  as  an  article  of 
faith,  invariably  supported  the  doctrine  of  the  Immaculate  Conception. 
The  Roman  Pontiffs, — Sixtus  IV.,  Pius  V.,  Paul  V.,  and  Gregory 
XV. — approved  of  the  Feast  of  the  "  Conception  of  the  Blessed 
Virgin  "  and  of  the  office  composed  for  it,  and  forbade  the  contrary 
doctrine  to  be  taught  and  preached.  The  Fathers  of  Trent,  adopting 
the  well-known  declaration  of  St.  Augustine  that,  when  speaking  of 
sin,  the  Blessed  Virgin,  on  account  of  the  honor  of  the  Lord,  must 
always  be  excepted,  affirmed  in  the  decree  concerning  original  sin, 
that  "  it  was  not  their  intention  to  include  in  it  the  Blessed  and 
Immaculate  Virgin  Mary,  the  Mother  of  God." 

368.  Michael  Baius,  doctor  and  professor  of  Theology  at  Louvain, 
misinterpreting  the  doctrine  of  St.  Augustine,  advanced  new  opinions 
on  original  justice,  grace,  and  freedom  of  will.  His  lectures  on  these 
subjects  excited  much  opposition  among  his  academic  colleagues, 
especially  among  the  Franciscans.  The  principal  errors  couched  in 
the  doctrines  of  Baius  are,  that  original  justice  is  an  integral  part  of 
human  nature,  and  not  a  free  gift  of  God;  that  fallen  man,  being 
utterly  depraved  in  his  nature,  is  incapable  of  doing  good ;  that  all 
actions  of  man,  in  the  natural  order,  are  sinful;  and  that  divine  grace 
constrains  man  to  be  and  to  do  good.  In  1567,  Pope  Pius  V.  con- 
demned seventy-six  propositions,  representing  the  teachings  of  Baius, 
as  erroneous  and  heretical,  which  sentence  Gregory  XIII.  renewed  in 
1579.  Baius,  who  died  in  1589,  submitted  to  the  papal  decision. 
But  his  tenets,  which  are  hardly  distinguishable  from  those  of  Calvin, 
struck  root,  and  passed  from  his  disciples  to  Jansenius  in  the  next 
century. 

369.  The  errors  of  Baius  gave  rise  to  an  animated  controversy 
between  the  Dominicans  and  Jesuits  on  the  efficacy  of  grace  and  its 
relation  to  the  freedom  of  the  will.  The  Dominican  theologians, 
adopting  the  Thomist  theory  on  the  subject,  maintained  that  grace  is 
efficacious  of  itself  independent  of  the  human  will.     Grace  becomes 


628  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

efficacious,  as  they  expressed  it,  by  "physical  premotion "  on  the 
part  of  God,  which  is  infallibly  followed  by  the  consent  of  the  will  on 
the  part  of  man. 

370.  The  Jesuits  met  the  doctrine  of  intrinsic  efficacy  of  grace 
and  physicial  premotion  with  a  vigorous  opposition.  Louis  Molina, 
in  1588,  published  his  famous  book,  entitled  Liberi  ArUtrii  cum 
Gratice  donis  concordia,  in  which  he  maintains  that  grace  becomes 
efficacious  by  the  consent  of  the  will  which  accepts  it ;  and  that  God 
predestines  those  whom  he  foresees  will  correspond  to  grace. 

371.  The  controversy  waxed  warm  amongst  theologians  who  be- 
came divided  into  two  camps  under  the  names  of  TJioinists  and  Mol- 
inists.  Clement  VIII.  calling  the  whole  matter  before  his  tribunal, 
instituted  the  famous  Congregation  De  Auxiliis  for  the  examination 
of  the  question.  After  years  of  discussion,  Paul  V.  in  1607  dismissed 
both  parties,  permitting  them  to  hold  their  respective  opinions,  pro- 
vided they  did  not  stigmatize  their  opponents  with  heresy. 

372.  The  disputes  were  revived  and  inflamed  by  the  treatise, 
which  Jansenius,  in  1640,  published  on  grace  and  fallen  nature. 
Cornelius  Jansenius,  born  in  1585,  was  professor  at  Louvain;  after- 
wards he  became  bishop  of  Ypres.  Being  averse  to  the  theological 
views  of  the  Jesuits,  he  concerted  with  his  friend  Hauranne,  abbot  of 
St.  Cyran,  a  new  system  of  doctrine  concerning  the  working  of  divine 
grace.  He  published  his  system  in  a  book  which,  from  St.  Augustine, 
of  whose  doctrine  the  author,  as  he  professed,  attempted  to  give  a 
faithful  statement,  is  entitled  Augustinus.  The  book  is  in  three 
parts  ;  the  first  contains  a  history  of  the  Pelagian  heresy ;  the  second 
and  third  treat  of  grace,  fallen  nature,  and  the  Semipelagian  errors. 

373.  Jansenius,  who  died  in  1638,  submitted  his  "Augustinus^' 
to  the  Pope's  judgment,  though  he  could  not  believe  that  the  work 
contained  doctrinal  errors.  But  such  it  comprised.  It  gave  rise  to 
a  new  heresy,  which  denied  the  freedom  of  will  and  the  possibility  of 
resisting  divine  grace,  wherefore  Urban  VIII.,  in  1624,  condemned 
the  work  as  reviving  the  errors  of  Baius;  and  Innocent  X.,  in  1653, 
denounced  as  heretical  five  propositions,  to  which  the  errors  of  Jan- 
senius were  reduced. 

374.  The  "  Disciples  of  St.  Augustine,''  as  the  Jansenists  styled 
themselves,  making  a  distinction  between  what  they  called  the  question 
of  right  {qucBstio  juris)  smd  the  question  of  fact,  {qucestio  facti)  were 
willing  to  admit  that  the  five  propositions  condemned  were  false,  but 
they  denied  that  the  book  of  Jansenius  contained  them  in  the  sense 
condemned — a  question  of  fact,  on  which,  as  they  maintained,  the 
Church  might  err.     Alexander  VII.,  however,  in  1656,  declared  that 


I 


THEOLOGICAL  SCIENCE  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  629 

the  five  propositions  were  contained  in  "  Augustinus,"  and  were  con- 
demned in  the  sense  in  which  the  author  used  them.  The  leaders 
of  the  Jansenist  party  at  this  time  were  Antoine  Arnauld,  doctor  of 
the  Sorbonne,  and  Pascal,  author  of  the  famous  "Provincial  Letters/' 

SECTION  XXXIV. — THEOLOGICAL  SCIENCE  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIFE. 

Literary  Activity  of  the  Clergy — Baronius — His  ''Ecclesiastical  Annals  " — Bel- 
larmine — His  Principal  Works — Dogmatic  and  Moral  Theology — Eminent 
Theologians — Canon  Law — Exegetics — History — Saints  of  this  Epoch — 
Sanctity  of  the  Church. 

375.  All  the  different  branches  of  science  and  literature,  during 
the  course  of  this  epoch  received  a  fresh  impulse  and  a  new  degree  of 
lustre  and  improvement.  The  eminent  writers  that  adorned  the 
Church,  especially  in  Italy,  France,  and  Spain,  where  the  ecclesiastical 
sciences  were  cultivated  with  much  ardor,  were  many  in  number.  The 
Maurists  and  Dominicans,  the  Jesuits  and  Oratorians,  and  even  the 
secular  clergy  counted  in  their  ranks  many  persons,  distinguished  for 
their  genius  and  erudition,  who,  by  their  theological  or  literary  pro- 
ductions contributed  much  to  the  propagation  and  improvement  of 
both  sacred  and  profane  learning.  We  shall  here  mention  only  those 
writers,  with  whom  it  is  necessary  for  a  student  of  ecclesiastical  his- 
tory to  be  acquainted. 

376.  At  the  head  of  the  eminent  men,  found  among  the  regular 
clergy,  must  be  placed  the  Cardinals  Baronius  and  Bellarmme.  Both 
obtained  immortal  fame,  the  one  as  historian,  the  other  as  controver- 
sialist. Baronius,  a  member  of  the  Oratory,  was  the  author  of  the 
famous  "Ecclesiastical  Annals,"  a  work  of  stupendous  research  and 
learning,  the  equal  of  which  has  not  been  written  to  the  present  day. 
This  work,  which  ranges  from  the  year  1  of  the  Christian  Era,  to 
1198,  and  which  gained  for  the  author  the  honorable  title  of  *'  Father  of 
Ecclesiastical  History,"  was  undertaken  to  oppose  the  compilation  of 
the  ^'  Centuriators  of  Magdeburg,"  a  history  of  the  Church  written 
in  an  intensely  Lutheran  and  hostile  spirit.     Baronius  died  in  1607. 

377.  The  principal  works  of  Bellarmine,  a  Jesuit,  and  nephew  of 
Pope  Marcellus  II.,  are  his  ''  Disjmtationes  de  controversis  Ckristianm 
Fidei  ArticuUs/'  and  "  De  Scriptoribus  Ecclesiasticis,"  the  latter  a 
sort  of  Patrology.  This  renowned  and  formidable  champion  of  the 
Catholic  Church  died  in  1621.  Other  eminent  controversialists, 
besides  those  already  mentioned  in  the  history  of  the  Reformation, 
were  Thomas  Stapleton,  professor  at  Douay,  the  Jesuit  Gregory  of 
Valentia,  and  the  Cardinals  Perron  and  Hosius. 

378.  A  fresh  impetus  was  given  to  the  study  of  dogmatic  theology 


630  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

by  the  controversies  with  the  Reformers  on  almost  all  the  Catholic- 
dogmas,  and  with  the  Jansenists  on  the  doctrine  of  grace.  The 
greatest  names  among  the  dogmatic  theologians,  in  this  age,  are, 
besides  Bellarmine,  his  brother  Jesuits,  Vasquez  (d.  1604),  Suarez  (d. 
1617),  Petavius  (d.  1653),  and  Cardinal  de  Lugo  (d.  1660)  ;  and  the 
Dominicans,  Cardinal  Cajetan  (d.  1534),  Melchior  Canus  (d.  1560), 
Victoria   (d.  1549),  Bannez  (d.  1604),  and  Alvarez  (d.  1640). 

379.  Moral  theology  was  treated  in  this  period  with  greater  com- 
pleteness, and  arranged  in  a  more  systematic  manner  for  practical  use. 
In  this  sphere  excelled,  especially,  Cardinal  Toletus,  (d.  1596);  Molina, 
Laymann,  Escobar,  and  Busenbaum,  all  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  In 
Canon  Law  conspicuous  were  Cardinals  Parisius,  Simonetta,  and  Cer- 
vantes, and  Bishop  Barbosa  of  Ugento  (d.  1649). 

380.  Great  advance  was  made  in  Biblical  studies  during  the 
present  epoch.  The  aid  given  to  the  study  of  exegefcics,  especially  by 
the  fathers  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  was  remarkably  valuable.  To- 
prove  this  it  is  only  necessary  to  cite  such  names  as  Maldonat 
(d.  1583)  ;  Salmeron,  Toletus,  and  Cornelius  a  Lapide  (d.  1637).  An- 
other celebrated  interpreter  of  the  Scripture  was  William  Estius,. 
chancellor  of  the  University  of  Douay  '    (d.  1613.) 

381.  Fathers  Pallavicini,  Rosweyde,  and  Bolland,  of  the  Society 
of  Jesus,  obtained  great  fame  as  historians.  The  two  last  named 
conceived  and  carried  out  the  great  design  of  the  famous  "  Bollandist 
Lives  of  the  Saints.^'  Pallavicini,  who  became  Cardinal,  was  the 
author  of  a  '^  History  of  the  Council  of  Trent,"  a  work  written  to 
refute  the  misstatements  of  Paolo  Sarpi,  an  excommunicated  Servite 
friar,  on  the  same  subject. 

382.  At  the  very  time  when  the  Reformers  decried  the  Church 
as  being  degenerate  and  void  of  all  higher  life,  she  produced  a  glorious 
array  of  saints,  whose  holy  lives  were  shining  patterns  of  faith  and 
heroic  virtue.  The  sixteenth  and  seventeenth  centuries  were  adorned 
by  such  holy  persons  as  St.  Charles  Borromeo,  Cardinal,  and  Arch- 
bishop of  Milan  (d.  1584),  so  justly  celebrated  for  his  exemplary  piety 
and  his  unparalleled  liberality  and  beneficence  ;  St.  Francis  de  Sales, 
Prince-Bishop  of  Geneva  (d.  1622),  who  brought  back  by  the  power 
of  his  gentleness  72,000  Calvinists  to  the  Catholic  faith  ;  St.  Vincent 
de  Paul,  the  father  of  the  poor  and  afflicted  ;  St.  John  of  the  Cross, 
co-laborer  of  St.  Teresa  in  reforming  the  Carmelite  Order  ;  St.   John 


»  At  Douav,  in  Flanders,  was  begun,  about  1580.  the  translation  of  the  Holy  Scriptures  current 
among  English  speaking  Catholics.  Henc«  the  name  of  "  Douay  Bible."  The  divines  who  under- 
took the  work  were  Drs.  William  Allen,  afterwards  cardinal.  Gregory  Martin,  Richard  Bristow,  and 
John  Reynolds. 


THEOLOGICAL  SCIENCE  AND  RELIGIOUS  LIFE.  631 

of  God  ;  and  St.  Philip  Neri  (d.  1595),   honored   to  this   day  as  the 
*'  Apostle  of  Rome." 

383.  The  Society  of  Jesus  produced,  besides  St.  Ignatius,  its 
illustrious  founder,  such  saints  as  Francis  Xavier,  the  Apostle  of  India 
and  Japan  ;  Francis  Borgia,  third  general  of  the  order ;  Francis. 
Regis,  the  Apostle  of  Southern  France  ;  Stanislaus  Kostka  (d.  1568)  ; 
and  Aloysius  Gonzaga  (d.  1591.)  We  meet,  besides,  at  this  period  such 
eminent  men  as  St.  Turibius,  Archbishop  of  Lima ;  St.  Thomas 
of  Villanova ;  St.  Cajetan ;  St.  Pius  V ;  St.  Peter  Alcantara ;  St. 
Camillus  Lelis ;  St.  Joseph  Calasanctius ;  St.  Joseph  Cupertino,  and 
many  others. 

384.  Among  the  female  saints  flourishing  in  this  time,  we  men- 
tion particularly  St.  Jane,  Queen  of  France  and  foundress  of  the  nuns 
of  the  Annunciation  ;  St.  Teresa  and  St.  Magdalena  de  Pazzi  of  the 
Carmelite  Order ;  St.  Angela  of  Merici  and  St.  Frances  de  Chantal, 
foundresses,  the  one  of  the  Ursulines,  the  other,  of  the  Visitation 
Order  ;  St.  Catherine  of  Ricci,  and  St.  Rosa  of  Lima,  the  first  canon- 
ized saint  of  America — both  of  the  Dominican  Order. 

385.  The  lives  and  examples  of  these  saints,  which  could  not  but 
exert  a  beneficial  influence  on  the  masses  of  the  people,  loudly  pro- 
claimed the  sanctity  of  that  Church  which  the  self-styled  Reformers 
were  wont  to  denounce  as  degenerate  and  corrupt.  Saints,  properly 
so  called,  are  to  be  found  nowhere  except  in  the  Catholic  Church, 
a  fact  which  even  fair-minded  Protestants  admit.  ^'  It  is  only  in  that 
Church,"  says  Leibnitz,  ^'  which  preserved  the  name  and  character 
of  Catholic,  that  we  find  those  superhuman  examples  of  heroic  virtue 
and  spiritual  life;  but  there  they  are  everywhere  manifested  and 
cherished/' 


SECOND  EPOCH. 


FROM  THE   MIDDLE   OF   THE   SEVENTEENTH  CBNTURT 
TO  THE  VATICAN  COUNCIL, 

OK, 

PROM   A.    D.    1650   TO   A.    D.    1870. 


INTRODUCTORY   REMARKS. 

Macaulay  on  the  Decline  of  Protestantism — Deplorable  Results  of  the  Refor- 
mation— Sects — Atheism — Dr.  Brownson — Protestantism  essentially  Intol- 
erant— Led  everywhere  to  Insurrection  and  Civil  Wars — St.  Bernard  on  the 
Perpetuity  of  the  Church. 

1.  For  three  whole  centuries,  Protestantism  had  had  full  sway 
and  perfect  freedom  of  action  throughout  half  of  Germany  and  all  of 
Northern  Europe.  What  have  been  its  progress  and  the  practical  results 
of  its  influence  ?  Macaulay  in  his  famous  Essay  on  the  Popes  answers 
the  question  by  saying :  ^'  We  often  hear  it  said  that  the  world  is  con- 
stantly becoming  more  and  more  enlightened,  and  that  this  enlight- 
enment must  be  favorable  to  Protestantism,  and  unfavorable  to  Cath- 
olicism. We  wish  that  we  could  think  so.  But  we  see  great  reason  to 
doubt  whether  this  will  be  a  well-founded  expectation.  We  see  that 
during  the  last  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  the  human  mind  has  been 
in  the  highest  degree  active,  that  it  has  made  great  advances  in  every 
branch  of  philosophy,  that  it  has  produced  innumerable  inventions, 

tending  to  promote  the  conveniences  of  life yet  we  see,  that, 

during  these  two  hundred  and  fifty  years,  Protestantism  has  made  no 
conquests  worth  speaking  of.  Nay,  we  believe  that  as  far  as  there 
has  been  a  change,  that  change  has,  on  the  whole,  been  in  favor  of  the 
Church  of  Rome." 

2.  Christ  came  on  earth  to  establish  a  Church  which  he  endowed 
with  absolute  authority  in  matters  of  religion.  He  made  her  the 
mouth-piece   of  infallible  truth  :    "  The  pillar  and  ground  of  the 


INTR  OB  UCTOR  7  REMARKS.  633 

truth/'  By  rejecting  that  divinely  constituted  authority,  and  sub- 
stituting, in  its  steadjthe  right  of  private  judgment,  the  Reformers 
brought  about  a  lamentable  confusion  of  doctrine,  and  paved  the  way 
for  a  countless  multitude  of  conflicting  heresies.  Sect  after  sect 
sprang  into  existence  ;  the  countries  in  which  Protestantism  became 
predominant,  literally  swarmed  with  them.  All,  of  course,  professed 
themselves  to  be  founded  upon  the  Bible.  In  spite  of  every  effort  to 
coerce  the  licentious  spread  of  schism,  divisions  still  continued  to 
multiply,  and  the  eternal  Truth  was  asserted  to  have  taught  as  many 
different  systems  of  faith,  as  there  are  expounders  of  the  Bible.  Such, 
then,  was  the  influence  of  the  Reformation  on  the  doctrines  of 
Christianity  !  It  found  but  one  faith  on  the  earth  ;  and  it  created  a 
hundred  new  ones,  all  contradicting  one  another. 

3.  But  Protesta^ntism  is  answerable  for  still  greater  evils  :  it  log- 
ically leads  to  the  denial  of  all  religion,  to  atheism,  and  therefore,  to 
nihilism — for  to  deny  that  God  exists,  is  to  deny  that  anything  is. 
"  Protestantism,  as  we  now  find  it,  and  even  as  it  was  virtually,  in  the 
sixteenth  century, '^  writes  one  of  the  most  logical  thinkers  of  the  age. 
Dr.  Brownson,  "  is  not  merely  the  denial  of  certain  Catholic  dogmas,  is 
not  merely  the  denial  of  the  Christian  revelation  itself,  but  really  the 
denial  of  all  religion  and  morality,  natural  and  revealed.  It  denies 
reason  itself,  as  far  as  it  is  in  the  power  of  man  to  deny  it,  and  is  no  less- 
unsound  as  philosophy,  than  it  is  as  faith.  It  extinguishes  the  light 
of  nature,  no  less  than  the  light  of  revelation,  and  is  as  false  in  rela- 
tion  to  the  natural  order  as  to  the  supernatural.  Even  when  Protest- 
ants make  a  profession  of  believing  in  revelation,  they  discredit 
reason." 

4.  Protestantism  is  essentially  intolerant  and  hostile  to  the  Cath-^ 
olic  Church.  Nowhere,  on  obtaining  power,  did  it  permit  Catholics 
to  enjoy  the  exercise  of  their  religion,,  even  in  private.  '^  Protest- 
antism," the  same  Brownson  remarks,  "  is  really  in  its  very  nature  and 
essence  an  earnest  and  solemn  protest  against  religious  liberty."  In 
point  of  fact,  the  Reformers  were  themselves  the  most  intolerant  of 
men,  not  only  towards  the  Catholic  Church,  but  even  towards  each 
other,  and  Protestants  have  very  generally  violated  the  fundamental 
principle  of  their  own  sect — the  right  of  private  judgment — and,  in  the 
name  of  religious  liberty,  have  practised  the  most  cruel  and  unjust 
tyranny  over  man's  conscience. 

5.  This  assertion  may  seem  harsh,  but  it  is  nevertheless  true.  A 
proof  of  it  we  see  in  their  public  protestation  at  the  Diet  of  Spires  m 
1529,  against  the  free  exercise  of  the  religion  of  their  Catholic  fellow- 
citizens,  from  which  the  Reformers  and  their  followers   received  the 


«34  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

significant  name  *'  Protestants."  This  is  evident  also  from  the 
teachings  of  the  Reformers  themselves.  They  defended  the  proposition 
that  the  people  were  authorized  to  take  up  arms,  and  resist,  and  even 
expel  their  rulers,  if  they  oppressed  the  true  religion — Protestantism 
— and  introduced  idolatry — Catholicism.  The  Lutherans  in  Germany, 
the  Calvinists  in  Switzerland,  and  the  Huguenots  in  France,  received 
express  approval  from  their  preachers  for  their  wars  of  religion.  So 
•did  the  new  believers  in  England,  Scotland,  and  the  Netherlands. 

6.  The  pernicious  doctrines  broached  by  the  Reformers,  were 
bearing  their  fruit ;  they  everywhere  led  to  insurrection  and  civil 
wars.  Protestantism  was  in  sympathy  with  every  revolt  against  estab- 
lished authority,  especially  the  authority  of  the  Church.  The  Church 
was  plunged  into  the  greatest  conflict  with  which  she  ever  met  since 
the  time  of  her  foundation  by  Christ.  Neither  the  violence  of  the 
persecutions  under  the  Roman  Emperors,  nor  the  fierce  attacks  of  the 
early  heresies  on  Catholic  doctrines  ;  neither  the  devastating  inroads 
of  the  Northern  Barbarians,  and  later  on,  of  the  Turks  ;  nor  the  pro- 
longed contest  between  the  Papacy  and  the  Empire,  had  been  so  dan- 
gerous as  the  cruel  warfare  that  has  been  waged  against  the  Church  of 
God  ever  since  the  outbreak  of  the  Reformation. 

7.  But,  "the  Church  of  God,"  says  St.  Bernard,  "has  from  the 
beginning  been  often  oppressed  and  often  set  free.  The  arm  of  the 
Lord  is  not  shortened,  nor  become  powerless  to  save  her.  He  will, 
without  doubt,  once  again  set  free  His  Bride,  whom  He  has  redeemed 
with  His  blood,  endowed  with  His  Spirit,  and  adorned  with  heavenly 
gifts."  "He  will  set  her  free,  I  repeat  He  will  set  her  free."  The 
Catholic  Church,  the  work  of  God  Incarnate,  has  a  supernatural  life, 
and  the  most  secure  pledge  of  endurance  till  the  end  of  the  world. 
Thousands  of  years  may  pass  by,  but  she  will  neither  decay  nor  alter. 
To  her  belongs  the  promise  :  "On  this  Rock  I  will  build  my  Church, 
and  the  gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  it."  (Matt.  xvi.  18.) 
"  When  we  reflect  on  the  tremendous  assaults  which  she  survived," 
Macaulay  aptly  remarks,  "  we  find  it  difiicult  to  conceive  in  what  way 
she  is  to  perish/' 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  HEATHEN.  635 


CHAPTER  I. 


PROPAGATION  OF  CHRISTIANITY. 


SECTION.    XXXy. — MISSIONS  TO  THE   HEATHEN  IN  ASIA  AND   AFRICA. 

Christianity  in  China — Dispute  about  Chinese  Customs — Persecutions  of  the 
Christians — Christianity  in  India — Distinguished  Missionaries — Missions  in 
Tong-King — Inhuman  Persecutions — Missions  in  Africa — In  Polynesia. 

8.  In  China,  the  Jesuits,  especially  Ricci  and  Schall,  by  their 
scientific  attainments  had  won  from  the  imperial  house  respect  for  the 
Christian  religion  and  toleration  for  its  professors.  In  spite  of  the 
civil  wars  which  desolated  the  country,  the  Jesuit  missions  flourished. 
Christianity  spread  rapidly  and  missioners  were  always  in  demand. 
It  was  unfortunate  that  subsequently  disputes  about  certain  Chiiiese 
customs  broke  out  among  the  missionaries,  which  did  much  to  retard 
the  progress  of  religion  in  China.  For  want  of  a  better  expression, 
the  Jesuits  had  given  to  God  the  name  Tien-tshu,  (Lord  of  Heaven), 
or  Shangti,  (Supreme  Emperor),  and  to  the  Trinity  that  of  Xing 
(Holy).  They  also  had  tolerated  among  their  converts,  the  observance 
of  certain  practices  in  honor  of  Confucius  and  departed  ancestors, 
which,  in  their  opinion,  were  purely  civil,  but  which  the  Dominicans 
denounced  as  superstitious  and  idolatrous. 

9.  The  Papal  Legate,  de  Tournon,  who,  in  1706,  had  been  sent  to 
China  to  investigate  the  matter,  condemned  the  customs  tolerated  by 
the  Jesuits,  and  positively  forbade  the  use  of  the  words  in  question. 
The  prohibition  was  confirmed  by  Pope  Clement  XI.  in  1715,  and 
again  by  Benedict  XIV,  in  1742.  The  condemnation  of  the  Chinese 
Rites  had  a  most  prejudicial  effect  upon  Christian  missions.  The  conse- 
quence was  a  general  persecution,  which  broke  out  in  1722,  under  the 
Emperor  Yong-Tsching.  A  decree  of  extermination  was  published 
against  the  Christian  religion  ;  all  the  missionaries  were  driven  from 
their  posts  :  more  than  three  hundred  churches  were  destroyed  or 
turned  to  profane  uses,  and  above  three  hundred  thousand  Christians 
were  abandoned  to  the  fury  of  the  heathen. 

10.  The  persecution  which  devastated  the  Church  in  China  under 
Yong-Tsching,  continued  with  increased  rigor  during  the  succeeding 
reigns,   till  the  year   1820.     A  multitude    of  Christians,   including 


636  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

princes  of  the  imperial  family,  magistrates,  soldiers,  merchants, 
women,  and  even  children,  obtained  the  crown  of  martyrdom,  emulat- 
ing, amidst  the  most  cruel  torments,  the  heroism  of  the  primitive  con- 
fessors. Multitudes  of  converts,  driven  from  their  homes,  died  of 
starvation.  But  in  spite  of  incessant  persecution,  Christianity  con- 
tinued onward  in  its  course  in  China. 

11.  In  India,  Christianity  continued  to  make  rapid  progress 
under  the  direction  of  the  Jesuit  missionaries.  The  Blessed  John  de 
Britto  converted  great  numbers  of  Gentiles,  sometimes  baptizing  five 
hundred,  and  sometimes  as  many  as  a  thousand  catechumens  in  a 
day.  He  was  beheaded  by  the  king  of  Marova,  in  1693.  Francis 
Laynez,  during  an  apostolate  of  more  than  thirty  years,  converted  to 
God  upwards  of  fifty  thousand  idolaters.  Through  the  efforts  of 
these  heroic  missioners  and  their  successors,  such  as  Fathers  Martin, 
surnamed  the  '^  Martyr  of  Charity,"  Bouchet,  Borghese,  Diaz,  and 
a  host  of  others,  the  number  of  converts  grew  more  numerous  from 
year  to  year.  There  was  hope  that  all  India  would  become  Christian. 
But  a  severe  blow  was  dealt  to  these  and  other  missions  by  the 
suppression  of  the  Society  of  Jesus. 

12.  The  work  of  evangelization,  commenced  so  successfully  in 
Tong-King,  in  the  seventeenth  century,  was  prosecuted  by  the  Jesuits, 
Dominicans,  and  Lazarists  with  wonderful  success.  Christian  com- 
munities abounded  in  all  parts  of  the  kingdom.  In  1677,  this 
flourishing  mission  was  divided  into  the  two  vicariates  of  Eastern  and 
Western  Tong-King.  In  1696,  a  violent  persecution  broke  out  in 
which  upwards  of  forty  thousand  Christians  are  reported  to  have 
suffered  for  the  faith.  But  in  spite  of  sufferings  and  torments  which 
awaited  the  Christians,  the  work  of  conversion  went  on.  In  Cochin- 
China  also,  the  missioners  had  to  undergo  most  trying  experiences 
and  to  encounter  constant  dangers.  Providence,  however,  blessed  their 
labors,  and  their  success  was  most  marked  and  extraordinary. 

13.  In  Corea.  The  first  apostle  of  that  ''^  Forbidden  Land,^* 
was  a  young  native  who  had  embraced  the  .faith  at  Peking,  in  1783. 
By  means  of  books  which  he  had  brought  from  China,  this  first 
neophyte  instructed  his  countrymen  in  the  Catholic  faith.  In  ten 
years  there  were  4,000  Christians  in  Corea.  In  1794,  the  first  mission- 
ary, James  Tsin,  from  China  arrived,  and  his  labors  in  a  few  years 
increased  the  number  of  converts  to  10,000. 

14.  This  rapid  progress  of  Christianity  provoked  a  violent  perse- 
cution which  burst  forth  in  1795,  and  continued,  almost  without 
intermission,  to  the  present  time.  Three  bishops  and  a  great  number 
of  priests  and  laics  were  put  to  death,  some  of  them  after  enduring 


MISSION-S  TO  THE  HEATHEN.  63 T 

terrible  tortures.  The  Corea^,  which,  in  1828,  was  made  a  vicariate 
apostolic,  became  the  ''  Land  of  Martyrs."  The  result  of  the  cruel 
persecution  was  a  continued  increase  of  converts.  Before  the  out- 
break of  the  great  persecution  of  1866,  there  were  25,000  Christians 
ill  the  peninsula.  Fully  half  that  number,  many  in  excruciating 
torments,  died  for  the  faith.  The  people  of  Corea  show  a  strong 
disposition  to  embrace  the  faith  and  a  rich  harvest  may  be  in  store  for 
the  Catholic  missions  as  soon  as  the  Corean  gates  shall  have  been 
thrown  open  to  foreigners. 

15.  A  new  light  has  dawned  in  our  own  day  upon  Africa,  where, 
under  the  baneful  influence  of  Islamism,  Christianity  had  become  all 
but  extinct.  Algeria ,  the  largest  and  most  important  of  the  colonial 
possessions  of  France,  contains  upwards  of  380,000  Catholics,  nearly 
all  French,  Spanish,  and  Italian  emigrants,  distributed  among  three 
sees — the  archdiocese  of  Algiers,  and  the  suifragan  sees  of  Oran  and 
Constantine.  The  ancient  archbishopric  of  Carthage,  which  was 
re-established  in  1884,  and  includes  the  former  vicariate  of  Tunis, 
has  a  Catholic  population  of  25,000  while  the  prefectures  of  Tripoli 
and  Morocco  count  together  some  7,000  Catholics. 

16.  The  rest  of  Africa  is  fringed  around  on  both  coasts  with 
Catholic  missions,  which  are  rapidly  developing  and  extending  over 
the  whole  of  the  "  Dark  Continent."  Where,  forty  years  ago,  existed 
only  two  bishoprics.  (Loanda  and  the  Two  Guineas),  there  are  to-day 
fifteen  vicariates  and  fourteen  prefectures  apostolic,  worked  by  Mission- 
ers  of  Algiers,  Fathers  of  the  Holy  Ghost,  Jesuits,  Lazarists,  and 
other  religious  Orders.  Adding  to  these  the  bishoprics  of  Northern 
Africa  (including  Egypt),  and  those  of  the  Islands  of  Madeira  and  St. 
Thomas,  the  Azores,  Canaries,  and  Cape  de  Verde  Islands,  we  obtain 
twenty-five  dioceses  or  vicariates,  and  nineteen  prefectures  apostolic, 
with  a  Catholic  population  of  over  2,642,000.^  With  a  view  to  sup- 
plying the  African  missions  with  native  priests,  colleges  have  been 
founded  at  Cairo,  Brussels,  Lou  vain,  and  in  Malta,  in  which  young 
negroes  are  educated  for  the  clerical  state. 

17.  In  Polynesia,  which  comprises  the  numerous  islands  in  the 
Pacific,  the  Church  has  achieved  a  marked  success.  In  some  of  these 
islands,  where  the  Catholic  missioners  have  not  been  interfered  with, 
the  entire  native  population  has  been  converted.  In  1840,  the  whole 
of  Polynesia,  including  New  Zealand,  was  divided  into  two'  vicariates 


1  This  Includes  the  prefectures  of  Madagascar  and  Mayotta.  the  vicariate  of  the  Seychelles,  and 
the  bishoprics  of  St.  Denis  and  Port  Louis  in  the  islands  of  Bourbon  and  Mauritius  respectively 
which  together  have  a  Catholic  population  of  more  than  400,000.  The  mission  of  Madagascar,  which 
dates  from  1855,  cootains  some  24,000  Catholics  in  charge  of  French  Jesuits. 


€38  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

— Western  and  Eastern  Oceanica.  Now  there  are  in  this  vast  region 
eleven  dioceses  and  an  apostolic  prefecture  with  about  140,000  Catho- 
lics. About  half  of  this  number  is  to  be  found  in  the  three  bishoprics 
of  New  Zealand. 

SECTION  XXXVI.  — PRESENT  STATE  OP  THE  EASTERN,  AND  OTHER   FOREIGN 

MISSIONS.  * 

Disastrous  Result  of  the  Suppression  of  the  Jesuits — The  Condition  of  the  Indian 
Missions— The  Goa  Schism— Establishment  of  a  Hierarchy— Condition  of 
the   Missions  of  Further  India — In  China — In  the  Philippine  Islands — In 

Japan. 

18.  The  suppression  of  the  Society  of  Jesus,  followed,  as  it  was,  by 
the  dispersion  of  the  religious  orders  in  Europe  during  the  period  of  the 
French  Revolution,  was  a  severe  blow  to  the  Catholic  missions  through- 
out the  world.  For  sixty  years  the  Christians  of  India  and  China 
were  abandoned  to  their  own  exertions.  Yet,  in  spite  of  this  great 
trial,  without  a  parallel  in  the  history  of  Christianity,  nearly  all  the 
missions  founded  by  the  Jesuits,  Dominicans,  Franciscans,  and  other 
religious  orders,  either  in  Asia  or  America,  by  special  Providence 
survived,  and,  as  the  following  will  show,  are  to-day  in  a  more  flour- 
ishing condition  than  they  were  before  their  abandonment." 

19.  Since  the  reorganization  of  the  Indian  missions  under  Gregory 
XVI.,  great  progress  has  been  made  in  the  work  of  evangelization 
which  necessitated  the  establishment  of  a  number  of  new  vicariates. 
The  great  mass  of  the  Catliolics  are  to  be  found  in  the  South  of  India, 
"where,  in  many  districts,  they  form  a  considerable  part  of  the  popula- 
tion. The  mission  of  Madura  founded  by  Father  de  Nobile,  counts 
over  188,000  Catholics,  while  the  vicariate  of  Verapoly,  which  occupies 
the  greater  part  of  the  native  state  of  Travancore,  once  the  scene  of  St. 
Francis  Xavier's  labors,  numbers  nearly  300,000,  including  about  100, 
000  "  Thomas  Christians,"  or  Nestorians,  on  the  Malabar  Coast,  who 
were  converted  to  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  sixteenth  and  seven- 
teenth centuries.  The  island  of  Ceylon  contains  a  Catholic  population 
of  over  200,000. 

20.  The    Goa    Schism,   which    arose   in   1843,  brought  serious 

*  For  further  particulars  concerning  the  various  missions,  their  position  and  present  condition, 
the  reader  is  referred  to  F.  Werner's  "  Atlas  of  the  Christian  Missions,"  published  in  German  and 
French.  The  introduction  of  43  pages  is  divided  into  sections,  filled  with  statistics  and  dates 
Tegarding  the  missions  for  each  of  the  20  colored  maps  which  follow.  See  also  A.  H.  Atteridge,  S.  J. 
"  Notes  on  Catholic  Missions, "  London,  1884. 

'  "  In  India,"  says  Marshall,  author  of  '  Christian  Missions '  "  the  prodigious  fact  was  revealed  that 
tnnre  than  one  million  remained,  after  half  a  century  of  utter  abandonment,  who  still  clung  with 
Inflexible  constancy  to  the  faith  which  had  been  preached  to  their  fathers,  and  still  bowed  the  head 
with  loving  awe  when  the  names  of  their  departed  apostles  were  uttered  amongst  them." 


EASTERN  MISSIONS.  639; 

troubles  to  the  Indian  Church.  By  an  old  covenant  with  the  Holy 
See,  Portugal  claimed  a  patronage  over  all  the  churches  of  India. 
After  the  country  had  passed  into  the  possession  of  the  English,  the 
Portuguese  government,  though  no  longer  able  to  execute  the  concor- 
dat, still  refused  to  recognize  the  action  of  the  Holy  See  in  appointing 
bishops  for  the  Catholics  under  British  rule.  For  many  3'ears  such 
appointments  were  made  the  pretexts  of  a  schism,  which  militated 
greatly  against  the  missions  of  southern  India,  and  which  the  bishops 
and  clergy  of  Goa  and  Macao  did  their  best  to  perpetuate.  In  1857, 
the  schism  was  happily  terminated,  and  thus  several  hundred  thousand 
schismatics  were  reconciled  to  the  Church. 

21.  The  rapid  progress  of  the  Catholic  Faith  throughout  the  In- 
dian Empire  having  rendered  the  establishment  of  a  hierarchy  very 
desirable,  the  present  Pope,  Leo  XIII.,  in  1886,  converted  all  the 
existing  vicariates  into  episcopal  churches  among  which  are  eight  archi- 
episcopal  sees.  Including  the  archbishopric  of  Goa  and  the  three  sees 
of  Ceylon,  there  are  now  twenty-two  dioceses  in  India,  with  a  Catholic 
population  of  one  million  and  a  half. 

22.  In  Further  India,  or  Indo  China,  comprising  the  kingdoms 
of  Burmah,  Siam,  and  Annam,  Catholicity  has  been  making  steady 
progress,  in  spite  of  the  hostility  of  the  natives  towards  foreigners  and 
the  religion  of  Christ.  The  missions  of  the  two  first-named  king- 
doms have  between  60,000  and  70,000  Christians  under  the  care  of  six 
vicars  apostolic  and  120  missioners.  In  the  Empire  of  Annam  there 
were  about  400,000  Christians,  in  1820.  This  promising  mission  has 
heen  the  scene  of  cruel  persecutions  within  the  last  sixty  years.  In 
the  terrible  persecutions,  which  tried  the  Church  of  Annam  under  the 
emperors  Minh-Menh  and  Tu-Duc,  five  bishops  and  a  large  number 
of  priests  and  laymen  have  sealed  their  faith  with  their  blood.  In  our 
own  day,  under  the  provocation  of  the  French  invasion,  (1882-1885), 
Christian  blood  has  flowed  in  torrents.  Hundreds  of  churches  and 
religious  institutions  have  been  destroyed  and  thousands  of  Catholics 
have  been  massacred.  But  in  spite  of  incessant  persecutions,  the  mis- 
sions of  Annam,  which  include  eight  vicariates,  may  be  said  to 
flourish  exceedingly.  They  count  some  600,000  Catholics,  with  over 
500  priests,  foreign  and  native. 

23.  In  China  great  efforts  have  been  made  within  the  last  fifty 
years  to  reconstruct  the  missions  which  heathen  fanaticism  had  des- 
troyed during  the  late  persecutions.  The  work  of  evangelization  w^as 
much  retarded  by  official  hostility  to  foreigners  and  by  the  persecutions 
which  the  ^'  Taiping  Rebels,"  the  sworn  enemies  of  everything  Chris- 
tian, raised  against  the  Church.     In  1870,  a  popular  outbreak  occurred 


640  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

which  resulted  in  the  massacre  of  two  Lazarists  and  forty-six  Sisters 
of  Charity. 

24.  Nevertheless  the  Church  of  China  is  growing  every  year, 
especially  since  1858,  when  France  and  England  compelled  the 
Chinese  government  to  grant  the  Christians  the  free  exercise  of  their 
religion.  At  the  present  day  there  are  in  China  Proper  about  half 
a  million  Catholics  governed  by  twenty-six  bishops  and  two  prefects 
apostolic,  while  the  dependencies  of  the  Chinese*  Empire — Thibet, 
Mondchuria,  Mongolia,  and  Corea, — count  some  46,000  Christians  in 
charge  of  six  vicars  apostolic. 

25.  In  the  PMlUppine  Islands,  a  Spanish  possession,  by  far  the 
greater  part  of  the  population  is  Catholic.  There  is  a  hierarchy  com- 
posed of  an  archbishop  and  four  suffragans,  ruling  over  5,500,000 
subjects.  The  progress  of  the  Church  among  the  non-Christian  pop- 
ulation, which  is  estimated  at  about  500,000,  is  very  rapid.  The 
Dutch  Indies — Sumatra,  Java,  Borneo,  and  the  Moluccas — form  the 
vicariate  of  Batavia,  which  contains  some  32,000  Catholics.     In  Sara- 

.'wak,  in  the  north  of  the  island  Borneo,  there  is  the  prefecture  of  Labuan, 
where  English  missioners  from  Mill  Hill  have  been  at  work  since  1881. 

26.  In  Japan,  in  spite  of  numberless  persecutions,  and  utter 
abandonment  for  two  long  centuries,  the  Christians  had  not  all  per- 
ished. There  were  still  to  be  found  in  the  interior  of  the  Empire 
many  persons  who  secretly  practised  the  religion  of  their  Catholic 
ancestors,  as  is  proved  by  the  many  martyrdoms  which  occurred  even 
during  the  present  century.  As  late  as  1829,  a  woman  and  six  men 
were  crucified  as  '^ obstinate  Christians. '^  In  1856,  some  eighty  per- 
sons were  discovered  near  Nagasaki  professing  the  proscribed  religion 
of  Christ,  for  which  offence  they  were  subjected  to  cruel  tortures  and 
imprisonment. 

27.  A  fresh  persecution  raged  between  1867  and  1872.  Many- 
hundred  Catholic  families  were  dispersed  and  exiled  to  pagan  districts, 
and  some  3,000  were  thrown  into  prison.  It  was  only  at  the  instance 
of  the  foreign  ambassadors,  notably  the  American  and  English,  that 
the  persecution  was  brought  to  an  end  and  the  persecuted  Christians 
obtained  permission  to  return  to  their  homes  and  to  profess  their  re- 
ligion. Since  then  Catholicity  is  making  rapid  advances  in  Japan. 
There  are  two  vicariates  which  contain  about  30,000  Catholics,  the 
increase  in  the  last  six  years  amounting  to  over  10,000. 


SCHISMATIC  CHURCHES.  641 

SECTION   XXXVII. — PRESENT  STATE  OF  THE  GREEK  AND  OTHER 
SCHISMATIC    CHURCHES. 

The  Oriental  Churches — Their  Present  Forlorn  Condition — Their  Aversion  to 
Protestantism— Number  of  Orthodox  Greeks — The  Greek  Patriarch  of 
Constantinople  —His  Jurisdiction  greatly  Diminished  —  Other  Greek  Patri- 
archs— The  Russian  Church — Cause  of  the  Schism — Efforts  of  the  F'opes 
to  restore  Union — Patriarchate  of  Moscow — Peter  the  Great — The  "Holy 
Synod  " — Other  Schismatical  Churches — Their  Present  Degradation. 

28.  From  a  very  early  period,  the  numbers  of  the  Eastern  Cath- 
olics have  been  greatly  diminished  by  the  inroads  of  the  Arian,  Nes- 
torian,  Eutychian,  and  other  heresies.  To-day  the  great  majority  of 
the  Oriental  Christians  are,  and  have  been  for  ten  centuries,  outside 
the  pale  of  the  Catholic  Church.  These  are  the  Nestorians  of  Persia; 
the  Syriac  Jacobites  ;  the  Schismatical  Armenians;  the  Copts,  or  Mo- 
nophysite  Christians,  of  Egypt  and  Abyssinia  ;  and  the  Schismatical 
Greeks  and  Russians. 

29.  The  Oriental  Churches  prospered  as  long  as  they  were  in  com- 
munion with  Rome  ;  since  the  date  of  their  separation  they  have 
constantly  declined.  Their  long  separation  from  the  Chair  of  St. 
Peter  has  led  them  into  many  abuses  and  even  errors.  Torn  from  the 
trunk  of  the  true  Church,  they  are  sapless  branches,  void  of  all  intel- 
lectual life  and  activity.  It  is  an  undeniable  fact  that  since  their 
secession  from  Rome  the  Oriental  Churches  have  not  produced  any 
great  ecclesiastic  nor  saint,  nor  held  one  Council  worth  mentioning. 

30.  It  is  a  notable  feature  in  these  Oriental  Churches,  that  they 
reprobate  the  errors  of  Protestantism  as  obstinately  as  they  reject  the 
spiritual  supremacy  of  the  Roman  Pontiff.  In  several  successive  syn- 
ods, held  at  Jerusalem  and  Constantinople,  the  Greek  patriarchs 
energetically  rejected  the  errors  of  Luther  and  Calvin.  In  1638,  a 
Greek  Synod  condemned  and  deposed  the  two  patriarchs  Cyril  Lucaris 
of  Constantinople,  and  Metrophanes  of  Alexandria,  for  holding  Calvin- 
istic  principles  and  for  their  attempts  to  unite  the  Orthodox  with  the 
Reformed  Church.  * 

31.  The  Schismatic  Greeks,  or  "  Orthodox  Greeks,"  as  they  call 
themselves,  are  estimated  at  76,000,000.  Of  these  64,000,000  are  in 
the  Russian  Empire,  and  about  12,000,000,  in  Turkey  and  other  coun- 

^  It  is  deserving  of  note  that  all  the  Oriental  Churches,  no  matter  how  much  separated  from  each 
other  by  sectional  feelings  and  sectarian  prejudices,  unanimously  agree  with  one  another  and  with 
the  Roman  Catholic  Church  in  all  the  doctrines  rejected  by  Protestants— the  Real  Presence  of  our 
Lord  in  the  Holy  Eucharist,  Transubstantiation,  the  Sacrifice  of  the  Mass,  the  Veneration  of  Images, 
the  Invocation  of  Saints,  the  number  of  the  Sacraments— a  proof  that  these  articles  of  belief  and 
these  Catholic  usages  prevailed  in  the  Church  as  early  as  the  fifth  century. 


642  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

tries.  The  spiritual  head  of  the  Greek  Church  in  the  Ottoman 
Empire  is  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople.  He  is  superior  in  raTik  to 
the  Patriarchs  of  Alexandria,  Jerusalem,  and  Antioch,  and  assumes  the 
title  of  **  Ecumenical  Patriarch."  He  has  not  only  spiritual,  but  also 
a  kind  of  temporal  jurisdiction  ;  as  he  is  the  supreme  arbiter  in  all  civil 
disputes  between  his  subjects.  In  the  discharge  of  his  official  duties, 
he'  is  assisted  by  a  council,  called  the  ''Holy  Synod,"  which  is- 
composed  of  twelve  bishops  of  metropolitan  rank. 

32.  The  jurisdiction  of  the  Patriarch  of  Constantinople,  which 
formerly  extended  over  all  the  Greeks  and  Bulgarians  in  the  Ottoman 
and  Russian  Empires,  has  been  greatly  diminished  within  the  last 
three  centuries.  The  Eussian  Church  was  emancipated  by  the  erec- 
tion of  a  patriarchate  at  Moscow,  in  1589,  and  made  wholly  indepen- 
dent by  the  foundation  of  the  ''  Holy  Synod  "  at  Petersburg,  in  1721. 
The  bishops  in  the  kingdom  of  Greece  declared  their  independence 
in  1833,  and  more  recently  also  the  Bulgarian  Church  asserted  ita 
autonomy,  and  placed  itself  under  an  exarchate,  or  primate,  who  is 
independent  of  Constantinople. 

33.  The  second  place  in  rank  belongs  to  the  Patriarch  of  Alexan- 
dria. His  jurisdiction  extends  over  Egypt,  Lybia,  Nubia,  and  Arabia  ; 
but  he  counts  only  about  5,000  subjects.  Next  comes  the  Patriarch 
of  Antioch,  whose  jurisdiction  extends  over  about  28,000  Greeks  in 
Syria,  Cilicia,  Mesopotamia,  Isauria,  and  other  Asiatic  provinces.  The 
Patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  who  resides  at  Constantinople,  rules  over 
about  15,000  souls  in  Palestine.  These  patriarchs  have  their  own 
officials  and  synods,  and  are  independent  of  the  Patriarch  of  Con- 
stantinople, with  the  exception  that  they  can  have  relations  with  the 
Ottoman  Government  only  through  him. 

34.  The  Russian  Church  agrees  with  the  Orthodox  Greek  Church, 
both  in  doctrine  and  liturgy  ;  in  administration,  however,  she  is  dis- 
tinct, being  governed,  not  by  a  patriarch,  but  by  the  ''  Holy  Synod'* 
of  Petersburg.  The  custom  of  receiving  the  metropolitans  from  Con- 
stantinople, on  which  she  had  been  made  dependent,  could  not  but 
result  in  drawing  also  the  Church  of  Russia  into  the  schism  of  the 
Greeks,  although  the  separation  from  Rome  did  not  take  place  till 
half  a  century  after.  Thus,  in  the  beginning  of  the  twelfth  century, 
Nicephorus,  sent  from  Constantinople  as  patriarch  of  Kiew,  then  the 
principal  see  of  the  Russian  Church,  avowed  himself  a  schismatic. 
Prince  Alexander  of  Moscow,  indeed,  returned  to  the  communion 
and  died  in  the  faith  of  the  Catholic  Church,  in  1262  ;  but  under  his 
successors  the  separation  from  Rome  was  rendered  complete. 

35.  Repeated   attempts   at  re-union   were   made  by  the   Roman 


I 


SCHISMATIC  CHURCHES.  643 

Pontiffs,  chiefly  by  Alexander  TIL,  Innocent  III.,  and  lastly  by  the 
Council  of  Florence.  The  bishops  of  Northern  Russia,  and  the  dukes 
of  Moscow  steadily  opposed  the  union,  while  the  metropolitan  of  Kiew 
and  his  eight  suffragans  accepted  it,  and  remained  in  communion  with 
Rome  till  1520,  when  they  also  fell  away  into  schism.  All  subsequent 
attempts  of  the  Popes  to  unite  the  Russians  with  the  Latin  Church 
proved  fruitless. 

36.  After  the  conquest  of  the  Greek  Empire  by  the  Turks  in 
1453,  the  Czars  of  Moscow  took  occasion  to  free  the  Russian  Church 
from  all  foreign  dependence,  and  subject  the  ecclesiastical  power  to 
their  own.  This  was  accomplished  in  1589  by  the  erection  of  the 
Patriarchate  of  Moscow.  In  that  year  Jeremiah  11. ,  Patria^rch  of 
Constantinople,  at  the  instance  of  Czar  Feodor,  raised  Job,  metro- 
politan of  Moscow,  to  the  dignity  of  patriarch,  who  was  recognized 
as  such  also  by  the  other  Greek  patriarchs.  In  order  to  complete 
the  hierarchy  of  the  Russian  establishment,  four  metropolitan  sees 
were  instituted — at  Novgorod,  Kasan,  Rostov,  and  Kroutitsk — and 
six  archbishops,  with  eight  bishops,  were  added  to  the  ranks  of  the 
clergy. 

37.  In  1613,  Michael  Romanoff,  the  founder  of  the  present  im- 
perial family,  was  elevated  to  the  throne.  His  third  descendant  was 
Peter,  known  in  history  as  the  Great.  Under  his  reign  the  entire 
subjection  of  the  ecclesiastical  to  the  imperial  power  was  completed. 
For,  after  the  death  of  Hadrian,  in  1700,  Peter  purposely  left  the 
patriarchate  vacant,  and  then,  in  1721,  replaced  it  by  the  ''  Holy 
Synod  "  which  depended  entirely  upon  the  Czar.  Though  Peter  did 
not,  in  his  time,  formally  assume  the  title  of  Head  of  the  Church,  it 
was  done  by  his  successors.^  By  the  suppression  of  the  patriarchate 
all  danger  of  conflict  between  Church  and  State  was,  indeed,  averted, 
but  with  it  disappeared  also  the  independence  of  the  former,  and 
much  of  its  energy  and  vitality.  It  became  practically  the  vassal  of 
the  Crown,  and  an  important,  even  the  most  important,  of  the  de- 
partments of  State,  under  the  absolute  rule  of  the  Czar. 

38.  The  Czar  is  the  real  head  of  the  Russian  Church  ;  he  can  do 
everything  but  officiate.  He  nominates  all  the  bishops  as  well  as  the 
meij^bers  of  the  synod,  who,  on  entering  office,  swear  that  ^'  they 
recognize   the  monarch   of   all   Russia   as   the  supreme  judge  of  this 

1  "  The  members  of  the  first  synod  had  to  humble  themselves  so  far  as  to  promise  obedience  to  the 
Czarina  Catherine,  whom  Peter  had  married  in  defiance  of  the  canons,  his  legitimate  wife  being  still 
alive.  The  Greek  Church  admits  divorce  in  case  of  adultery ;  but  Peter  did  not  forward  that  reason 
or  any  other  cause  which  could  nullify  his  first  marriage.  Besides,  no  ecclesiastical  decision  ever 
Intervened  to  declare  the  marriage  void.  The  conduct  of  Peter  recalls  that  of  Henry  VIII."  Pro- 
fessor Lamy,  in  the  "  Dublin  Review,"  April  1881. 


644  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

ecclesiastical  college."  The  bishops  are  all  equal,  and  under  the 
immediate  jurisdiction  of  the  Holy  Synod,  which  has  power  to  trans- 
fer, and  even  to  depose  them.  They  must  be  unmarried  and  are 
therefore  chosen  from  the  regular,  or  "  black  clergy."  But  the 
'* white"  or  secular  clergy  must  be  married,  and  are  mostly  sons  of 
*'  Popes,"  as  the  Kussian  priests  are  called. 

39.  There  are  in  the  Russian  Empire  in  all  about  53  archbishop- 
rics and  bishoprics  with  36,000  parishes.  In  1764,  Catherine  II., 
who  assumed  the  prerogative  of  ''  Defender  of  the  Faith,"  confis- 
cated all  the  Church  property.^  Since  then  the  entire  clergy  receive 
their  sustenance  from  the  government.  The  Russian  government 
does  not  allow  members  of  the  ^'Orthodox  Church  "  to  embrace  any 
other  confession  of  faith,  nor,  above  all,  to  become  Catholics.  The 
most  severe  penalties — corporal  punishment,  exile,  imprisonment — 
are  incurred  by  those  who  are  guilty  of  apostasy  from  the  national 
Church. 

40.  The  hierarchical  constitution  of  the  other  schismatic  com- 
munities in  the  East-^the  Nestorian,  Armenian,  Jacobite,  and  Coptic 
— differs  little  from  that  of  the  Greek  Church.  They  all  have  their 
own  liturgy  and  ar.e  governed  by  a  '*  Catholicos,"  or  a  Patriarch,  to 
whom  they  render  obedience.  He  confirms  and  consecrates  the  met- 
ropolitans and  bishops,  who  are  usually  taken  from  the  monks  ;  the 
secular  clergy  being  married  are  debarred  from  these  dignities.  The 
condition  of  these  once  flourishing  churches  is  most  degrading. 
Having  rejected  the  mild  rule  of  the  Vicar  of  Christ,  they  have 
become  the  handmaidens,  or  rather  the  slaves,  of  the  State.  The 
ignorance  and  corruptions  of  their  priesthood  are  notorious.  Simony 
and  bribery  prevail,  to  a  dreadful  degree,  both  among  the  higher  and 
lower  clergy. 

1  "  The  religious  establishments  in  Russia  were  very  numerous  and  very  wealthy;  many  were 
very  ancient,  with  exclusive  and  peculiar  privileges  dating  back  anterior  to  any  codified  laws.  There 
were  in  all  557  monasteries  and  convents,  whose  vast  possessions  comprised  130,000  peasant  houses 
and  many  hundreds  of  thousands  of  serfs;  the  richest  was  the  great  Troitsa  monastery,  near  Moscow, 
which  owned  20,400  houses  and  upwards  of  100,000  serfs,  representing,  at  the  present  time,  a  value 
of  nearly  four  millions  sterling;  then  came  the  official  property  of  the  patriarchate,  which  was 
reckoned  at  8,900  houses,  and  that  of  the  see  of  Rostov,  comprising  4,400  houses,  with  proportionate 
numbers  of  serfs."— A.  F.  Heard.    The  Russian  Church. 

a  See  page  203,  8  306 ;  and  page  208,  §  216. 


MISSIO^'^S  TO  THE  SCHISMATICAL  SECTS.  645 

SECTION   XXXVIII. — MISSIONS    TO   THE   SCHISMATICAL   SECTS   OF   THE   EAST. 

United  Greeks — Melchites — Graeco-Roumftnians — Ruthenian  Catholics — Cath- 
olicity in  the  Balkan  Countries — Armenian  Catholics — Maronites — Syrian 
and  Chaldean  Catholics — Catholicity  in  Egypt — In  Abyssinia — Marriage  of 
the  Clergy. 

41.  Great  numbers  of  Greek  schismatics  were,  from  time  to  time, 
brought  back  to  the  Church,  especially  in  the  seventeenth  and  eight- 
eenth centuries.  These  retain  their  ancient  rites  and  the  canon  law 
to  which  they  have  been  accustomed,  but  acknowledge  obedience  to 
the  Pope.  The  name  of  "United  Greeks,"  given  to  the  Greeks  in 
communion  with  Rome,  includes  the  Melchites  in  the  East ;  the 
Greeks  in  Italy,  and  the  Graeco-Roumanian  and  Ruthenian  Catholics. 

42.  The  Melchite  Church  in  Syria  and  Egypt,  which  dates  from 
the  conversion  of  the  Greek  Patriarch  Athanasius  of  Antioch,  in  1686, 
numbers  upwards  of  35,000  members.  It  is  governed  by  four  arch- 
bishops and  five  bishops,  all  subject  to  the  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  who 
also  administers  the  patriarchates  of  Jerusalem  and  Alexandria, 
through  vicars.  The  Greek  Catholics  in  Southern  Italy,  who  came 
thither  from  Albania  and  other  parts  of  the  Greek  Empire,  after  its 
invasion  by  the  Turks,  are  estimated  at  30,000.  They  have  their  own 
clergy  and  follow  the  Greek  rite,  but  in  other  respects  are  subject  to 
the  bishop  of  the  diocese  in  which  they  live. 

43.  A  re-union  of  the  Greeks,  or  GrcBco-RomnafiianSy  in  Hungary 
and  Transylvania,  was  accomplished  in  1699,  when  their  bishop,  Theo- 
philus,  became  a  Catholic.  They  number  about  900,000  and  form  an 
ecclesiastical  province  with  one  archbishop  and  three  suffragan  bishops. 
The  Ruthenian  Catholics  are  numerous  in  Poland  and  the  Austrian 
dominions.  In  Russian  Poland  there  are  some  250,000  Catholics  of 
the  Ruthenian  rite  ;  in  Prussia,  40,000,  while  Hungary  and  other 
Austrian  provinces  count  as  many  as  2,000,000.  They  use  the  Greek 
liturgy  translated  into  old  Slavonic. 

44.  In  the  Balkan  countries,  including  Bosnia,  Herzegovina, 
European  Turkey,  the  kingdoms  of  Greece,  Roumania,  and  Servia, 
and  the  principalities  of  Montenegro  and  Bulgaria,  there  are  ten 
archbishoprics,  and  seventeen  bishoprics,  or  vicariates  ;  having  a 
Catholic  population  of  about  500,000.  Among  the  schismatics  in 
these  countries,  especially  among  the  Bulgarians,  there  exists  a  strong 
and  steadily  growing  feeling  in  favor  of  a  re-union  with  the  Catholic 
Church.  The  Catholics  of  Bulgaria  are  governed  by  an  archbishop 
and  two  bishops  of  their  own  rite,  with  the  title  of  Vicars  Apostolic. 

45.  Among  the  Schismatic  Armenians,  especially  of  Asia  Minor, 


U46  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Catholicity  is  making  rapid  progress.  An  entire  diocese  of  converted 
schismatics  has  been  erected  within  the  last  twenty-five  years.  The 
Armenian  Catholics  have  three  archbishops  and  fifteen  bishops,  sub- 
ject to  the  Patriarch  of  CiliciU,  whose  jurisdiction  extends  over  part 
of  European  Turkey,  all  Asiatic  Turkey,  excepting  Palestine,  and  over 
Egypt.  They  count  in  all  about  150,000  souls.  The  '^  Mechitarist 
Congregation"  was  founded  in  1702  for  the  special  purpose  of  in- 
structing and  converting  the  Armenian  nation.  The  present  Pope, 
Leo  XIII.,  in  1881,  established  in  Asia  Minor,  an  Armenian  Mission, 
which  he  entrusted  to  the  Jesuits,  and  in  1883,  he  founded  at  Eome 
a  new  ecclesiastical  college  for  Armenians. 

46.  Besides  the  Melchite  and  Armenian  Catholics,  also  the  Mar- 
onites,  and  the  ''  Syrian  "  and  '^  Chaldean  Christians  "  in  Asia  have 
their  own  Patriarchs  and  bishops,  and  follow  their  own  ritual.  The 
Maronites  in  Syria  were  all  re-united  to  the  Church  in  1182,  after  ab- 
juring the  Monothelite  heresy.  They  are  reckoned  at  150,000.  ''The 
Maronite  Patriarch  of  Antioch,"  has  under  his  jurisdiction  eight  arch- 
bishops and  one  bishop,  who  rule  over  400  parishes,  and  500  secular 
priests. 

47.  The  Syrian  Christians,  or  Catholics,  who  are  converts  from 
the  Jacobite,  or  Monophysite  Church  in  Syria,  in  1840,  were  cat- 
alogued at  30,000,  which  number  has  since  been  considerably  increased 
by  many  conversions.  They  have  four  archbishops  and  eight  bishops 
under  the  ''  Syriac  Patriarch  of  Antioch."  The  number  of  Catholics 
in  Syria,  including  all  rites,  exceeds  347,000  ;  while  the  Catholic  pop- 
ulation of  the  Latin  Patriarchate  of  Jerusalem,  is  given  at  22,000. 

48.  The  Chaldean  Christians,  or  converted  Nestorians,  are  to  be 
found  chiefly  in  Persia,  Kurdistan,  Mesopotamia  and  Turkish  Arme- 
nia. They  are  ruled  by  the  "  Chaldean  Patriarch  of  Babylon,"  who 
has  under  him  three  archbishops,  and  as  many  bishops.  In  Persia 
there  are  some  17,000  Catholics  under  the  spiritual  care  of  four  bish- 
ops. In  Mesopotamia,  Kurdistan,  and  the  entire  region  watered  by  the 
Euphrates  and  Tigris,  the  Catholics  of  various  rites,  number  between 
twenty  and  thirty  thousand. 

49.  The  progress  Avhich  Catholicity  is  making  in  Egypt,  even 
among  schismatics,  is  very  encouraging.  According  to  recent  sta- 
tistics Egypt  has  a  Catholic  population  of  84,000.  This  number  in- 
cludes 12,000  Orthodox,  or  Catholic  Copts;  4,000  Melchites,  or  United 
Greeks  ;  some  7,000  Catholics  of  the  Syrian  rite,  and  2,500  Maronites. 
There  are  two  vicariates  Apostolic,  one  for  the  Latins,  the  other  for 
the  Copte ;  a  Delegation  Apostolic,  extending  over  Arabia  ;  one  Pre- 
fecture  Apostolic   for  Upper  Egypt,  and  another  for   Lower  Egpyt. 


MISSIONS  TO  THE  SCHISMATICAL  SECTS.  ^t 

The  Catholic  Armenians  are  governed  by  an  archbishop  of  their 
own  rite,  while  the  United  Syrians  are  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
Syriac  Patriarch  of  Antioch,  and  the  Maronites  under  that  of  the 
^laronite  Patriarch  on  the  Lebanon. 

50.  Great  efforts  have  been  made  in  the  last  forty  years  to  convert 
the  Copto- Ethiopians,  or  Abyssinians,  who  are  closely  connected  in  re- 
ligion with  the  Egyptian  Copts.  The  labors  of  the  Catholic  inissioners 
were  attended  with  the  best  results  in  spite  of  almost  incessant  persecu- 
tions. Including  the  converted  Gallas,  there  are  in  Abyssinia  to-day  over 
30,000  Christians  living  in  communion  with  Rome.  They  are  governed 
by  two  Vicars  Apostolic,  who  have  under  their  jurisdiction  some  forty 
priests,  foreign  and  native.  Educational  institutions  have  been  opened 
by  the  Capuchins.  Among  the  Abyssinians  as  among  the  Greek  Schis- 
matics there  exists  a  bitter  hostility  to  the  Catholic  Church,  and  all 
the  influence  of  their  metropolitan,  or  Abuna,  is  exerted  to  keep 
Catholic  missioners  out  of  the  country,  while  on  the  other  hand  he 
encourages  the  settlement  of  Protestants. 

51.  As  to  the  marriage  of  the  clergy,  the  same  rules  prevail 
among  the  Orthodox,  or  United,  Oriental  Christians  as  among  the 
Oriental  Schismatics.  The  Holy  See  forbids  all  clerics  to  marry  after 
the  subdeaconate,  but  permits  married  men  to  be  promoted  to  Holy 
Orders,  who  are  allowed  to  retain  their  wives.  The  secular  clergy 
are  usually  married.  Married  priests,  however,  are  never  promoted 
to  positions  of  dignity,  which  are  filled  by  the  unmarried  only.  The 
patriarch,  archbishops,  and  bishops  are  invariably  taken  from  the 
monks. 

52.  The  progress  Catholicity  is  making  ainong  the  schismatical 
sects  of  the  East,  the  Russians  excepted,  is  very  promising.  From  the 
Libanus  to  the  shores  of  the  Bosphorus,  along  the  coasts  of  Syria, 
Asia  Minor,  in  the  whole  Archipelago,  in  the  Balkan  countries  and 
Egypt,  are  spread  the  churches  in  union  with  Rome.  Catholic  mis- 
sionaries occupy  Damascus,  Aleppo,  the  Greek  Isles,  Smyrna,  Con- 
stantinople, and  Alexandria.  They  have  penetrated  into  Persia, 
while  in  Armenia  and  Mesopotamia,  throughout  their  whole  extent, 
are  found  numerous  churches  in  subjection  to  the  chair  of  St.  Peter. 
Thus  the  Catholic  missionaries  are  everywhere  at  work  in  the  East 
and  are  gradually  preparing  the  way  for  the  return  of  the  schismatical 
sects  to  the  Roman  Church — the  Mother  of  all  Churches. 


«48  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURGH. 


CHAPTER  II. 


HISTORY  OF  THE  CATHOLIC  CHURCH. 


I.  THE  PAPACY. 


SECTION  XXXIX. — ALEXANDEB  VII.  AND  HIS  SUCCESSORS. 

Alexander  VII.,  and  Louis  XIV.  of  France — Christina  of  Sweden — Innocent  XI. 
— His  conflict  with  Louis  XIV. — The  Regale — The  French  Clergy — Declar- 
ation of  1682 — John  Sobieski — Alexander  VIII. — Fgnelon — Clement  XL  — 
His  Controversy  with  Amadeus  of  Savoy — Benedict  XIII.— Clement  XII. — 
Benedict  XIV. 

53.  After  the  death  of  Innocent  X.,  the  choice  of  the  cardinals 
for  Pope,  fell  upon  Cardinal  Chigi,  who  took  the  name  of  Alexander 
V^II.,  A.  D.  1655-1667.  The  distinguished  talents  and  virtues  of  the 
new  Pontiff  gave  fair  hopes  of  a  happy  and  prosperous  reign.  But  the 
arbitrary  proceedings  of  Louis  XIV.  of  France  against  the  Holy  See  gave 
Alexander  much  annoyance  and  greatly  embittered  his  life.  It  was  in 
this  pontificate  that  the  Swedish  Queen,  Christina,  daughter  of  Gus- 
tavus  Adolphus,  abjured  Lutheranism,  and  sacrificing  her  crown,  em- 
braced the  Catholic  faith.  At  the  invitation  of  the  Pope,  who  assigned 
her  a  yearly  pension,  the  royal  convert  came  to  Italy  and  spent  the  re- 
mainder of  her  life  at  Rome,  where  she  founded  the  Arcadian  Academy. 
She  died  in  1689,  and  was  interred  beneath  St.  Peter's  Church. 

54.  The  two  succeeding  Popes,  Clement  IX.,  A.  D.  1667-1669, 
and  Clement  X.,  A.  D.  1670-1676,  are  spoken  of  by  contemporary 
writers  as  persons  endowed  with  every  virtue  becoming  their  exalted 
office  and  dignity.  They  rendered  what  help  they  could  to  the  Vene- 
tians and  Poles  in  their  struggle  with  the  Turks.  The  French  king 
continued  in  his  course  to  intrench  upon  the  rights  of  the  Church,  and 
all  remonstrances  on  the  part  of  the  Holy  See  were  of  no  avail. 

55.  Innocent  XL,  A.  D.  1676-1689,  was  a  man  of  austere  morals 
and  distinguished  for  his  eminent  talents  and  virtues.  On  his  accession 
to  the  throne,  he  applied  himself  with  much  zeal  to  revive  ecclesiasti- 
cal discipline  and  displayed  uncommon  courage  in  defending  the  rights 
of  the  Church  and  the  prerogatives  of  the  Holy  See.     He  had  scarcely 


ALEXANDER  VII.  AND  HIS  SUCCESSORS.  64» 

ascended  the  Papal  chair,  when  he  became  involved  in  warm  contro- 
versy with  the  haughty  Louis  XIV.  of  France. 

56.  The  subject  of  this  controversy  was  the  Regale,  that  is,  the 
royal  privilege  of  receiving  the  revenues  of  vacant  bishoprics  and  of  ap- 
pointing to  certain  benefices, the  granting  of  which  belonged  to  the  in- 
coming bishop.  Louis  XIV.  arbitrarily  extended  the  Regale,  which  was 
established  only  in  some  dioceses,  to  all  the  episcopal  sees  of  the  realm. 
This  was  opposed  by  the  bishops  of  Aleth  and  Pamiers ;  and  the  Pope, 
to  whom  they  appealed  for  protection,  at  once  espoused  their  cause. 

57.  Unhappily  the  great  body  of  the  French  clergy  supported  the 
king  against  the  Pope;  the  conflict  became  more  and  more  complicated, 
and  finally  culminated  in  the  celebrated  Dedaratioyi  of  the  Gallican 
Clergy  {Declarationes  Cleri  Gallicani),  which,  by  order  of  Louis  XIV., 
was  drawn  up,  and  approved  by  the  bishops  of  France  in  their  assem- 
bly  of  1682,  and  defined  what  the  courtly  prelates  were  pleased  to  call 
the  '^  Liberties  of  the  Gallican  Church."  Innocent  XL,  promptly 
annulling  the  Declaration,  severely  censured  the  bishops  who  had 
taken  part  in  the  proceedings,  and  refused  canonical  confirmation  to 
such  as  advocated  the  so-called  "  Gallican  Liberties."  Thirty-five 
bishoprics,  were  in  consequence,  left  vacant.  It  was  at  the  urgent  re- 
quest of  Innocent  XL,  that  the  gallant  King  Sobieski  of  Poland,  has- 
tened to  relieve  Vienna  in  1683,  when  besieged  by  the  Turks. 

58.  Alexander  VIIL,  A.  D.  1689-1691,  a  pontiff  highly  extolled 
for  his  moderation  and  prudence,  obtained  from  Louis  XIV.,  the  res- 
toration of  Avignon,  which  had  been  occupied  by  the  French  under 
the  preceding  pontificate.  Innocent  XII.,  who  followed  from  1691 
to  1700,  succeeded  in  terminating  the  great  contest  with  France,, 
which  had  arisen  from  the  famous  Declaration  of  1682.  Louis 
XIV.,  in  1693,  annulled,  and  the  bishops  of  France  retracted 
the  Declaration,  and  the  ''  Four  Articles,"  which  it  contained.  It 
was  by  this  Pope  that  the  Book  of  the  famous  Fenelon,  archbishop  of 
Cambray,  entitled  ''  Maxims  of  the  Saints,"  was  condemned.  That 
excellent  prelate,  Fenelon,  not  only  acquiesced  in  the  sentence,  but 
humbly  announced  it  to  his  people  from  the  pulpit;  and  in  a  pastoral 
addressed  to  the  clergy,  forbade  the  reading  of  his  work. 

59.  The  pontificate  of  Clement  XL,  A.  D.  1700-1721,  with 
which  the  eighteenth  century  opened,  fell  in  troublesome  times.  The 
new  Pope  had  scarcely  taken  possession  of  the  Holy  See,  when  he 
found  himself  involved  in  serious  political  confiicts.  In  the  war  that 
broke  out  in  the  beginning  of  his  reign,  between  the  houses  of  Aus- 
tria and  Bourbon,  concerning  the  Spanish  succession,  he  resolved  to- 
remain   neutral,  and  sought  to  mediate.     But   his  refusing  to   recog- 


650  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

nize  either  of  the  two  competitors,  Phillip  V.,  or  Charles  III.,  and  to 
grant  to  either  the  investiture  of  the  kingdom  of  Naples,  offended 
both,  and  involved  the  States  of  the  Church  in  all  the  calamities  of 
the  war. 

60.  Clement  XI.  had  a  controversy  also  with  the  new  king  of 
Sicily,  Amadeus  of  Savoy,  about  the  "  Sicilian  Monarchy,"  *  as  it  is 
called,  which  the  Roman  Pontiffs  had  always  objected  to,  as  a  man- 
ifest usurpation  of  the  rights  of  the  Church.  He  published  a  Bull, 
abolishing  the  Spiritual  Monarchy,  and  when  the  king  refused  to  give 
it  up,  placed  the  whole  island  under  an  interdict.  Amadeus,  thereupon, 
forbade  the  clergy  to  observe  the  sentence,  and,  on  their  refusal,  3000 
ecclesiastics  were  driven  into  exile.  Clement  died  after  a  pontificate 
of  twenty-one  years.  He  was  universally  beloved  for  his  eminent  virt- 
ues, and  was  well  skilled  in  state  affairs;  but  be  was  constantly 
brought  into  difficulties  by  the  conflicting  interests  of  the  ruling 
houses. 

61.  After  the  brief  pontificate  of  Innocent  XIII.,  A.  D.  1721- 
1724,  who  was  despoiled  of  Parma  and  Piacenza,  Benedict  XIII.,  A. 
D.  1724-1730,  a  Dominican,  accepted  with  reluctance  the  papal  dig- 
nity. He  held  a  provincial  council  in  the  Lateran,  in  1725,  which 
enacted  wise  laws  for  the  suppression  of  abuses  and  the  reformation 
of  morals,  and  terminated  the  dispute  concerning  the  "  Spiritual 
Monarchy  of  Sicily."  But  he  was  rudely  treated  by  the  Catholic 
courts,  on  account  of  inserting  an  historical  fact  in  the  office  of  St. 
Gregory  VII. 

62.  His  successor,  Clement  XII.,  A.  D.  1730-1740,  who  first  con- 
demned Freemasonry,  was  treated  no  better  by  the  Catholic  rulers. 
He  became  involved  in  complications  with  the  courts  of  Turin, 
Vienna,  and  ]\radrid.  The  rights  of  the  Roman  See  were  everywhere 
despised,  and  the  power  of  protesting  was  all  it  now  possessed.  Bene- 
dict XIV.,  A.  D.  1740-1758,  one  of  the  most  learned  Popes  that  ever 
filled  the  Papal  chair,  yielded  in  the  extreme  toward  civil  rulers,  and 
thus  succeeded  in  preserving  friendly  relations  with  most  of  them. 
However,  he  gained  little  by  the  great  concessions  he  made.  He  saw 
the  beginning  of  the  warfare  against  the  Society  of  Jesus. 

>  See  paee  368.  §  90. 


~     SUPPRESSION  OF  TEE  JESUITS.  651 

SECTION  XL. — PONTIFICATES  OF  CLEMENT  XIII.,  AND  CLEMENT   XIV. — 
SUPPRESSION  OP  THE  JESUITS. 

Clement  XIII. — The  Jesuits — Infidel  Conspiracy  against  the  Society — Foul  Cal- 
umnies— The  Jesuits  expelled  from  Portugal,  France,  Spain,  and  Naples 
—Clement  XIV. — The  Bourbon  Courts— Suppression  of  the  Jesuits— Survival 
in  Russia  and  Prussia. 

63.  Benedict  XIV.  was  succeeded  by  Cardinal  Bezzonico,  who,  on 
his  election,  took  the  name  of  Clement  XIII.,  A.  D.  1758-1769.  The 
new  Pontiff,  a  man  of  zeal  and  unwearied  activity,  was,  throughout  his 
whole  reign,  in  painful  controversy  with  the  Bourbon  courts.  The  dis- 
putes related  principally  to  the  Jesuits,  to  whom  Clement  was  a  devoted 
friend.  The  Society  of  Jesus  performed  wonderful  educational  and 
evangelical  works  throughout  the  Catholic  world  and  even  among  the 
heathen.  The  Jesuits  had  great  influence  with  all  classes,  because  they 
were  the  confessors  of  the  nobility  and  of  the  great,  as  well  as  being  the 
educators  of  the  young  nobles.  This  circumstance  explains  the  bitter 
hatred  with  which  the  order  was  persecuted  by  the  enemies  of  the 
Church  and  of  religion  in  general. 

64.  We  find  the  persecutors  of  the  Jesuits  to  consist,  not  of  the  com- 
mon people,  nor  of  any  honorable  men  among  the  higher  classes,  but 
of  persons  who,  being  devoid  of  faith  and  principle,  hesitated  at  no 
falsehood,  meanness,  or  cruelty,  which  could  advance  the  base  objects 
they  had  in  view.  In  Portugal,  it  was  Pombal;  in  France,  Choiseul; 
in  Spain,  Aranda;  in  Naples,  Tanucci;  and  in  Parma,  Tillot;  all  of 
them  men  who  were  in  sympathy  with  the  free-thinkers,  and  who  had 
made  it  the  main  object  of  their  lives  to  '^  limit,"  as  they  called  it, 
'^the  pretensions  of  the  Church."  There  was  no  difficulty  with  rulers 
of  the  Bourbon  type,  such  as  Joseph  I.  of  Portugal;  Louis  XV.  of 
France;  Charles  III.  of  Spain;  and  Ferdinand  IV.  of  Naples,  who,  hav- 
ing surrendered  their  power  to  ministers  and  courtesans,  allowed  them- 
selves to  be  deceived  by  forgeries  and  calumnies,  or  were  intimidated 
by  threats  and  false  conspiracies. 

65.  The  first  attack  on  the  Society  of  Jesus  was  made  in  Portugal 
by  the  all-powerful  Marquis  de  Pombal,  prime  minister  under  Joseph 
I.  Pombal,  while  Portuguese  minister  in  England,  had  observed  the 
docility  of  the  Anglican  clergy,  and  their  submissiveness  to  the  Eng- 
lish government.  No  sooner  had  he  obtained  the  reins  of  power, 
than  he  formed  plans  for  a  national  Church  in  Portugal,  separated 
from  the  Holy  See.  As  the  Jesuits  were  the  strongest  defenders  of 
the  Papacy,  he  resolved  on  their  suppression. 

66.  The  means  which  Pombal  adopted,  were  calumny  and  cruel  per- 


652  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

secutions.  He  caused  writings,  grossly  defaming  the  Society  of  Jesus,  to 
be  circulated  among  the  people.  Every  imaginary  crime  was  attributed 
to  the  Jesuits.  They  were  accused  of  conspiring  against  the  State;  of 
creating  discontent  among  the  Indians  in  Paraguay;  they  were  even 
denounced  as  the  instigators  of,  or  accomplices  in,  an  attempt  upon 
the  king's  life.  A  royal  edict  of  Sept.  3,  1759,  declared  the  Jesuits 
as  being  traitors  and  assassins,  and  banished  them  from  Portugal,  and 
from  the  Portuguese  colonies,  both  East  and  West.  Pope  Clement 
XIII.,  vainly  appealed  to  the  king  in  favor  of  the  Society.  All  the 
Jesuits  living  in  the  Portuguese  dominions,  were  seized  and  impris- 
oned, or  deported  to  the  States  of  the  Church,  while  all  their  property 
was  confiscated.  The  venerable  Malagrida,  who  had  passed  a  great 
portion  of  his  life  in  the  Brazilian  missions,  and  two  other  Fathers, 
were,  in  their  innocence,  condemned  to  the  stake. 

67.  In  France,  Choiseul,  prime  minister,  and  Madame  de  Pom- 
padour, mistress  of  Louis  XV.,  united  with  Parliament  and  the  free- 
thinkers to  compass  the  ruin  of  the  Jesuits.  The  reputation  of  the 
Society  among  the  people  had  suffered  greatly,  in  consequence  of  the 
failure  of  the  commercial  speculations  of  Father  Lavalette,  superior  in 
Martinique.  At  the  same  time  pamphlets  were  distributed  over  the 
land,  attributing  to  the  Jesuits  preposterous  crimes.  They  were 
charged  with  holding  the  pernicious  maxim,  that  "  the  end  justifies 
the  means,"  and  with  defending  the  doctrine  of  tyrannicide.'  In 
vain  did  French  bishops  point  out  the  injustice  of  condemning  an 
entire  order,  without  cause,  and  petitioned  for  the  preservation  of  the 
Society.  In  1762,  the  Jesuit  colleges  were  closed,  by  order  of  Parlia- 
ment, and  two  years  later,  a  decree  affirmed  by  the  weak  and  licentious 
Louis  XY.,  pronounced  the  suppression  of  the  Society  in  France. 
Four  thousand  Jesuits  were  thus  scattered  at  one  blow.  Though 
Clement  XIII.  declared  the  decree  to  be  null  and  void,  he  accom- 
plished nothing. 

68.  The  movement  against  the  Jesuits  now  spread  rapidly  through 
the  other  countries  under  the  Bourbon  rule.  Choiseul  spared  no 
effort  to  obtain  their  expulsion  also  from  Spain  and  Naples.  Charles 
III.,  of  Spain,  was,  personally,  well  inclined  towards  the  Society;  but 

1  The  great  Jesuit  Bellarmlne  expressly  says  on  the  subject :  '*  It  Is  unheard  of  that  the  murder 
of  a  prince  should  ever  be  permitted,  even  were  he  a  heretic,  a  heathen,  and  a  persecutor,  and  even 
were  monsters  to  be  found  capable  of  committing  such  a  crime."— St.  Ignatius,  the  founder,  desired 
that  politics  should  be  altogether  excluded  from  his  Society.  But  in  the  sixteenth  century,  all 
court  affairs,  all  diplomatic  negotiations,  and  even  wars,  had,  more  or  less,  a  religious  stamp. 
They  all  tended  either  to  uphold,  or  stamp  out  Catholicity.  Jesuits  were  thus  obliged  to  share  in 
the  movement  of  ideas,  social  and  political.  When  the  general  Aqua  viva  demanded  from  Sixtus  V. 
that  he  should  issue  a  decree,  prohibiting  any  political  activity  on  the  part  of  the  Jesuits,  the  Pope 
refused  to  accede  to  the  request. 


SUPFBESSION  OF  THE  JESUITS.  653 

his  minister,  Aranda,  who  favored  the  principles  of  revolution,  by- 
intrigues,  and  especially  by  forged  letters,  in  which  Father  Ricci,  the 
:reneral,  declared  the  king  a  bastard,  and  not  entitled  to  the  throne, 
succeeded  in  making  the  weak  and  unsuspecting  monarch  believe  that 
the  Jesuits  were  conspiring  against  his  person. 

69.  Upon  this  the  wrathful  Charles,  in  1767,  expelled  with 
violence  all  the  members  of  the  Society  of  Jesus  from  his  dominions, 
for  reasons,  which,  as  the  crowned  lunatic  stated  in  his  reply  to  the 
remonstrances  of  the  Pope,  "  he  had  forever  locked  up  in  his  royal 
heart.  ^^  All  the  Jesuits  in  Spain  and  the  colonies — to  the  number  of 
six  thousand — were  arrested  on  the  same  day  and  shipped  to  the  Papal 
States.  In  a  similar  cruel  manner,  the  Society  was  suppressed  in 
Naples,  Parma,  and  Malta. 

70.  The  Bourbon  Courts  next  demanded  from  the  Pope  the  sup- 
pression of  the  Society  for  the  whole  Church.  When  this  was  refused, 
they  proceeded  directly  to  attack  the  Holy  See:  France  seized  Avignon 
and  Yenaissin;  Naples,  Benevento  and  Pontecorvo,  while  Parma  and 
Modena  harassed  the  Pope  by  rudely  interfering  with  the  duties  of  his 
office.  But  the  aged  Pontiff  remained  firm.  In  his  distress,  Clement 
turned  for  support  to  the  Empress  Maria  Theresa,  of  Austria.  But 
she  refused  to  interfere,  on  the  ground  that  the  affair  was  one  of  state 
policy,  and  not  of  religion.  Under  the  blows  of  so  many  assaults 
Clement  XIII.  died  heart-broken. 

71.  The  death  of  Clement  XIII.  was  followed  by  a  vacancy  of 
over  three  months,  occasioned  by  the  intrigues  of  the  Bourbon  sover- 
eigns, who  used  every  effort  to  secure  the  election  of  a  Pope  who 
would  comply  with  their  wishes.  Cardinal  Ganganelli,  a  Franciscan, 
who  enjoyed  their  special  favor,  was,  at  length,  elected  under  the 
name  of  Clement  XIV.,  A.  D.  1769-1774.  He  was  no  sooner  seated  in 
the  Papal  chair,  than  the  Bourbon  courts  pressed  him  to  suppress  the 
Society  of  Jesus.  Threats  were  used  that  kingdoms  would  throw  off 
their  allegiance  to  the  Church  unless  the  prayer  were  granted. 

72.  Clement  XIV.  felt  the  difficulties  of  his  situation,  and  demanded 
time  for  reflection.  He  conceived  it  to  be  his  duty  to  protect  an  order 
which  had  helped  to  support  and  defend  the  Church  against  heresy 
and  infidelity,  and  which  had  been  recommended  by  so  many  of  his 
predecessors.  At  the  same  time  he  wished  to  avoid  a  rupture  with 
those  courts  which  had  evidently  the  power,  and  seemingly  the  inclin- 
ation, to  inflict  serious  wounds  on  the  Papacy.  He,  therefore,  hes- 
itated long  before  he  took  the  decisive  step  to  which  he  was  driven  by 
the  Bourbon  rulers.  At  length,  yielding  to  their  importunity, 
Clement  XIV.,  on   July  21,    1773,    published  the  Brief  Domimis  ac 


^654  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Redemptor  noster,  by  which  he  suppressed  the  Society  of  Jesus  ''  for 
the  maintenance  of  the  common  peace,"  and  directed  that  its  members 
should  enter  either  some  other  religious  order,  or  the  ranks  of  the 
secular  clergy.  In  his  decree  of  suppression,  Clement  made  not  the 
slightest  reference  to  the  charges  brought  against  the  Jesuits  by  their 
enemies. 

73.  The  Society,  then  numbering  22^000  members,  submitted 
-everywhere,  without  hesitation,  to  the  will  of  the  Pope.  Father  Ricci, 
the  general,  who  was  imprisoned  in  the  Castle  of  St.  Angelo,  on  his 
death-bed,  solemnly  protested  his  own  and  his  order's  innocence  of  the 
charges  which  had  been  brought  against  them.  Frederic  II.  of  Prus- 
sia, who  declared  that  he  had  never  found  better  priests  in  every 
respect  than  the  Jesuits,  permitted  them  to  continue  as  an  organized 
society  in  his  states;  while  the  Empress  Catherine  II.  of  Russia  and 
her  successor  Paul  I.  not  only  approved  of  the  Society,  but  gave  the 
strictest  orders  that  they  were  to  remain  in  their  dominions. 

SECTION.  XLI.  —PONTIFICATE  OF  PIUS  VI. — JOSEPHISM — 
THE  FRENCH  REVOLUTION. 

Accession  of  Pius  VI. — The  Jesuits  declared  Innocent — Tendency  of  the  Age — 
Josephism  in  Austria — Journey  of  the  Pope  to  Vienna — Revolt  of  Belgium 
and  the  Netherlands — Ems  Congress — Synod  of  Pistoja — French  Revolu- 
tion— Its  Causes — Opening  of  the  States-General — National  Assembly — 
Leaders  of  the  Revolution — Civil  Constitution  of  the  Clergy — Courageous 
Bearing  of  the  Clergy — Position  of  Pius  VI.  in  respect  to  the  Revolution — 
Massacres  of  Priests — Trial  and  Execution  of  Louis  XVI. — ^Reign  of  Terror — 
Pius  VI.  forcibly  carried  to  France — His  Death. 

74.  After  a  protracted  conclave  of  over  four  months,  Cardinal 
Braschi  ascended  the  Papal  chair  as  Pius  VI.,  A.  D.  1775-1799.  The 
new  Pontiff,  mild  and  affable,  but  firm  in  purpose,  applied  himself 
with  zeal  and  energy  to  the  work  of  reform  in  both  Church  and  State. 
The  trial  of  the  Jesuits,  begun  under  his  predecessor,  was  brought  to  a 
-close;  the  commission  charged  with  this  duty,  declared  the  Society  of 
Jesus  wholly  innocent  of  the  accusations  brought  against  it  by  its  en- 
emies. Unfortunately  for  the  cause  of  religion,  there  seemed  to  be,  dur- 
ing this  pontificate,  a  general  disposition  to  diminish,  if  not  to  under- 
mine, the  Papal  authority,  even  in  Catholic  countries.  The  courts  of 
Madrid,  Naples,  and  Florence  continued  to  encroach  on  the  immunities 
of  the  Church,  claiming  rights  which  were  in  direct  opposition  to  the 
prerogatives  of  the  Holy  See. 

75.  The  heart  of  the  much  harassed  Pontiff  was  sorely  afflicted,  es- 
pecially by  the    *' reforms"  of  Emperor  Joseph  II.  of  Austria,  whose 


PONTIFICATE  OF  PIUS  VI  656 

5irbitrary  regulations,  on  purely  ecclesiastical  matters,  were  at  variance 
with  the  interests  of  religion.  Imbued  with  the  principles  of  Febroni- 
anism,  and  of  a  false  philosophy,  Joseph  arrogated  to  himself  the  right 
and  duty  of  reforming  the  Church  of  Austria,  as  he  had  reformed  the 
State.  He  abolished  all  diocesan  seminaries  and  replaced  them  by  gen- 
eral seminaries,  thus  taking  the  education  and  training  of  priests  out 
of  the  hands  of  the  bishops.  He  suppressed  over  700  monasteries,  and 
severed  those  which  were  spared,  from  their  connection  with  Rome.  Pa- 
pal Bulls  and  episcopal  ordinances  were  subjected  to  the  royal  Placets 
Bishops  were  forbidden  to  confer  Orders,  and  to  apply  to  Rome  for  dis- 
pensations, without  the  emperor's  permission.  Joseph  carried  his  in- 
terference in  ecclesiastical  affairs  so  far  as  to  prescribe  the  kind  and 
number  of  images  and  candles  to  be  used  in  churches. 

76.  All  these  changes  were  introduced  without  consulting  the 
Holy  See  ;  and  the  rights  of  the  bishops  were  as  little  considered  as 
the  wishes  of  the  people,  who  viewed  the  innovations  with  little  favor. 
But  few  of  the  Austrian  bishops  had  the  courage  to  oppose  the  schemes 
of  the  emperor,  while  many  of  the  clergy  openly  espoused  them. 
Remonstrances  were  treated  with  contempt;  the  non-conformance 
of  some  bishops  was  punished  with  fines,  of  others  with  exile. 
Pius  VI.,  finding  his  most  urgent  warnings  disregarded,  resolved,  in 
1782,  to  visit  Vienna,  in  the  hope  of  diverting  the  deluded  emperor 
from  his  disastrous  career  of  reform.  The  people  everywhere  hailed 
the  Pope,  a  true  Peregrinus  Apostolicus,  with  the  utmost  enthusiasm, 
and  the  emperor  received  him  with  great  respect.  But  at  the  Austrian 
capital,  the  august  visitor  was  treated  with  marked  coldness,  and  even 
insolence,  by  the  officious  courtiers,  especially  by  Kaunitz,  the  prime- 
minister. 

77.  Pius  VI.  returned  to  Rome,  having  accomplished  nothing, 
Joseph  remaining  inflexible.  But  the  deluded  monarch  dearly  paid 
for  his  arrogant  pretensions.  His  hasty  and  arbitrary  reforms,  out- 
raging the  national  feelings  of  the  subjects  of  the  imperial  house, 
excited  universal  discontent,  and  were  the  occasion  of  disturbances  in 
Hungary,  Belgium,  and  the  Netherlands,  which  at  length  terminated 
in  open  rebellion.  This  broke  the  heart  of  the  irritable  emperor,  and 
hastened  his  death,  which  occurred  in  1790.  His  brother  and  suc- 
cessor, Leopold  II.,  abrogated  most  of  the  innovations,  and  thus 
restored  peace  to  the  empire. 


*  "By  the  PZaceHs  understood  a  custom  prevailing  in  many  States,  according  to  which  Papal  Bulls 
and  Briefs  are  subjected  to  the  inspection  of  the  civil  power  before  they  are  permitted  to  be  carried 
Into  execution.  From  the  word  by  which  the  assent  of  the  sovereign  is  signified,  it  is  called  the 
Placet  or  Exequatur."— Lingard. 


656  BISTORT  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

78.  Unhappily  for  the  cause  of  the  Church,  some  of  her  digni- 
taries in  Germany  and  Italy,  seconded  the  proceedings  of  Joseph  II. 
The  "  Ems  Congress  "  acted  on  the  same  principles.  Representatives^ 
of  the  spiritual  Electors  of  Cologne,  Treves,  and  Mentz,  and  of  the  arch- 
bishop of  Salzburg,  in  1786,  met  at  Ems,  and  drew  up  a  declaration 
in  twenty-three  articles — known  as  the  Punctation  of  Ems — the  object 
of  which  was  to  make  the  archbishops  practically  independent  of  the 
Holy  See.  All  exemptions  of  religious  orders  were  annulled;  recourse 
to  Rome  for  dispensations  was  forbidden;  the  oath  of  obedience, 
which  bishops  take  to  the  Pope,  was  abrogated,  etc. 

79.  Similar  principles  were  asserted  by  the  8ynod  of  Pistoja^ 
which,  under  the  presidency  of  Bishop  Ricci,  in  1787,  passed  a  series 
of  decrees  that  were  diametrically  opposed  to  the  constitutions,  as  well 
as  the  teachings,  of  the  Church.  Owing  to  the  firmness  of  the  Pope 
and  the  vigorous  opposition  to  the  movements  made  on  all  sides,  the 
danger  of  a  schism  was  averted.  The  spiritual  Electors,  in  1789, 
formally  renounced  their  pretensions,  while  the  unecclesiastical  decrees 
of  Pistoja,  were  condemned  by  Pius  VI.,  in  1794. 

80.  Amid  all  these  different  cares,  Pius  VI.  had  to  witness  the 
outbreak,  and  experience  the  horrors  of  the  French  Revolution,  the 
effects  of  which  proved  so  disastrous  to  both  Church  and  State.  That 
fatal  revolution,  which  plunged  France  into  an  abyss  of  confusion  and 
anarchy,  was  only  the  logical  outcome  of  Protestantism,  and  the  final 
result  of  the  unsettled ness  of  faith,  caused  by  the  protracted  wars  of 
religion.  It  was  the  gathering  in  of  the  harvests,  of  which  the  seed 
had  been  sown  by  an  earlier  generation.  The  reformers  had  subverted 
the  authority  of  the  Church,  and,  as  a  necessary  consequence,  the 
authority  of  the  State  fell  with  it. 

81.  The  chief  causes  which  conspired  in  preparing  the  way  for 
the  French  revolution,  are  to  be  sought  in  the  machinations  of  the 
Jansenists  and  other  sectaries,  who,  by  their  continued  resistance  to 
ecclesiastical  authority,  had  done  much  harm  among  the  French 
people;  in  the  gross  and  scandalous  licentiousness  under  the  Regency 
of  the  Duke  of  Orleans,  and  during  the  reign  of  Louis  XV. ;  especially 
in  that  spirit  of  irreligion  and  infidelity,  which  had  long  been  spread- 
ing itself  in  France,  through  the  agency  of  secret  associations,  and 
under  the  influence  of  infidel  philosophers,  such  as  Voltaire,  Rousseau, 
D'Alembert,  and  Diderot.  This  spirit  of  irreligion  pervaded,  more  or 
less,  all  ranks,  and  was  accompanied  by  corresponding  dissoluteness  of 
morals.  Thus  society  had  become  ripe  for  revolution.  Anarchy 
already  existed  in  ideas,  in  manners,  and  in  laws,  before  it  developed 
into  events. 


PONTIFICATE  OF  PIUS  VI  657 

82.  The  financial  embarrassment  brought  on  tlie  government  by 
the  American  war,  in  which  France  participated  against  England, 
forced  Louis  XVI.  to  call  together  the  States-General.  Deputies  of 
the  tliree  Estates,  to  the  number  of  1200,  of  whom  600  belonged  to 
the  third  Estate,  assembled  at  Versailles  in  1789.  On  the  refusal  of 
the  clergy  and  nobles  to  sit  with  the  commons,  the  latter  constituted 
themselves  an  independent  body,  under  the  name  of  "National  As- 
sembly,"^ and  usurping  all  political  and  civil  power  in  the  kingdom, 
.soon  revealed  hostile  intentions,  both  against  the  throne  and  the  Church. 

83.  The  National  Assembly  soon  came  wholly  under  the  control 
of  the  revolutionary  clubs  of  Paris — the  Cordeliers  and  Jacobins. 
Among  the  ruling  spirits  of  that  body  were  Mirabeau,  Sieyes,  Treillard, 
Talleyrand,  Dupont,  Barnave  and  others;  men,  who  in  endeavoring 
to  establish  what  were  proclaimed  as  the  "  Rights  of  Man,""  brought 
about  that  fatal  revolution,  which  eventually  overturned,  alike,  the 
altar  and  the  throne,  and  drenched  France  with  the  blood  of  thou- 
sands of  its  best  citizens. 

84.  Among  the  early  measures  of  the  Assembly  affecting  the  Church 
were  :  the  confiscation  of  all  Church  property,  and  the  "  Civil  Consti- 
tution of  the  Clergy.""  The  French  clergy  to  relieve  the  distress  of  the 
nation,  had  voluntarily  renounced  their  tithes.  This  generous  offer, 
however,  did  not  prevent  the  Assembly,  on  motion  of  the  apostate 
bishop  Talleyrand  of  Autun,  from  passing  a  decree,  which  stripped 
the  Church  of  all  her  property.  Ecclesiastical  property  to  the  amount 
of  400,000,000  francs,  was  thus  by  one  stroke  confiscated. 

85.  The  "  Civil  Constitution  of  the  Clergy"'  reduced  the  num- 
ber of  bishoprics  from  136  to  83,  a  bishopric  for  each  of  the  depart- 
ments into  which  France  was  divided;  it  decreed  that  bishops  should 
be  elected  by  the  clergy,  and  interdicted  their  appointment  by  the 
Pope;  abolished  religious  Orders,  and  made  the  reception  of  a  Papal 
Bull  or  'Brief,  unauthorized  by  the  government,  a  state  offence.  More- 
over, all  the  clergy  were  required  to  swear  allegiance  to  the  new  con- 
stitution, under  pain  of  forfeiture,  and  of  being  prosecuted  as  dis- 
turbers of  the  public  peace.  But  the  great  majority  of  the  French  clergy, 
including  127  bishops,  refused  to  take  the  oath,  preferring  exile  and 
poverty  to  the  sacrifice  of  their  sacred  obligations.  Only  four  bishops, 
among  whom  was  the  notorious  Talleyrand,  and  a  very  small  minority 
of  the  priests  gave  in  their  adhesion  to  the  new  constitution.  These 
were  the  '^  Jurors,""  or  "  Assermentes,""  while  those  refusing  the 
oath  were  styled  "Nonjurors,""  or    "Insermentes."" 

86.  Pope  Pius  VI.  acted  with  great  vigor.  In  monitory  letters 
and  briefs  addressed  to  the  clergy  and  people  of  France,  he  condemned 


658  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

the  "  Civil  Constitution  of  the  Clergy/*'  severely  censuring,  and,  at  last,, 
suspending  from  office  the  ecclesiastics  who  had  taken  the  oath.  Ta 
avenge  itself  on  the  Pope,  the  National  Assembly  ordered  the  annexa- 
tion of  Avignon  and  Venaissin.  The  more  violent  National  Convention, 
which  succeeded  the  Legislative  Assembly,  in  1792,  decreed  the  banish- 
ment of  all  priests  who  would  not  take  the  revolutionary  oath.  More 
than  50,000  of  the  clergy  came  under  this  proscription.'  Many  hun- 
dreds of  these  devoted  men,  including  one  archbishop  and  two  bishops, 
were  massacred  in  Paris,  Meaux,  Chalons,  Lyons,  Rheims  and  other 
cities,  with  circumstances  of  revolting  cruelty.  All  the  bishops  who 
refused  to  acquiesce  in  the  alteration  were  driven  from  their  sees,  and  a 
body  of  new  bishops  were  consecrated  by  Talleyrand.  Many  of  the  non- 
juring  priests,  however,  remained  in  France,  secretly  ministering  to  the 
faithful,  at  the  risk  of  their  lives. 

87.  Meanwhile,  anarchy  and  infidelity  spread  over  France  with 
irresistible  force.  The  monarchy  was  abolished  and  France  declared 
a  Republic.  This  was  followed  by  the  execution  of  Louis  XVI.,  who 
was  guillotined  on  Jan.  21,  1793.  The  pious  but  unfortunate  prince 
was  attended  in  his  last  moments  by  the  Irish  Father  Edgeworth. 
The  queen,  Maria  Antoinette,  daughter  of  the  great  Empress  Maria. 
Teresa,  the  king's  sister,  the  Princess  Elizabeth,  and  other  members 
of  the  royal  family,  shared  the  same  fate.  The  youthful  Dauphin, 
Louis  XVII.,  died  in  prison,  the  victim  of  neglect  and  cruelty. 

88.  The  National  Convention,  bent  on  the  annihilation  of  all 
supernatural  religion,  solemnly  abolished  Christianity  and  the  belief 
in  God,  and  in  its  stead  decreed  that  the  only  deities  in  France  should 
be  "Liberty,  Equality,  and  Reason."  A  solemn  festival  in  which  a 
woman  of  infamous  character  personated  the  goddess  of  Reason  in  the 
church  of  Notre  Dame,  marked  the  commencement  of  the  new 
religion.  The  existence  of  God  and  the  immortality  of  the  soul 
was  officially  denied. 

89.  With  Robespierre  at  the  head  of  the  State,  a  reign  of  terror 
began,    which   was   inaugurated  by  the  massacre  of  the  friends  of 

»  "  Amidst  the  various  nations  which  have  afforded  an  asylum  and  succor  to  the  French  clergy  whom 
a  strict  adherence  to  their  religion  had  exiled  from  their  native  soil,  England,  beyond  a  doubt,  has  the 

pre-eminence  for  generosity  and  compassion  " Eight  thousand  of  them  were  entertained  in  either 

England,  Jersey,  or  Guernsey. . .  By  the  benevolence  of  Government,  the  Royal  Palace  at  Winchester 
was  fitted  up,  and  some  seven  hundred  of  the  suffering  exiles  were  supported  there  at  the  expense  of 
the  State.    "The  nation  at  large  opened  a  subscription  and  every  parish  contributed  Its  part,  the 

amount  of  which,  in  1793,  was  £  67,  000 The  University  of  Oxford  printed  a  fine  edition  of  the 

Vulgate  New  Testament,  and  presented  a  copy  to  each  of  the  French  priests  who  desired  to  have  one. 
The  acts  of  kindness  to  the  emigres,  as  they  were  called  at  the  time,  were  universal  over  the  whole 
kingdom.  But  the  crowning  act  of  charity  was  the  grant  by  the  House  of  Commons,  on  the  proposal 
of  William  Pitt,  of  an  annuity  of  £20  a  year  to  each  one  of  the  exiles."  Amherst— History  of  Cath- 
olic Ematicipation,    Vol.  I. 


PIOUS  VIL—HIS  SUCCESSORS.  659 

religion  and  social  order.  Forty-four  thousand  Revolutionary  com- 
mittees were  appointed  and  as  many  guillotines  were  set  up  to  clear 
France  of  every  trace  of  Christianity  and  royalty.'  Priests  and  nuns, 
and  members  of  the  nobility  perished  by  thousands.  Blood  flowed 
in  streams  and  neither  age  nor  sex  was  spared.  In  the  Vendee  alone^ 
where  so  gallant  a  stand  was  made  in  behalf  of  religion  and  order, 
900,000  were  killed,  among  them  15,000  women,  and  22,000  children. 
More  than  two  millions  are  said  to  have  perished  by  the  wars  and 
massacres  of  the  Revolution. 

00.  With  resistless  fury,  the  Revolution  poured  like  a  torrent 
beyond  the  limits  of  France.  The  campaign  of  1796,  under  General 
Bonaparte,  made  the  French  masters  of  Northern  Italy ;  ere  long  the 
Pope  also  was  threatened  in  his  dominions.  It  was  in  vain  that  Pius 
VI.  pleaded  his  neutrality.  He  was  forced  to  purchase  peace  by 
cessions  of  territory  and  exorbitant  contributions  in  money  and 
works  of  art.  Nor  was  this  all;  the  Pope  was  not  an  enemy  like  any 
other.  His  condemnatory  briefs  had  still  a  great  effect  on  the  French 
people.  The  Directory  at  Paris  demanded  of  him  the  revocation  of 
these  condemnations,  and  the  recognition  of  the  Civil  Constitution. 
But  this  Pius  VI.  refused  to  grant.  The  French  Directory  now 
resolved  to  put  an  end  to  Papal  rule.  Rome  was  taken  and  pro- 
claimed a  Republic,  in  1798.  The  Vatican  was  invaded,  and  Pius 
VI.,  though  begging  to  be  permitted  to  die  where  he  had  lived,  was 
taken  a  prisoner  and  carried  to  France,  where  he  died  at  Valence  in  the 
eighty-second  year  of  his  age,  A.  D.  1799. 

SECTION  XLII. — PIUS  VII. — HIS  SUCCESSORS. 

Election  of  Pius  VII. — Napoleon  Bonaparte — Restoration  of  the  Catholic 
Church  in  France — The  Concordat — Organic  Laws — Coronation  of  Napo- 
leon— Pius  VII.  in  Paris — Insolent  Demands  of  the  Emperor — Occupation 
of  Rome  by  the  French — Excommunication  of  Napoleon — Pjus  VII. 
Removed  to  France — Brutal  Treatment  of  the  Pope — Napoleon's  Divorce 
and  second  Marriage — Concessions  wrung  from  the  Pope — Fall  of  Napo- 
leon—Pius Vn.  returns  to  Rome — The  Papal  States  restored — Death  of 
Pius  VII. — His  Successors. 

91.  On  the  death  of  Pius  VI.,  unbelief  and  heresy  exultingly 
proclaimed  that  the  Papacy  had  ceased  to  exist,  and  that  the  end  of 
the  Catholic  Church  was  come.  But  Providence  still  watched  over  his 
Church.     Under  the  protection  of  Austria,  the  Sacred  College,  number- 


'  Under  the  sentence  of  these  committees  were  guillotined  1,135  priests,  350  nuns,  2000  of  the 
nobility,  besides  thousands  of  the  lower  classes.  To  these  must  be  added  32,000  killed  at  Nantes, 
and  31,000  at  Lyons. 


660  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

ing  then  thirty-five  cardinals,  assembled  at  Venice,  and  there,  March 
14,  1800,  elected  Cardinal  Chiaramonti,  who  took  the  name  of  Pius 
VII.  Owing  to  the  successes  of  the  allied  Austrian  and  Russian  armies 
against  the  forces  of  the  French  Eepublic,  the  new  Pope,  who  was  a 
man  of  singular  virtue  and  noble  gifts  of  heart,  entered  his  capital  the 
following  July,  amidst  the  joyous  acclamations  of  the  Romans. 

92.  Napoleon  Bonaparte,  then  First  Consul,  finding  it  impossible 
to  govern  a  people  destitute  of  religion,  resolved,  in  accord  with  the 
sentiments  of  the  great  majority  of  the  nation,  to  restore  Catholic 
worship  in  France.  Accordingly,  on  July  15,  1801,  he  concluded 
with  Cardinal  Consalvi,  the  special  delegate  of  the  Pope,  a  Concordat, 
whereby  the  Catholic  religion,  the  practice  of  which  had  been  pro- 
scribed since  1790,  was  re-established  in  France  and  recognized  again 
as  the  Religion  of  the  State. 

93.  The  Restoration  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  France  was 
attended  with  great  difficulties  and  was  to  be  effected  only  at  the  cost 
of  extraordinary  concessions.  These  Pius  VIL,  in  the  interests  of  so 
many  millions  of  souls,  considered  necessary  to  make  without,  how- 
ever, sacrificing  any  Catholic  principles.  By  the  terms  of  the  Con- 
cordat, the  Pope  agreed  to  a  new  division  of  the  dioceses  in  France, 
reducing  their  number  from  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  to  sixty,  as 
well  as  to  a  new  appointment  of  bishops,  who  were  to  be  nominated  by 
the  government,  but  to  receive  Canonical  Institution  from  the  Holy 
See.  He,  moreover,  granted  the  holders  of  Church  property,  alienated 
during  the  Revolution,  full  right  to  possess  and  keep  it,  and  agreed  to 
call  upon  the  lawful  bishops  of  the  old  dioceses  to  resign  their  sees  in 
the  interests  of  peace  and  unity,'  and  that  the  newly  appointed  bishops 
should  take  the  oath  of  fidelity  to  the  First  Consul,  who  was  recog- 
nized by  the  Pope  as  possessing  all  the  rights  and  prerogatives  enjoyed 
by  the  late  king.  On  the  other  hand,  the  French  Government 
guaranteed  the  free  and  public  exercise  of  the  Catholic  religion  in 
France,  and  promised  a  suitable  annual  grant  for  the  support  of  the 
clergy. 

94.  But  Napoleon  showed  his  bad  faith  by  appending  to  the 
Concordat,  on  his  own  authority,  certain  additional  clauses,  called 
Orga?iic  Laws,  which  tended  to  place   the  concerns  of  the  Church 

*  Of  the  ia5  episcopal  sees  existing  in  France,  in  1789,  flfty-one  titularies  were  dead  and  three  had 
already  handed  in  their  resignation.  Of  the  eighty-one  surviving  prelates,  forty-flve  acceded  to  the 
request  of  the  Pope  and  offered  their  resignation ;  but  thirty-six  refused  to  resign  and  were  deposed 
by  Apostolical  authority.  Of  the  flfty-nine  ''  Constitutional "  bishops  the  Pope  could  not  be  expected 
to  take  cognizance ;  they  had  to  retire  in  obedience  to  the  civil  power  from  which  they  had  received 
their  appointment.  Plus  also  abolished  all  the  old  episcopal  churches  with  their  chapters  and  priv- 
ileges ;  and  in  their  stead  erected  ten  metropolitan  sees  and  fifty  bishoprics. 


PIOUS  VII— HIS  SUCCESSOBS.  661 

wholly  at  the  disposal  of  the  Government  and  were  a  flagrant  viola- 
tion of  his  agreement  with  the  Holy  See.  Of  these  laws,  which  were 
ratiiied  by  the  Corps  Legislatif,  April  5,  1802,  the  principal  were: 
That  no  Bull,  Brief,  nor  other  missive  from  the  Court  of  Rome,  even 
though  it  should  relate  to  individuals  only,  shall  be  received  or  put  in 
force  in  France,  without  authority  of  government;  that  no  council 
or  diocesan  synod  shall  be  held  without  the  express  sanction  of  Govern- 
ment; that  professors  in  seminaries  shall  teach  the  four  articles  of  the 
Declaration  of  the  French  Clergy;  that  bishops  shall  be  amenable  for 
misdemeanors  to  the  Council  of  State;  that  parish  priests  shall  give 
the  nuptial  blessing  only  to  those  who  can  prove  that  they  have  been 
already  married  before  a  Civil  Magistrate/''  Pius  VII.  earnestly,  but 
vainly,  protested  against  the  "  Organic  Laws,^'  which  had  been  added 
to  the  Concordat,  without  his  knowledge. 

95.  When  in  1804,  he  was  proclaimed  Emperor  by  the  French 
Senate,  Napoleon  requested  the  Pope  to  come  to  Paris  and  crown  him, 
that  his  imperial  dignity  might  receive  the  sanction  of  the  Church. 
Pius  VIT.  felt  extreme  reluctance  to  perform  the  ceremony,  but  finally, 
after  consulting  with  the  cardinals,  resolved  to  comply,  notwithstand- 
ing the  protest  of  Louis  XVIII.  His  motive  was  to  testify  to  Napo- 
leon his  gratitude  for  the  restoration  of  the  Catholic  religion  in 
France  and  to  obtain  further  advantages  for  the  Church.  At  the 
ceremony  of  the  coronation,  however,  (Dec.  2.  1804),  the  proud 
monarch,  departing  from  all  ancient  precedents,  would  not  have  the 
Pope  to  place  the  crown  on  his  head,  but  seizing  it,  crowned  himself, 
and  also  placed  the  crown  on  the  head  of  the  empress. 

96.  In  the  course  of  the  many  interviews  which  he  had  with  the 
Emperor,  Pius  VIL,  indeed  obtained  several  concessions  for  the  Church, 
but  could  not  prevail  on  him  to  revoke  the  ''  Organic  Laws  "  and  restore 
to  the  Holy  See  the  provinces  of  which  it  had  been  bereft.  Inflated 
with  success,  Napoleon  thought  of  retaining  the  Pope  in  France  to 
make  him  the  tool  of  his  ambitious  designs.  He  pressed  him  to  re- 
move his  court  to  Paris  or  Avignon,  But  these  speculations  were 
baffled  by  the  firmness  of  Pius,  who  answered  the  emperor  that, 
before  leaving  Eome,  he  had  executed  a  formal  act  of  abdication,  and 
deposited  it  at  Palermo,  then  under  British  protection,  wfiich  would 
be  promulgated,  if  force  should  be  used  against  his  person.  On  this, 
Pius  was  suffered  to  return  to  Rome. 

97.  But  the  amicable  relations  thus  apparently  established,  were 
soon  interrupted  by  new  demands  from  the  emperor,  with  which  it 
was  impossible  for  Pius  to  comply.  Napoleon  wanted  the  Pope  to 
annul  the  marriage  of  Jerome,  the  emperor's  brother,  with  an  Ameri- 


662  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

can  Lady,  Miss  Paterson;  and  crown  another  brother,  Joseph,  king  of 
Naples;  to  close  his  ports  against  British  vessels,  and  dismiss  from  liia 
court  the  ambassadors  of  such  governments,  as  were  at  war  with 
France;  to  abolish  clerical  celibacy  and  suppress  the  religious  orders; 
and,  finally,  to  acquiesce  in  the  spoliation  of  the  territories  of  the 
Church  that  had  been  seized  by  the  emperor,  and  annexed  to  the 
Kingdom  of  Italy. 

98.  The  refusal  of  the  Pope  to  consent  to  these  outrageous  de- 
mands, hastened  a  rupture.  In  May,  1809,  Napoleon  issued  from 
Vienna  a  decree  ordering  the  annexation  of  the  remainder  of  the 
Papal  States  to  the  French  Empire,  declaring  Kome  a  free  city  of  that 
monarchy,  and  settling  on  the  Pope  an  annuity  of  two  millions  of 
Francs.  Pius  VII.  replied  by  a  Bull  of  excommunication,  cutting  off 
the  Emperor  and  all  his  agents  and  abettors  from  the  communion  of 
the  Church.  On  this,  the  courageous  Pontiff,  by  order  of  Napoleon, 
was  arrested  and  carried  away  a  prisoner  to  Grenoble,  thence  to  Savona, 
and  lastly  to  Fontainebleau,  in  France. 

99.  During  the  five  years  of  his  captivity  (1809-1814),  Pius  VII.  was 
treated  with  great  indignity  and  harshness,  bordering  even  on  cruelty. 
He  was  jealously  debarred  from  all  communication  with  the  Church, 
and  studiously  kept  in  ignorance  of  the  real  state  of  affairs.  He  even 
was  deprived  of  books  and  writing  materials,  and  was  not  allowed  to 
give  audience,  except  in  the  presence  of  a  guard.  The  Sacred  Col- 
lege was  dispersed,  most  of  the  cardinals  languishing  in  exile,  some  in 
prison.  But  his  courage  failed  not.  The  venerable  old  man  courage- 
ously resisted  the  imperial  despot,  steadfastly  refusing  to  enter  into 
terms  with  him. 

100.  In  his  pride.  Napoleon  refused  to  recognize  any  bonds  that 
could  limit  his  ambition.  To  procure  to  himself  a  successor  of  royal 
blood,  he  repudiated  his  lawful  wife  Josephine,  and,  in  1810,  was 
married  to  the  archduchess  Maria  Louisa  of  Austria.^  On  the  Pope's 
refusal  to  confer  canonical  institution  upon  the  bishops  appointed  by 
the  emperor,  the  latter,  in  order  to  find  some  way  of  settling  the  diffi- 
culty, in  1811,  assemblied  a  **  National  Council "  in  Paris,  but  dissolved  it 
again,  when  he  found  that  the  bishops  could  or  would  not  second  his 
arbitrary  and  violent  proceedings  against  the  Church  and  its  Head. 

»  A  decree  of  divorce  was  granted  by  the  French  Senate,  and  was  subsequently  ratified  by  Card- 
inal Fesch,  the  emperor's  nephew,  as  metropolitan  of  Paris  and  primate  of  Gaul,  the  alleged  cause 
being  that  the  formalities  prescribed  by  the  Council  of  Trent  had  not  been  observed,  and  that  access 
to  the  Pope,  then  a  prisoner,  was  impracticable.  If  not  impossible.  Thirteen  of  the  cardinals  who 
refused  to  attend  the  solemnization  of  Napoleon's  marriage  with  Maria  Louisa,  were  commanded  by 
the  wrathful  emperor,  to  wear  in  future  black  Instead  of  red.  This  gave  rise  to  the  well-known 
distinction  between  the  red  cardinals,  and  hlack  cardinals. 


I 


PIUS  VII.— HIS  SUCCESSORS  663 

101.  In  Fontainebleau,  whither  he  had  been  brought  in  1812, 
Pius  Yll.,  oppressed  and  harassed  with  the  importunities  of  courtly 
prelates,  and  without  a  minister  of  State,  or  even  a  trusty  friend,  to 
Avhom  he  could  turn  for  counsel  in  his  perplexity,  at  length  allowed 
himself  in  an  unguarded  moment  to  be  persuaded  to  an  arrangement 
which  involved  a  virtual  renunciation  of  some  of  his  temponil  and  even 
spiritual  rights.  But  no  sooner  had  he  discovered  his  error,  than  he 
immediately  revoked  the  agreement  which  had  been  extorted  from  him.^ 

102.  But  the  high  pretensions  of  Napoleon,  who  aimed  at  estab- 
lishing on  the  ruins  of  the  conquered  kingdoms  a  universal  monarchy, 
and  at  making  the  Papacy  the  tool  of  his  imperial  omnipotence,  were 
not  destined  to  be  fulfilled.  The  mighty  emperor,  was  cast  from  his 
throne,  while  the  humble  Pontiff  was  restored  once  more  to  the  pin- 
nacle of  power.  After  the  mad  expedition  to  Russia,  in  which  the 
weapons  had  literally  fallen  from  the  frozen  hands  of  his  soldiers. 
Napoleon  was  unable  to  withstand  the  arms  of  the  European  powers 
that  had  leagued  against  him.  The  battle  of  Leipsic  (1813)  proved 
the  grave  of  his  empire.  By  a  singular  disposition  of  Providence,  Na- 
poleon was  compelled,  two  months  after  the  Pope  had  been  set  free,  to 
sign  his  own  abdication  in  the  very  same  palace  of  Fontainebleau,  in 
which  he  had  maltreated  the  venerable  prisoner.  He  was  sent,  first  to 
Elba,  and  after  his  final  overthrow  on  the  field  of  Waterloo,  in  1815, 
to  the  Island  of  St.  Helena,  where  he  died,  sincerely  reconciled  with 
the  Church,  in  1821. 

103.  Pius  VII.  re-entered  Rome  in  May  1814,  amidst  the  rejoicings 
of  his  people  and  accompanied  by  the  cordial  good  wishes  of  all  civilized 
nations.  Through  all  his  troubles  the  much-tried  Pontiff  experienced 
much  sympathy,  even  from  the  three  great  non-Catholic  sovereigns — 
the  Ozar  of  Russia,  the  King  of  Prussia,  and  the  Prince  Regent  of  Eng- 
land. A  signal  proof  of  their  esteem  for  the  venerable  Pontiff  may  be 
found  in  the  readiness  with  which  they  supported.at  the  ^'Vienna  Con- 
gress "  (1814),  his  demand  that  all  his  territories  should  be  restored  to 
him.  By  the  ^^ Treaty  of  Vienna, ^^  the  following  year,  the  Papal 
States,  with  the  exception  of  the  territories  situated  on  the  left  bank  of 
the  Po,  which  were  held  by  Austria,  and  of  the  Comtat  Venaissin  and 
Avignon,  which  were  retained  by  France,  were  recognized. 

104.  The   efforts  of  Pius  VII.    were  henceforth  directed   towards 


'  "  He  yielded  for  a  moment  of  conscientious  alarm,"  says  Cardinal  Wiseman  (in  his  "  Recollec- 
tions of  the  Last  Four  Popes  "),  "he  consented,  though  conditionally,  under  false,  though  virtuous, 
impressions,  to  the  terms  proposed  to  him  for  a  new  Concordat.  But  no  sooner  had  his  upright  and 
humble  mind  discovered  the  error  than  it  nobly  and  successfully  repaired  it."— The  Articles  which 
Pius  vn.  was  prevailed  on  to  sign  were  published  by  Napoleon  as  the  "Concordat  of  Fontainebleau," 
whilst  they  were  intended  by  the  Pope  only  as  the  basis  of  a  future  agreement. 


664  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

healing  the  wounds  the  Church  had  received  during  his  enforced  ab- 
sence from  the  Apostolic  See.  One  of  his  first  acts,  after  his  return  to 
Rome,  was  the  restoration  of  the  Society  of  Jesus.  He  concluded,  in 
1817,  a  new  Concordat  with  Louis  XVIII.,  which  restored  that  of  Leo  X. 
and  Francis  I.  and  abolished  the  '^  Organic  Articles  "  in  so  far  as  they 
were  contrary  to  the  doctrine  and  laws  of  the  Church.  In  addition  to 
the  dioceses  re-established  in  1801,  forty-seven  new  sees  were  to  be 
erected  in  France.  Pius  VII.,  notwithstanding  his  great  age  and  suffer- 
ings, outlived  Napoleon,  and  received  the  intelligence  of  his  death  with 
feelings  of  sincere  sympathy.  The  great  Pontiff,  whose  reign  was 
the  longest  since  St.  Peter's,  died  Aug.  23,  1823. 

105.  Popes  Leo  XIL,  A.  D.  1823-1829,  and  Pius  VIII.,  A.  D. 
1829-1830,  continuing  the  work  of  their  illustrious  predecessor,  gave 
their  chief  attention  to  restoring  religion  and  learning  in  Rome  and  to 
averting  the  evils  by  which  the  Church  was  then  more  particularly  men- 
aced. In  their  encyclicals  they  warned  the  faithful  against  religious 
indifferentism  and  secret  societies,  particularly  Freemasonry.  Both 
Leo  XII.  and  Pius  VIII.  evinced  their  apostolic  zeal  and  firmness,  the 
one  by  granting  bishops  to  the  new  Republics  in  South  America,  not- 
withstanding the  protest  of  Spain;  the  other  by  his  celebrated  answer 
to  the  Rhenish  bishops  on  the  subject  of  mixed  marriages,  which  the 
Prussian  government  claimed  to  regulate  as  belonging  solely  to  the 
domain  of  the  State. 

106.  In  those  days  when  the  secret  societies,  notably  the  Car- 
bonari, aimed  at  the  overthrow  of  all  governments  in  Italy,  and  at 
secularizing  the  possessions  of  the  Church,  it  required  a  man  of  strong 
iron  will  to  take  upon  him  the  temporal  and  spiritual  administration 
of  the  Church.  Such  a  Pontiff  was  Gregory  XVI.,  who  ascended  the 
Papal  chair  immediately  after  the  outbreak  of  the  Parisian  revolution 
of  1830.  His  administration,  A.  D.  1831-1846,  was  characterized  by 
firmness,  fortitude,  and  statesmanlike  prudence,  and  was  noted  for 
efforts  at  reforms,  as  well  as  for  zeal  in  maintaining  the  purity  of  the 
Catholic  faith.  He  condemned  the  rationalistic  doctrines  of  Hermes 
and  Bautainy  and  the  extreme  radicalism  of  De  Lajnenais,  and  coura- 
geously supported  the  cause  of  the  outraged  German  bishops  against 
the  Prussian  government,  and  of  oppressed  Poland  against  Russian 
tyranny. 

107.  A  munificent  patron  of  the  sciences  and  the  arts,  Gregory 
XVI.  greatly  increased  the  Vatican  library,  founded  three  museums, 
and  promoted  men  of  learning  to  the  highest  honors  in  the  Church, 
among  whom  were  Mezzofanti,  the  greatest  linguist  that  ever  lived, 
and  Angela  Mai,  the  discoverer  and  editor  of  many  ancient  works  and 


PIUS  IX.  665 

manuscripts.  In  1839,  Gregory  published  the  remarkable  Bull,  "  In 
supre?no  apostolat us  fast igio^'  against  the  sleLYe-trside,  which  did  more 
to  put  down  that  infamous  traffic  than  negotiations  and  royal  prohibi- 
tions. The  same  year  witnessed  the  canonization  of  St.  Alphonsus 
Liguori,  founder  of  the  Redemptorists,  and  other  saints. 

SECTION   XLIII. — PIUS   IX. 

Early  History  of  Pius  IX — His  Election — Grants  a  Political  Amnesty — Revolution 
of  1848— Pius  IX  flees  to  Gaeta — Restored  to  His  Throne — Victor  Emman^ 
uel — Papal  States  invaded — Rome  taken — Important  Ecclesiastical  Acts- 
Definition  of  the  Immaculate  Conception— The  Syllabus — Eighteenth  Cen- 
tenary  of  the  Martyrdom  of  St.  Peter — Death  of  Pius  IX. 

108.  In  the  long  line  of  Popes,  who  ruled  over  the  Church  since 
the  days  of  St.  Peter,  there  are  very  few  that  were  more  distinguished 
than  the  illustrious  Pius  IX.  His  pontificate  was  the  longest — from 
A.  D.  1846-1878 — as  well  as  one  of  the  most  remarkable  in  the  history 
of  the  Papacy.  Bom  in  1792  at  Sinigaglia,  of  the  illustrious  family 
of  Mastai-Ferretti,  he  was  ordained  a  priest  in  1819.  His  merits  were 
early  recognized  by  Leo  XII.,  who,  in  1823,  appointed  him  secretary 
to  the  Apostolic  Delegate  to  Chili,  and,  in  1827,  created  him  arch- 
bishop of  Spoleto.  Gregory  XVI.  transferred  him  to  the  more  impor- 
tant See  of  Imola,  and,  in  1840,  raised  him  to  the  cardinalate.  On 
the  death  of  that  Pontiff,  Cardinal  Mastai-Ferretti,  the  youngest 
member  of  the  Sacred  College,  was  elected  to  succeed  him,  taking  the 
name  of  Pius  IX. 

109.  The  new  Pontiff  inaugurated  his  reign  with  a  general  am- 
nesty to  all  political  offenders,  and  entered  at  once  on  a  course  of  re- 
forms, which  made  the  Papacy  again  the  center  of  Italy.  He  gave 
greater  freedom  to  the  press,  improved  the  affairs  of  government  and 
the  administration  of  justice,  advanced  laymen  to  the  principal  civil 
offices,  granted  to  his  States  a  constitutional  government,  and  finally 
took  preparatory  measures  for  a  confederation  of  the  Italian  States. 
But  these  concessions  did  not  satisfy  the  Mazzinists,  or  Italian  revolu- 
tionists, whose  avowed  aim  was  the  overthrow  of  all  governments  in 
the  Peninsula,  in  order  to  unite  the  Italian  States  into  one  great 
Republic.  Because  the  Pope  refused  to  make  war  on  Austria,  he  was 
declared  a  traitor  to  Italy,  and  the  Mazzinists  resolved  on  his  own  de- 
thronement. 

110.  The  revolution  which  broke  out  in  France  and  northern  Italy 
in  1848,  produced  a  powerful  effect  also  in  the  Papal  States.  Rome 
soon  was  all  ablaze  and  completely  in  the  hands  of  the  revolutionists. 
The   revolution   opened   with   the   assassination  of  the    Pope^s  prime 


666  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

minister,  the  energetic  count  Rosse.  Pius  IX.  had  to  flee  in  disguise 
to  Gaeta.  A  frightful  state  of  things  followed  in  the  Papal  States, 
especially  in  Rome,  where  anarchy  and  terror  reigned  supreme  under 
Mazzini  and  Garibaldi. 

111.  The  Constituent  Assembly,  elected  during  this  reign  of  terror, 
dethroned  the  Pope  and  proclaimed  the  Roman  Republic.  In  response 
to  a  call  issued  by  the  Pope  from  Gaeta,  the  Austrians  and  French 
marched  into  the  Roman  States  and  drove  out  the  revolutionists. 
Amid  the  rejoicings  of  his  people,  Pius  IX.  returned  to  Rome  in  the 
Spring  of  1850,  when  Cardinal  Antonelli,  as  secretary  of  State,  under- 
took to  heal  the  wounds  struck  by  the  revolution. 

113.  For  several  years  peace  and  tranquility  reigned  in  the  Pon- 
tifical States  under  the  paternal  rule  of  Pius  IX.  But  the  policy  of 
Cavour,  the  Piedmontese  premier,  who  bent  all  his  energy  on  uniting 
all  Italy  into  one  nation  under  the  King  of  Sardinia,  raised  new  diffi- 
culties. The  Franco-Italian  war  against  Austria,  in  which  the  power 
of  the  latter  was  beaten  down  at  Solferino  (1859),  was  followed  by  the 
annexation  of  four-fifths  of  the  Papal  States  to  Sardinia. 

113.  The  Pope  was  now  left  in  the  possession  of  only  one  province, 
the  '^  Patrimony  of  St.  Peter; ''  of  this  also  he  was  deprived  in  1870, 
when  the  Piedmontese  king,  Victor  Emmanuel,  taking  advantage  of 
the  reverses,  suffered  by  France  in  the  war  with  Germany,  invaded 
Rome  and  made  it  the  capital  of  "  United  Italy."  Since  then  the  Pope 
has  virtually  been  a  captive  in  the  Vatican.  Refusing  to  accept  any 
portion  assigned  to  him  by  the  "  Law  of  Guarantees,"  he  is  enabled 
to  carry  on  the  administration  of  his  high  office,  by  the  voluntary  con- 
tributions {Peter's  Pence),  taken  up  for  him  throughout  Catholic 
Christendom. 

114.  Pius  IX.  displayed  most  wonderful  energy  in  the  government 
of  the  Universal  Church.  Up  to  the  year  1877,  he  had  founded  135 
new  bishoprics  and  archbishoprics,  besides  raising  24  bishoprics  to  the 
dignity  of  archiepiscopal  sees.  He  re-established  the  Catholic  hierarchy 
in  England  and  Holland,  restored  the  Latin  patriarchate  of  Jerusalem, 
put  an  end  to  the  schism  in  Goa,  and  created  a  vast  number  of  epis- 
copal sees  in  the  United  States.  SS.  Hilary  of  Poitiers,  Alphonse  de 
Liguori,  and  Francis  de  Sales  were  declared  by  him  Doctors  of  the 
Church,  while  the  interests  of  the  Church  were  defended  by  the  con- 
clusion of  new  concordats  with  nearly  all  the  governments  of  Europe. 

115.  During  his  long  pontificate  Pius  IX.  created  more  cardinals 
than  any  preceding  Pope,  honoring  with  that  dignity  countries  which 
had  never  or  rarely  been  represented  in  the  Sacred  College.  England 
h9.d  three  cardinals:  Wiseman,   Manning  and  Howard;  Ireland,  one. 


PIUS  IX.  667 

cardinal  Oullen ;  while  the  United  States  were  honored  by  the  pro- 
motion of  archbishop  McCloskey,  of  New  York,  to  the  cardin- 
alate. 

116.  During  his  stay  at  Gaeta,  Pius  IX.  addressed  his  Encyclical 
TJhi  primum  to  the  bishops  of  the  Catholic  world,   calling  for  their 

opinion  on  the  expediency  of  defining  the  doctrine  of  the  Immac- 
tilate  Co7iception  of  Mary,  the  Blessed  Mother  of  God.  On  the  re- 
ceipt of  their  replies,  which  were  all  but  unanimous  in  expressing  the 
wish  for  a  definition,  the  Pope,  on  Dec.  8,  1854,  in  the  presence  of 
over  two  hundred  bishops,  issued  a  solemn  decree  declaring  the  doc- 
trine of  the  Immaculate  Conception  to  be  a  truth  revealed  by  God  and 
tin  article  of  Catholic  belief,  and  proposing  it  as  such  to  the  Universal 
Church.  The  Dogmatic  Bull  reads:  "  We  declare,  pronounce,  and  de- 
fine that  the  doctrine  which  holds  that  the  most  Blessed  Virgin  Mary 
was,  in  the  first  instant  of  her  conception,  by  a  singular  grace  and  privi- 
lege of  Almighty  God,  in  virtue  of  the  merits  of  Christ  Jesus,  the 
Saviour  of  the  human  race,  preserved  free  from  all  stain  of  original 
sin,  is  revealed  by  God,  and  on  that  account  is  to  be  firmly  and  con- 
stantly believed  by  all  the  faithful.  ^^  The  whole  Church  received  the 
definition  with  acclamation  and  delight. 

117.  The  reign  of  Pius  IX.  is  noted  for  many  other  doctrinal 
pronouncements,  which,  though  not  definitions  of  faith,  yet  claim  the 
earnest  attention  and  assent  of  every  Catholic.  Over  how  large  a  field 
of  thought  his  other  determinations  have  ranged,  is  testified  by  the 
famous  Encyclical  Quanta  Cura,  issued  Dec.  8,  1864.  The  Syllabus 
of  Errors  annexed  to  the  Encyclical,  contains  under  ten  heads  a  col- 
lection or  catalogue  of  eighty  current  errors,  or  erroneous  propositions, 
condemned  by  him  at  various  times — theories,  which  under  the  spe- 
cious names  of  Liberalism,  of  Progress,  and  of  modern  Civilization, 
have  been  more  or  less  extensively  adopted  of  late  in  the  various 
countries  of  Europe.  Whilst  on  the  one  hand  the  jDublication  of  the 
Syllabus  was  hailed  with  joy  and  admiration  by  the  Catholic  world,  on 
the  other  hand,  its  appearance  excited  the  anger  and  hatred  of  the 
enemies  of  the  Church. 

118.  Few  Popes  have  so  often  seen  the  Catholic  episcopacy 
gathering  around  their  throne,  and  have  bestowed  the  honors  of  can- 
onization on  so  large  a  number  of  saints  as  Pius  IX.  In  1862,  on 
occasion  of  the  canonization  of  the  twenty-six  Japanese  Martyrs,  he 
brought  together  at  Rome  over  three  hundred  bishops  from  all  parts 
of  Catholic  Christendom.  Again,  on  the  Eighteenth  Centenary  of  the 
Martyrdom  of  the  Princes  of  the  Apostles  (June  29.  1867),  Rome 
witnessed  a  still  greater  and  more  imposing  assembly  of  bishops,  who 


G68  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

luid  come  to  pay  homage  to  the  successor  of  Peter  and  assist  at  the 
canonization  of  a  large  number  of  Martyrs. 

119.  Pius  IX.  was  the  first  among  the  Roman  Pontiffs  who  lived 
to  see  the  years  of  St.  Peter  in  the  See  of  Rome.  On  June  16,  1871, 
he  reached  the  twenty-sixth  year  of  his  accession  to  the  Papal  throne. 
He  closed  his  remarkable  Pontificate  on  February  7,  1878,  having 
reigned  thirty-one  years  and  eight  months.  He  saw  the  royal 
usurper,  Victor  Emmanuel,  die  in  the  Quirinal,  but  not  before  he  had 
asked  pardon  of  his  Victim  in  the  Vatican. 

SECTION  XLIV. — COUNCIL  OP  THE  VATICAN. 

Reasons  for  Convoking  a  General  Council — Convocation  of  the  Vatican  Council 
— Chief  Objects — Opening  of  the  Council — Number  of  Prelates  Present — 
The  Two  Constitutions — Attempted  Intimidation  by  Governments — Defini- 
tion of  Papal  Infallibility — Suspension  of  the  Council. 

120.  The  most  important  ecclesiastical  event  that  distinguished 
the  Pontificate  of  Pius  IX.  was  the  assembling  of  the  General  Council 
of  the  Vatican.  For  three  hundred  years  no  such  Council  had  been 
held.  In  these  three  centuries  the  Church  passed  through  revolutions- 
which  dissolved  kingdoms  and  empires,  and  also  changed  her  position 
to  the  world.  The  countries  in  which  Protestantism  had  gained 
the  ascendency  before  the  Council  of  Trent,  are,  it  is  true,  still  un- 
der the  power  of  heresy;  but  in  nearly  all  of  them  Protestantism  is 
now  on  the  decline  and  the  Catholic  party  has  risen  from  an  oppressed 
and  helpless  band  to  a  respected  and  active  body,  which  is  daily  in- 
creasing. 

121.  On  the  other  hand,  society,  in  our  days,  has  become  in  many 
ways  estranged  from  the  Church  and  from  religion  in  general.  The 
spirit  of  infidelity  is  as  powerful  to-day,  as  it  was  a  hundred  years  ago, 
and  is  far  more  widely  spread.  In  most  countries  public  opinion  has 
become  formally  hostile  to  the  Catholic  religion,  and  the  minds  of  the 
Catholics  themselves  have  been  much  tainted  by  the  atmosphere  in 
which  they  live.  These  and  other  considerations  induced  Pius  IX.  to 
call  a  General  Council.  • 

122.  Pius  IX.  intimated  to  the  Sacred  College  his  intention  of 
calling  a  General  Council  as  early  as  1865.  He  asked  the  cardinals,  and 
shortly  afterwards  also  certain  European  and  Oriental  bishops,  eminent 
for  learning,  for  an  account  of  their  opinion  on  the  opportuneness  of 
such  a  convocation  and  of  the  questions  which,  in  their  opinion,  ought 
to  be  treated  by  the  Council.  On  the  receipt  of  their  answers,  which 
were  nearly  unanimous  in  advising  the  convocation,  Pius  IX.  announced 
his  design  of  convoking  the  Council  in  a  public  Consistory  of  some  500 


# 


COUNCIL  OF  THE  VATICAN.  66» 


bishops  who  had  come  to  Rome  to  celebrate  the  18th  centenary  of  SS. 
Peter  and  Paul.  At  last,  by  the  Bull  Mteriii  Patris,  published  on 
June  ^9,  1868,  he  summoned  the  Council  to  meet  at  Rome  on  Dec.  8, 
of  the  ensuing  year. 

123.  The  chief  objects  of  the  council  as  stated  in  the  Bull  of  in- 
diction  were:  to  examine  and  decree  what  pertained  to  the  integrity 
of  faith,  and  the  splendor  of  divine  worship;  to  enforce  the  observance 
of  ecclesiastical  laws;  to  effect  a  general  reformation  of  manners;  to 
provide  remedies  for  the  ills  of  both  Church  and  Society;  and  to  bring 
back  to  the  Church  those  wandering  outside  her  pale.  With  this  view, 
Pius  IX.  also  invited  ^'  all  bishops  of  the  churches  of  Oriental  rite  not 
in  communion  with  the  Apostolic  See,^^  and  "  all  Protestants  and 
non-Catholics  "  to  attend  the  Council,  exhorting  the  latter  in  particu- 
lar ''  to  consider  whether  they  were  walking  in  the  way  marked  out 
by  Christ  and  leading  to  eternal  salvation.''^ 

124.  The  Council,  being  the  Twentietli  General  Council,  was 
opened  by  its  First  Public  Session  on  the  appointed  day  in  the  Vatican 
Basilica.  There  were  present  719  Fathers,  which  number  afterwards, 
increased  to  769.  For  the  first  time  in  the  history  of  General  Councils, 
the  European  Governments  were  not  represented,  an  invitation  not 
having  been  extended  to  any  of  them.  Pope  Pius  IX.  presided  in 
person  at  the  Four  Public  Sessions>  while  five  Cardinal -presidents  were 
appointed  by  him  to  preside  at  the  General  Congregations  of  the 
Council;  its  secretary  was  the  able  Joseph  Fessler,  bishop  of  St. 
Polten,  in  Austria.  At  the  Second  Public  Session,  on  Jan.  6, 1870, 
the  Pope  made  his  profession  of  faith,  after  which  all  the  Fathers 
followed,  declaring  at  the  Chair  of  St.  Peter  their  adhesion  to  the  one 
common  faith  pronounced  by  the  Pastor  and  Teacher  of  all. 

125.  The  work  actually  completed  during  this  first  meeting  of  the 
Vatican  Council  consists  of  two  Dogmatic  Constitutions.  The  first,. 
'^  On  Catholic  Faith, ^'  purposes  to  affirm  and  define  the  existence  of 
a  supernatural  order  as  opposed  to  rationalism  and  naturalism.  Its 
four  chapters  affirming  the  existence  of  two  orders  of  truths,  are  on 
God,  the  Creator  of  all  things;  on  Revelation;  on  Faith;  and  on 
Faith  and  Reason.  To  these  were  added  eighteen  canons  proscribing 
the  errors  at  variance  with  divine  revelation  and  faith.  This  '*  Consti- 
tution on  Faith  "  was  accepted  by  the  unanimous  vote  of  667  Fathers 
present,  and  was  confirmed  by  the  Pope  in  the  Third  Public  Session, 
April  24,  1870. 

126.  The  other  Constitution — the  "First  on  the  Church  of 
Christ " — in  three  chapters  treats  of  the  institution,  the  perpetuity, 
and  nature  of  the  Primacy  of  the  Roman  Pontiff;  the  fourth  and  last 


670  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

chapter  defines  the  infallible  teaching  of  the  Pope  in  lujitters  of  faith 
and  morals.  Up  to  the  opening  of  the  Council  no  design  was  inti- 
mated by  any  one  in  authority  of  proposing  the  question  of  Infallibility 
for  decision,  and  no  place  had  yet  been  given  to  it  in  the  original  sche- 
mata. But  that  Papal  Infallibility  would  be  authoritatively  declared 
was  deemed  certain.  For  though  a  minority  of  bishops  deemed  its 
discussion  inopjjortune,  the  great  majority  favored  a  formal  and 
explicit  definition  of  the  doctrine. ' 

127.  The  probability  that  Papal  Infallibility  would  be  declared  an 
article  of  faith  by  the  Council,  caused  a  storm  of  vituperation  in  anti- 
Boman  and  anti-Catholic  circles.  A  factious  body  of  nominal 
Catholics  in  Germany,  headed  by  Dr.  Dollinger  of  Munich,  excited  the 
governments  on  the  point,  calling  their  attention  to  the  danger  and 
the  consequences  likely  to  arise  from  the  promulgation  of  the  doctrinal 
decrees  on  the  Primacy  of  the  Roman  Pontiff,  the  schemata  of  which 
had  appeared  in  the  "  Augsburg  Gazette. '^  The  Protestant  and  infidel 
press  soundedthe  alarm  and  joined  in  the  warfare  against  the  Council, 
misrepresenting  and  vilifying  its  proceedings,  and  a  series  of  pub- 
lications appeared,  the  avowed  object  of  which  was  to  excite  Catholics 
against  the  dogma  of  the  Infallibility  and  to  hinder,  if  possible,  the' 
Council  of  the  Vatican  from  defining  it. 

128.  But  the  expectations  of  the  opponents  of  Papal  Infallibility 
were  doomed  to  disappointment.  After  adopting  several  amendments 
which  had  been  voted  upon  in  a  preceding  General  Congregation,  the 
'Council  of  the  Vatican  defined  '^that  it  is  a  dogma  divinely  revealed: 
that  the  Roman  Pontiff,  when  he  speaks  ex  cathedra,  that  is,  when  in 
discharge  of  the  office  of  Pastor  and  Doctor  of  all  Christians,  by  virtue 
of  his  supreme  Apostolic  authority,  he  defines  a  doctrine  regarding 
faith  or  morals  to  be  held  by  the  Universal  Church,  by  the  divine 
assistance  promised  to  him  in  Blessed  Peter,  is  possessed  of  that  Infal- 
Mhility  with  luhich  the  Divine  Kedee7ner  willed  that  his  Church  should 
be  endowed  for  defining  doctrine  regarding  faith  or  morals:  and  that, 
therefore,  such  definitions  of  the  Roman  Pontiff  are  irreformable  of 
themselves,  and  not  from  the  consent  of  the  Church.  ^^ 

129.  On  July  18,  the  Fourth  Public  Session  was  held  and  the 
Constitution   Pastor  ^ternus,   containing   the   definition  of   Papal 

1  "  Setting  aside  this  one  question  of  opportuneness,  there  was  not  In  the  Council  of  the  Vatican  a 
difference  of  any  gravity,  and  certainly  no  difference  whatsoever  on  any  doctrine  of  faith.  I  have 
never  been  able  to  hear  of  five  Bishops  who  denied  the  doctrine  of  Papal  Infallibility.  Almost  all 
previous  Councils  were  distracted  by  divisions,  If  not  by  heresy.  Here  no  heresy  existed.  The 
<luestion  of  opportuneness  was  altogether  subordinate  and  free.  It  may  truly  be  affirmed  that  never 
was  there  a  greater  unanimity  than  in  the  Vatican  Council."— 3ianni/igf,  The  Vatican  Council  and 
its  Definitions. 


THE  COUNCIL  OF  TEE  VATICAN.  671 

Infallibility  was  promulgated.  Of  the  five  hundred  and  thirty-five 
Fathers  who  were  present  on  this  momentous  occasion,  five  hundred 
and  thirty-three  voted  Placet,  and  ttoo  only — one  from  Sicily,  the  other 
from  the  United  States — answered  Non-Placet.  '  Fifty-five  bishops, 
who,  indeed,  accepted  the  doctrine  of  Infallibility,  but  deemed  its  defi- 
nition '' not  opportune,"  had  absented  themselves  from  this  session. 
The  Pope  sanctioned  with  his  supreme  authority  the  action  of  the 
Council,  and  proclaimed  officially  the  decrees  and  canons  of  the  First 
Dogmatic  Constitution  on  the  Church  of  Christ.  The  two  above-men- 
tioned bishops,  who  had  voted  in  the  negative,  as  well  as  all  others  who 
had  abstained  from  voting,  or  had  been  called  home  before  the  vote  was 
taken,  subsequently  sent  in  their  adhesion  to  the  Constitution.  Never 
before  had  the  decrees  of  any  Council  received  such  prompt  and  uni- 
versal acceptance.  Nothing,  too,  has  ever  more  luminously  exhibited 
the  supernatural  endowments  of  the  Church  than  the  Council  of  the 
Vatican.  The  very  opposition  of  the  Infidel  world  to  the  dogma  of 
the  Infallibility  but  proved  the  workings  of  the  Holy  Ghost  in  that 
memorable  Assembly,  and  how  necessary  it  was  to  define  and  settle 
once  and  forever  a  doctrine  which  is  a  safeguard  for  the  purity  and  in- 
tegrity of  the  Catholic  faith. — On  the  same  day  that  the  Vatican 
Council  defined  the  dogma  of  the  Infallibility,  Napoleon  III.  declared 
war  against  Prussia.  The  withdrawal  of  the  French  troops  from 
Eome  and  the  occupation  of  that  city  by  the  Piedmontese  King, 
Victor  Emmanuel,  caused  the  Pope  (Oct.  20)  to  indefinitely  suspend 
the  sessions  of  the  Council  of  the  Vatican. 

'  Bishop  Riccio  of  Ajaccio,  and  Bishop  Fitzgerald  of  Little  Rock,  voted  Non  Placet,  thereby 
placing  on  record  a  spontaneous  declaration  of  the  absolute  freedom  of  the  Council.  The  fact  that 
two  Fathers  voted  against  the  definition,  though  not  against  the  doctrine  of  the  Infallibity,  and  that 
several  did  not  vote  either  way,  proves  that  no  attempt  whatever  had  been  made  to  tamper  with  the 
freedom  in  voting.  The  flfty-flve  bishops  who  absented  themselves  from  the  Public  Session,  in  which 
the  final  vote  on  the  Constitution  De  Ecdesia  Christi,  containing  the  definition  of  Papal  Infallibility, 
was  taken,  in  a  letter  to  the  Pope,  declared,  that  their  mind,  regarding  the  opportuneness  of  defin- 
ing that  doctrine  was  unaltered,  but  that  they  meant  to  abstain  from  expressing  their  dissent.  As 
long  as  the  discussion  lasted,  the  Fathers  of  the  Council,  as  their  conscience  demanded,  and  as 
became  their  ofQce,expressed  their  views  on  the  question  plainly  and  openly,  and  with  all  necessary 
freedom.  As  was  only  to  be  expected  in  an  assembly  of  nearly  800  Fathers,  many  differences  of 
opinion  were  manifested.  These  differences  of  opinion,  however,  can  in  no  way  affect  the  authority 
of  the  decrees  themselves,  which  were  received  with  an  overwhelming  majority,  confirmed  in  the 
usual  form  by  the  Sovereign  Pontiff,  and  finally  were  also  assented  to  by  all  the  dissenting  Fathers. 


673'  mSTORY  OF  J  HE  CHURCH. 

n.— THE   CHURCH  IN  EUROPE. 


SECTION   XLV.  — THE    CHURCH   IN   FRANCE. 

Religion  made  an  Instrument  of  the  State — The  Church  under  the  Bourbons — 
Concordat— The  Revolution  of  1830 — Regime  of  Louis  Philippe — The 
Clergy — The  Revolution  of  1848 — Second  Empire — Napoleon  HI. — Present 
State  of  the  Church. 

130.  The  Reformation  had  served  to  destroy,  in  a  great  measure, 
the  bond  of  union  between  Church  and  State.  Religion  at  once  be- 
came a  serviceable  instrument  in  politics.  And  this  occurred  not  only 
in  Protestant,  but  also  in  Catholic  countries.  The  need  of  protection 
against  the  encroachments  and  violence  of  Protestantism  gave  such 
great  prominence  to  State  authority,  that  even  Catholic  rulers  intruded 
on  the  domain  of  religion.  The  attempt  was  made  to  transfer  the 
work  of  the  Church  to  the  civil  powers,  and  to  make  the  Church  an 
institution  of  the  State.  This  abuse  gradually  developed  into  a  system 
which  in  France  was  called  Gallicanism;  in  Spain  and  Portugal,  Pom- 
balism;  and  in  Germany,  Josephism. 

131.  In  France,  infidelity  had  conspired  to  root  up  religion,  and 
for  this  reason  had  excited  a  bloody  persecution  against  the  Church. 
But  the  Revolution  devoured  its  own  children,  and  the  Church  emerged 
from  the  trial,  renewed  and  purified  of  its  corrupt  members.  Under 
the  reigns  of  Louis  XVIII.,  (1814-1824)  and  Charles  X.  (1824-1830), 
the  position  of  the  Church  was  a  precarious  one.  The  zeal  and  activ- 
ity displayed  by  the  Catholic  clergy  were  regarded  with  suspicion,  and 
even  dislike,  by  a  generation  that  had  grown  up  during  the  Revolu- 
tion. The  contending  factions  that  distracted  the  country  kept  France 
in  a  state  of  agitation  which  proved  a  great  hindrance  to  the  cause  of 
religion. 

132.  Notwithstanding  this,  the  Church  witnessed  a  great  revival  in 
France.  In  1816,  a  concordat  was  concluded  between  Pius  VII.  and 
Louis  XVIII. ,  which  revived  that  of  1515  between  Leo  X.  and 
Francis  I.  The  Organic  Articles  and  the  Concordat  of  1801  were  ab- 
rogated, but  the  Crown  of  France  reqeived  the  right  of  nomination  to 
vacant  bishoprics,  with  the  proviso,  that  the  persons  nominated  should 
be  acceptable  to  the  Holy  See.  By  a  new  arrangement  with  Rome,  in 
1822,  the  num^ber  of  bishoprics  was  reduced  to  eighty,  fourteen  metro- 
politan and  sixty-six  suffragan  sees.  Seminaries  were  opened,  in  which 
to  train  young  men  for  the  priesthood;  old  religious  orders  were  re- 
stored, new  ones  founded;   pious  associations  were  formed,  and  the 


THE  CHURCH  IN  FRANCE.  673 

episcopacy  and  clergy,  both  secular  and  regular,  vied  in  zeal  in   reviv- 
ing the  faith  and  piety  among  the  people. 

133.  On  the  other  hand,  the  Jacobins  and  freethinkers  had  re- 
vived under  the  weak  rule  of  the  Bourbons,  and  with  every  possible 
means  sought  to  check  the  religious  awakening.  The  Church  and 
her  ministers  were  scorned,  the  religious  orders  assailed,  and  the 
Government -itself ,  because  of  its  efforts  to  forward  the  interests  of 
religion,  was  opposed  and  made  an  object  of  contemptuous  derision. 
The  fierce  conflict  between  Royalists  and  Constitutionalists  brought 
matters  to  a  crisis  ;  it  culminated  in  the  Revolution  of  July,  1830, 
when  Charles  X.  was  compelled  to  abdicat'e,  and  Louis  Philippe  of 
Orleans  proclaimed  King  of  the  French. 

134.  During  the  earlier  years  of  Louis  Philippe  (1830-1848),  the 
triumphant  revolutionary  factions  continued  to  create  disturbances, 
in  consequence  of  which  churches  and  episcopal  residences  were  pil- 
laged and  destroyed.  The  Church  of  St.  Genevieve  was  turned  into  a 
heathen  pantheon.  The  new  charter  recognized  the  Catholic  religion 
no  longer  as  the  religion  of  the  State,  but  only  as  the  Religion  of  the 
majority  of  the  French  people.  The  '^  Citizen  King  "  was  at  best  a 
doubtful  friend  of  the  hierarchy,  and  sought  to  govern  the  French 
without  the  Church.  Born  of  the  revolution,  the  new  regime  support- 
ed itself  by  means  of  intrigue  and  by  flattering  all  revolutionary  fac- 
tions ;  and  though  it  did  not  favor  the  spread  of  the  doctrines  of  Saint 
Simon  and  Abbe  Chatel,  it  allowed  these  turbulent  enthusiasts  to 
mislead  the  people. 

135.  Eeligion,  however,  gradually  recovered  tone,  and  even  the 
banished  religious,  including  the  Jesuits,  returned  to  France,  although 
they  were  not  permitted  to  open  colleges.  The  worthy  prelates  who 
then  adorned  the  Church  of  France,  such  as  the  Archbishop  de  Quelen 
of  Paris,  Cardinal  Gousset  of  Rheims,  and  Bishop  Diqyanloup  of  Or- 
leans, aided  by  a  zealous  clergy,  labored  hard  and  perseveringly  in  the 
cause  of  religion  and  Christian  education.  The  pulpit  of  Notre  Dame 
was  then  filled  with  those  eloquent  preachers.  Fathers  Ravignan  and 
Lacordaire.  The  Catholic  tribune  had  the  illustrious  Comte  de  Mon- 
talemhert ;  and  the  Catholic  Press  the  gifted  and  fearless  L.  Veiiillot, 

136.  The  secret  socialistic  societies  to  whom  the  Government  was 
not  sufficiently  ultra,  continued  their  machinations  against  Church 
and  State.  The  reign  of  Louis  Philippe  was  abruptly  brought  to  a 
close  by  the  Revolution  of  1848,  when  a  Republic  was  proclaimed,  to 
be  followed  after  four  years  by  the  Second  Empire,  under  Napoleon  III, 
The  new  emperor,  although  retaining  the  "  Organic  Laws"  generally 
allowed  the  Church  unrestrained  liberty  and  freedom  of  action.     He 


C74  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CHURCH. 

provided  for  the  building  of  many  new  churches,  and  for  the  estab- 
lishment of  new  bishoprics  in  France  and  Algiers.  On  the  other  hand, 
Napoleon  has  been  justly  censured  for  the  course  he  pursued  toward 
the  Pope.  Instead  of  preventing,  as  by  treaty  he  was  pledged  to  do, 
the  French  emperor,  it  is  claimed,  secretly  aided  the  occupation 
of  the  Papal  territories  by  the  Piedmontese  usurpers. 

137.  The  rule  of  Napoleon  was  brought  to  a  sudden  end  in  the 
short  but  terrible  war  with  Germany,  and  was  followed  by  the  establish- 
ment of  the  Third  Republic.  During  the  reign  of  terror  introduced  by 
the  Paris  Commune,  horrible  excesses  were  committed  in  the  capital, 
among  which  the  assassination  of  Archbishop  Darhoy  and  other  noted 
hostages  was  the  most  lamentable.  Under  the  presidencies  of  Thiers, 
(1871-1874)  andMacMahon  (1874-1878)  the  Church  enjoyed  full  liber- 
ty  of  action.  Not  so  under  President  Grevy  (1878-1 887).  Religious 
communities  not  legally  authorized  have  been  suppressed,  and  a  system 
of  laws  has  been  enacted,  the  avowed  object  of  which  is  the  secular- 
ization of  schools,  and  the  bringing  up  of  the  rising  generation  under 
the  influence  and  in  the  infidelity  of  a  godless  State. 

138.  Amid  all  these  political  and  religious  changes,  the  French 
people  have  preserved  their  faith,  and  the  French  clergy,  the  zeal  and 
devotion  for  which  they  are  so  remarkable.  There  are  at  present  in 
France  seventeen  ecclesiastical  provinces,  numbering  as  many  metro- 
politan sees,  and  sixty-seven  bishoprics  with  a  Catholic  population  of 
nearly  thirty  millions.  There  is  no  other  Catholic  country  possessing 
so  large  a  number  of  ecclesiastical  establishments  as  France.  Not  to- 
mention  the  religious  orders  and  congregations  of  women,  there  are  in 
France  five  legally  authorized  congregations  of  men,  with  an  aggregate 
of  2,500  members,  having  115  establishments  at  home  and  in  the 
colonies,  and  109  abroad.  The  number  of  unauthorized  establishments 
of  men  is  384,  with  a  membership  of  about  7,500.  There  are  in  ad- 
dition 23  religious  communities  of  men  devoted  to  the  education  of  the 
young,  which  number  over  20,000  members  and  have  over  3,000 
schools  under  their  direction.^  The  various  teaching  congregations 
had,  before  their  suppression  in  1880,  in  their  establishments  61.000 
scholars,  the  men  having  20,235.  the  women  40,784,  and  over  2,200,000 
children  under  instruction.  The  number  of  persons  whom  they  other- 
wise assisted  in  hospitals  and  orphanages,  amount,  to  200,000. 

"  The  population  of  France,  according  to  the  census  of  December,  1881,  consisted  of  29.201,  703 
Roman  Catholics,  being  TS.-i  per  cent,  of  the  total  population  ;  of  692,800  Protestants,  or  1.8  per  cent, 
of  the  population  ...  of  S3, 430  Jews,  and  7,684,906  persons  '  who  declined  to  make  any  declaration 
of  religious  belief.'  This  was  the  first  census  at  which  '  non-prof essants  '  were  registered  as  such. 
On  former  occasions  It  had  been  customary  to  class  all  who  had  refused  to  state  what  their  religion 
was,  or  who  denied  having  any  religion,  as  Roman  Catholics.  The  number  of  persons  set  down  a« 
belonging  to  '  various  creeds'  was  83,042,"— J.  Scott  Keltik,  Stateiman''s  Tear-Book  for  1887. 


r 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL.  675 

SECTION   XL VI. — THE   CHURCH   IN   SPAIN   AND   PORTUGAL. 

The  Church  under  Joseph  Bonaparte — Under  Ferdinand  VII. — Revolution  of 
1820 — Its  Consequences— Hostility  of  the  Liberal  Party — Peace  restored 
under  Isabella  11. — Religious  Revival. — The  Church  in  Portugal — Bitter 
Persecutions. 

139.  Li  Spain,  Charles  IV.  and  his  son  Ferdinand  VII.  had 
been  forced  to  abdicate,  and  in  their  stead  Joseph  Bonaparte  was 
raised  to  the  throne  by  his  brother,  the  French  Emperor.  For 
the  Church  this  was  no  favorable  change,  as  it  involved  her  in 
serious  troubles  and  dangers.  To  punish  the  Spanish  clergy,  who 
continued  loyal  to  the  dethroned  dynasty,  Joseph  burdened  them 
with  taxes  and  heavy  contributions,  reduced  the  number  of  convents 
to  one  third,  and  finally  suppressed  them  all  and  confiscated  their 
property,  allowing  to  the  ejected  religious  a  trifiing  sum  for  their 
support. 

140.  But  the  Spanish  population  rose  as  one  man  to  defend  their 
independence  and  religious  institutions.  After  a  prolonged  bloody 
campaign  the  French  were  driven  from  the  country,  and  Ferdinand 
VII.  was  recalled  to  occupy  the  throne  of  his  ancestors  (1814).  One 
of  the  first  acts  of  Ferdinand  was  to  abolish  the  constitution  of  1812, 
it  being  hostile  to  the  Church,  and  restore  the  ancient  order  of  things. 
He  recalled  the  Jesuits  and  other  religious,  who  had  been  exiled  under 
the  preceding  reign. 

.141.  The  new  political  ideas  had  found  entrance  also  into  Spain 
and  gradually  prepared  the  way  for  civil  disturbances  and  insur- 
rection in  that  kingdom.  The  country  became  divided  into  two 
hostile  camps  :  the  ApostoUcals,  or  Church  party,  and  the  Liberals, 
or  anti-Catholic  party.  A  revolution  broke  out  in  1820,  when  the 
Liberals,  having  gained  control  of  the  State,  forced  the  king  to  restore 
the  constitution  of  1812  and  convoke  the  Cortes,  which  proceeded  at 
once  with  great  violence  against  the  priesthood  and  the  religious 
orders.  Church  property  was  seized  ;  the  Jesuits  and  several  bishops 
were  driven  into  exile  ;  priests  were  imprisoned  and  even  murdered  ; 
monasteries  to  the  number  of  820  were  suppressed,  and  laws  were 
passed  prohibiting  all  communication  with  Kome  and  even  forbidding 
ecclesiastics  appointed  to  vacant  sees  to  seek  confirmation  from  the 
Holy  See.  The  misdeeds  of  the  Liberal  party  caused  great  dis- 
satisfaction among  the  Spanish  people,  and  led  to  the  occupation  of 
the  country  by  French  troops,  in  1823,  when  Ferdinand  was  replaced 
in  the  fulness  of  his  royal  sovereignty. 

142.     Between  the  years  1833  and  1844,  Spain  remained  all  the 


676  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

time  in  open  rebellion  against  the  Church.  The  abrogation  of  the 
jSalic  law,  which  excluded  females  from  the  throne,  by  Ferdinand 
VII.,  in  order  to  secure  the  crown  to  his  daughter  by  his  fourth 
wife,  Christina  of  Naples,  became  the  occasion  for  a  new  civil  war, 
and  fresh  persecutions  of  the  Church  in  Spain.  On  the  death  of  the 
king,  in  1833,  Christina  became  regent  for  her  daughter,  Isabella  II. 
To  maintain  herself,  she  effected  a  reconciliation  with  the  Liberals, 
whom  she  could  attach  to  her  cause  only  by  daily  making  new 
concessions  detrimental  to  the  Church. 

143.  No  sooner  had  the  radicals  regained  the  ascendancy,  than 
the  work  of  devastation  and  destruction  was  begun.  In  1835,  all 
conventual  establishments  were  suppressed,  and  their  property  con- 
fiscated to  defray  the  expenses  of  the  civil  war  then  raging  between 
the  Christinos,  or  Constitutionalists,  and  the  Carlists,  or  Eoyalists. 
All  the  possessions  of  the  Church  were  declared  national  property. 
Communication  with  the  Holy  See  was  forbidden,  and  laws  were  passed 
for  the  reformation  and  reorganization  of  worship  and  of  the  clergy. 
Bishops  were  driven  from  their  dioceses,  and  priests  from  their 
parishes,  and  their  positions  supplied  from  the  ranks  of  the  so-called 
'liberal  clergy. ^^ 

144.  Christina  becoming  obnoxious,  resigned  the  regency,  in 
1840,  when  Espartero  was  made  regent.  He  too  oppressed  the  Church, 
which  was  now  stripped  of  all  its  possessions.  The  Papal  Nuncio  was 
expelled  from  the  kingdom.  In  vain  did  Pope  Gregory  XVI.  raise 
his  voice  against  the  outrages  heaped  upon  the  Church  by  the  Spanish 
Government.  After  fruitless  endeavors  to  obtain  justice,  the  Pope 
proclaimed  a  jubilee,  inviting  all  Christendom  to  unite  in  invoking  the 
assistance  of  heaven  for  the  distressed  Church  of  Spain.  The  Cabinet 
of  Madrid  replied  by  still  more  violent  acts.  It  went  so  far  as  to 
institute  by  force  bishops  not  recognized  by  the  Holy  See. 

145.  The  prayers  of  the  Church  for  Spain  were  not  without 
effect.  The  radical  government  was  overthrown.  Isabella  II.,  being 
declared  of  age,  assumed  the  direction  of  the  government  and  began 
her  administration  by  acts  of  justice  to  the  Church,  permitting  the 
exiled  bishops  to  return  and  liberating  the  episcopate  from  State 
supervision.  The  relations  with  the  Holy  See  were  settled  by  the 
Concordat  of  1851,  and  the  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  Spain  definitely 
established  by  a  convention  with  the  papal  court  in  1859.  The 
restoration,  however,  of  the  Church  property,  confiscated  under  the 
rule  of  the  radicals,  was  not  to  be  obtained. 

146.  The  reign  of  Isabella,  however,  continued  to  be  much 
disturbed,   owing  to    frequent   changes   of  ministry  and   occasional 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SPAIN  AND  PORTUGAL.  677 

revolts.  In  1868,  the  queen  was  driven  from  the  throne  by  a  general 
revolution,  and  Spain  was  once  more  the  scene  of  anarchy  and  blood- 
shed, until  1875,  when  Alphonso  XII.,  the  son  of  the  ex-queen,  was 
called  to  the  throne.  Notwithstanding  the  many  revolutions  that 
disturbed  the  peace  of  the  nation,  Spain  witnessed  a  great  religious 
revival.  Eminent  writers,  like  Balmes  (d.  1848)  and  Donova  Cortes^ 
pious  and  learned  bishops,  and  a  zealous  clergy  have  labored  success- 
fully to  revive  the  faith  and  piety  of  the  Spanish  people.  There  are 
in  Spain  nine  archbishoprics  and  forty-four  bishoprics. 

147.  Revolutions  similar  to  those  in  Spain  took  place  in  Portugal. 
The  refusal  of  the  Portuguese,  in  1807,  to  accept  the  Continental 
system,  involved  the  country  in  a  war  with  Napoleon  ;  John  VI.,  its 
reigning  Sovereign,  with  the  royal  family,  took  refuge  in  Brazil, 
establishing  his  court  in  Rio  de  Janeiro.  During  his  absence  in 
Brazil,  a  revolution  broke  out  in  Portugal,  and  a  constitution  was 
proclaimed  which  was  still  more  injurious  to  the  interests  of  the 
Church  than  that  already  adopted  in  Spain.  At  the  urgent  request  of 
the  nation,  John  VI.,  in  1822,  returned  to  Portugal  and  confirmed 
the  constitution  passed  by  the  liberalistic  Cortes. 

148.  The  demise  of  John  VI.,  in  1826,  gave  rise  to  a  fierce  civil 
war,  which  raged  for  several  years  between  Dom  Miguel  and  his 
brother,  Dom  Pedro  I.  The  result  of  the  internecine  strife  was  most 
disastrous  to  the  cause  of  religion.  Dom  Pedro,  supported  by  the 
Liberals,  came  out  victorious  in  the  struggle.  Under  his  daughter. 
Queen  Maria  da  Gloria,  the  government  passed  completely  into  the 
hands  of  the  Freemasons,  who  were  not  slow  in  using  their  power  to 
oppress  the  Church.  The  most  sacred  rights  of  religion  and  justice 
were  outraged  with  a  recklessness  for  which  it  is  difficult  to  find  a 
parallel  in  modern  history. 

149.  Bishops  who  had  been  appointed  by  the  Holy  See  on  the 
presentation  of  Dom  Miguel,  were  ejected  and  their  sees  declared 
vacant  ;  all  religious  orders  were  suppressed  and  their  property  con- 
fiscated ;  tithes  were  abolished  and  the  clergy  reduced  to  great  distress. 
The  appointments  to  ecclesiastical  benefices  were  regulated  by  law,  and 
priests  could  not  administer  the  sacraments,  except  by  permis- 
sion of  the  government.  It  was  to  no  purpose  that  Pope  Gregory 
XVI.,  in  1834,  threatened  with  the  censures  of  the  Church.  His 
warning  did  not  deter  the  Patriarch  of  Lisbon  from  consecrating  the 
bishops  appointed  by  the  government,  without  the  authorization  of 
the  Holy  See. 

150.  But  the  refusal  of  the  people  to  acknowledge  the  intruded 
prelates  as  lawful  bishops,  at  last  forced  the  Portuguese  government  to 


678  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

come  to  an  understanding  with  the  Holy  See.  A  definite  arrangement^ 
however,  was  not  obtained  until  188H,  when  a  concordat  with  Kome, 
regulating  the  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  Portugal,  was  agreed  upon  by 
the  court  of  Lisbon.  The  Portuguese  Church  is  ruled  by  the  Patriarch 
of  Lisbon,  two  archbishops,  and  fourteen  bishops. 

SECTTION  XLVII.       THE   CHURCH   IN   BELGIUM,    HOLLAND,    AND  THE 
SCANDINAVIAN  NORTH. 

The  Church  in  Belgiun. — Oppression  of  Catholics — Revolution  of  1830 — 
Revival  of  Religion  in  Belgium — The  Curch  in  Holland — Its  present 
State.  — The  Church  in  Denmark — In  Sweden  and  Norway. 

151.  The  Congress  of.  Vienna,  without  regard  to  religion,  lan- 
guage, and  national  antipathies,  had  united  the  Belgian  provinces, 
subject  before  the  French  Revolution  to  the  House  of  Austria,  to  the 
States-General  of  Holland  in  one  kingdom.  WilJiam,  Stadtholder  of 
Holland,  who  assumed  the  title  of  king  of  the  Netherlands,  pro- 
fessed the  Calvinistic  or  Reformed  faith.  In  the  constitution  which  he 
published  in  1815,  the  rights  of  Catholics  were  little  respected.  Nor 
was  any  attention  paid  to  the  remonstrances  of  the  bishops,  who  were 
subjected  to  many  indignities. 

152.  The  Protestant  Hollanders,  regarding  themselves  as  the 
rulers,  attempted  not  only  to  force  their  language  and  laws  upon  the 
Belgians,  but  placed  the  education  of  the  Catholic  people  under 
Protestant  supervision.  Religious  orders  were  forbidden  to  receive 
novices  ;  Catholic  colleges  and  universities  were  closed,  and  Catholic 
students  of  divinity  were  required  to  attend  the  colleges  established 
by  the  Protestant  government.  Acts  of  violence  and  oppression  be- 
came daily  more  frequent  and  aggravating.  When  the  bishops  and 
the  Catholic  press  allied  themselves  to  protest  against  these  en- 
croachments on  the  domain  of  religion,  they  were  proceeded  against 
with  fine,  imprisonment,  and  banishment. 

153.  Availing  themselves  of  the  dissatisfaction  thus  produced,, 
the  Liberal  party  organized  a  general  uprising  against  Dutch  rule. 
The  Revolution  in  Paris  (1830)  became  the  signal  for  an  outbreak  in 
Briissels.  Belgium  threw  off  the  yoke  of  Holland,  and,  aided  by 
France  and  England,  became  an  independent  kingdom,  of  which 
Prince  Leopold  of  Saxe-Coburg  was  elected  first  sovereign.  To  con- 
ciliate all  parties  and  strengthen  his  throne,  the  new  monarch  granted  a 
free  representative  constitution  and  freedom  of  religion  and  education. 
As  in  other  countries,  so  also  in  Belgium,  the  Liberal  party  is  the 
relentless  persecutor  of  the  Church.     Whenever  possible,  this  party 


THE  CHURCH  IN  BELGIUM,    HOLLAND,    AND  SCANDINAVIA.      679 

has  incited  to  deeds  of  scandalous  violence  against  the  priesthood  and 
religious  orders. 

154.  Through  the  influence  and  activity  of  such  men  as  Cardinals 
and  Archbishops  Sterkz  and  Decliamps  of  Mechlin  religious  life  re- 
vived, and  Catholicity  is  steadily  on  the  increase  in  Belgium,  notwith- 
standing the  fierce  war  which  the  Liberal  party  is  carrying  on  against 
the  Church  and  religion  in  general.  The  Catholic  religion  is  professed 
by  nearly  the  entire  population.  The  progress  made  by  the  religious 
orders  is  simply  marvelous.  The  number  of  convents  has  increased 
from  280  in  1829  to  1559  in  1887.  A  free  Catholic  university  was 
established  at  Mechlin,  subsequently  transferred  to  Louvain,  which 
successsfully  neutralizes  the  evil  produced  by  the  infidel  institutions. 
The  kingdom  is  divided  into  six  dioceses,  one  archbishopric,  and 
five  bishoprics.     Each  diocese  has  its  own  ecclesiastical  seminary. 

155.  In  Holland,  Calvinism  was  the  State  religion,  but  the 
States-General  guaranteed  a  certain  liberty  to  dissenters.  The  Cath- 
olics alone  were  oppressed,  and  that  even  piteously,  down  to  the  present 
century.  The  brief  reign  of  Louis  Bonaparte,  who,  in  1806,  was 
appointed  king  of  Holland  by  his  brother.  Emperor  Napoleon,  was 
favorable  to  the  Church.  The  rights  of  the  Catholics  were  generally 
respected.  The  incorporation  of  Holland  with  the  French  empire, 
however,  led  to  some  measures  of  repression,  especially  against  the 
clergy,  who  had  incited  the  anger  of  Napoleon  by  the  firmness  which 
they  displayed  in  upholding  the  rights  and  prerogatives  of  the  Holy 
See. 

156.  Under  William  I.  (1815-1840)  the  old  Calvinistic  bigotry 
was  revived  ;  the  fanatical  prince  did  what  he  could  to  retard  the 
growth  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  his  dominions.  Since  the  Ee volu- 
tion of  1830,  however,  which  resulted  in  the  loss  of  Belgium,  the 
Church  in  Holland  has  enjoyed  greater  freedom.  In  1853,  Pius 
IX.  re-established  the  Catholic  hierarchy  in  Holland,  erecting  Utrecht 
into  an  archbishospric  with  four  suffragan  sees  at  Haarlem,  Herzogen- 
busch,  Breda,  and  Eoermond.  The  number  of  Catholics  has  in- 
creased to  nearly  a  million  and  a  half,  forming  fully  one  half  of  the 
entire  population.  Instead  of  fifteen  convents  existing  in  1810,  there 
are  now  several  hundred  religious  houses  for  men  and  women  in 
Holland, 

157.  Until  recently  the  Northern,  or  Scandinavian,  kingdoms 
appeared  to  be  the  most  hopeless  of  all  the  European  countries  for  the 
propagation  of  the  Catholic  faith.  The  moral  degradation  of  the 
people  and  the  cruel  penal  laws  against  dissenters.  Catholics  especially, 
were  insuperable  obstacles  to  the  progress  of  the  Church  in  these 


680  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

countries. .  Conversion  to  Catholicism  was  a  crime  involving  confisca- 
tion of  property  and  banishment,  in  Denmark  as  well  as  in  Sweden 
and  Norway.  But  now  the  Church  has  been  restored  to  almost  com- 
plete liberty,  a  few  restrictive  laws  only  remaining  unrepealed. 

158.  In  Denmark,  for  which  mission  in  1868  a  prefecture 
apostolic  was  established,  the  Catholics  number  over  4000,  with 
twenty-eight  priests  and  sixteen  churches  and  chapels.  Twenty 
schools,  two  orphan  asylums,  and  two  hospitals  are  served  by  over 
one  hundred  sisters,  while  the  Jesuits  conduct  a  flourishing  college  at 
Copenhagen.  In  1868  the  mission  of  Sweden  was  erected  into  a  vi- 
cariate apostolic,  and  that  of  Norway  into  a  prefecture.  In  the  form- 
er country  there  are  now  1200  Catholics,  mostly  converts,  with  ten 
priests  and  as  many  churches,  and  some  sixty  sisters  laboring  in  three 
hospitals  and  ten  boarding  and  day  schools  ;  while  in  Norway,  where 
until  1815  no  Catholic  priest  could  reside  under  pain  of  death,  there 
are  now  over  twenty  Catholic  missionaries  having  the  care  of  about 
1000  souls,  nearly  all  converts.  Some  twenty-five  sisters  have  the 
management  of  two  hospitals  and  ten  schools.  It  seems,  indeed,  that 
both  in  Denmark  and  in  Sweden  the  people  in  many  places  are  well 
disposed  towards  the  Catholic  Church,  and  converts  are  rapidly 
increasing  in  numbers. 

SECTION   XL VIII. — THE    CHURCH   IN   AUSTRIA   AND   BAVARIA. 

The  Church  in  Austria  under  Leopold  II. — Under  Francis  II. — Peace  of 
Llineville — Secularization  of  Ecclesiastical  Estates— Dissolution  of  the 
Holy  Roman  Empire — Congress  of  Vienna — Holy  Alliance— Revival  of 
Religion—Francis  Joseph  I. — Concordat  of  1855 — Present  State  of  the 
Church — The  Church  in  Bavaria — Machinations  of  Secret  Societies — Order 
of  the  lUuminati — Trials  under  Maximilian  Joseph  I. — Concordat  of  1817 — 
Religious  Revival  under  Louis  I. — Present  State  of  the  Church. 

159.  In  Austria  the  Josephist  system  as  a  whole  continued  in 
force,  although  some  of  the  tyrannical  laws  which  oppressed  the 
Church  were  repealed  under  Emperor  Leopold  II.  (A.  D.  1790-1792.) 
It  showed  itself  especially  in  the  school-laws,  which  subjected  the 
whole  system  of  education,  the  education  of  the  clergy  included,  to 
the  control  of  the  State,  as  well  as  in  the  vexatious  tyranny  of 
bureaucracy,  to  which  the  clergy,  even  in  matters  purely  ecclesiastical, 
were  compelled  to  submit.  Unfortunately  for  the  cause  of  religious 
liberty,  the  indifference  and  inactivity  of  the  episcopate  helped  to 
perpetuate  a  system  which  inflicted  such  deep  wounds  on  the  Austrian 
Church.  They  seemed  to  have  lacked  the  true  understanding  of  the 
evils  that  necessarily  result  from  the  subjugation  of  the  Church  to  the 


TEE  CHURCH  IN  AUSTRIA  ANB  BAVARIA.  681 

civil  power,  and  displayed  a  want  of  energy  and  resolution  so  neces« 
sary  for  the  upholding  of  the  rights  of  religion. 

160.  The  many  calamities  which  befell  the  Empire  under  the  ad- 
ministration of  Francis  II.,  (1792-1823),  were  attended  with  great  loss 
of  property  on  the  part  of  the  Church  in  Germany.  By  the  ''  Peace  of 
Luneville,'^  in  1801,  Germany  was  forced  to  cede  the  right  bank  of  the 
Rhine  to  France.  The  result  of  this  operation  was  the  great  Secular- 
ization,  which  took  place  in  1803,  when  nearly  all  the  ecclesiastical 
estates,  the  bishoprics,  abbeys,  and  monasteries  within  the  confines  of 
the  Empire  were  apportioned  among  the  German  princes,  as  indemnity 
for  the  losses  they  had  sustained.  The  protest  of  Pius  VII.  against 
these  disgraceful  transactions,  called  the  *'  Enactments  of  the  Delegates 
of  the  Empire,"  was  of  no  purpose. 

161.  During  the  war  with  France,  so  disastrous  for  Austria,  many 
of  the  German  princes  allied  themselves  with  Napoleon  Bonaparte, 
and  dissolving  their  union  with  the  Germanic  Empire,  formed  under 
his  protectorate  what  is  known  in  history  as  the  "  Confederation  of  the 
Rhine."  Francis  II.,  in  consequence,  was  obliged  to  renounce  the 
imperial  crown  of  Germany,  and  took,  instead,  the  title  of  Emperor  of 
Austria.  (1806.)  By  this  proceeding  the  Holy  Roman  Empire  of  the 
German  IS^ation  ceased  to  exist,  even  in  name,  after  it  had  continued 
for  more  than  five  centuries  in  the  Hapsburg  family. 

162.  After  the  defeat  of  Napoleon,  the  Congress  of  Vienna,  (1814- 
1815),  undertook  to  settle  the  affairs  of  Europe,  and  place  the  new 
order  of  things  on  a  firm  foundation.  The  arrangements,  Ijowever, 
made  at  Vienna,  were,  by  no  means,  in  accordance  with  the  claims  of 
justice  or  the  true  wants  of  the  people.  Irrespective  of  all  historical 
rights,  the  conquered  and  vacated  lands  were  divided  among  the 
successful  allies,  instead  of  being  restored  to  their  rightful  owners. 
Toward  the  Church  the  Treaty  of  Vienna  was  a  shameful  robbery. 
The  Pope  was  deprived  of  portions  of  his  territory  without  compensa- 
tion, and  the  Spiritual  Estates  in  Austria  and  Germany  remained 
secularized,  mostly  in  the  hands  of  Protestant  Princes.  Cardinal 
Consalvj,  the  Papal  Legate,  strove  hard  against  this  spoliation  of  the 
Church,  but  without  success. 

163.  Before  their  departure  from  Paris,  (1815),  the  three  allied 
monarchs  of  Russia,  Austria,  and  Prussia  concluded  a  treaty  known 
as  the  Holy  Alliance,  which  was  subsequently  joined  by  all  the 
Christian  sovereigns  of  Europe,  except  the  Pope  and  the  king  of 
England.  In  this  Holy  Alliance,  in  which  European  Christendom 
was  regarded  as  forming  one  single  family,  the  three  potentates  were 
to  remain  in  a  bond  of  perpetual  fraternity,  to  give  each  other  help 


€82  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

and  assistance,  to  govern  their  people  like  fathers  of  families,  and  to 
maintain  religion,  peace,  and  justice.  The  Holy  Alliance,  beautiful 
in  theory,  was  soon  made  the  instrument  of  a  faithless  and  despotic 
policy,  from  which  the  Church  had  to  suffer  most.  It  made  use  of 
Christianity  only  to  establish  the  absolutism  of  princes  and  the 
omnipotence  of  civil  governments. 

164.  During  the  reign  of  Francis  II.,  the  Church  witnessed  a 
revival  of  religious  life  in  Austria,  notwithstanding  the  vexatious  and 
tyrannical  laws  which  hampered  its  free  action.  The  Emperor  him- 
self was  devoted  to  the  Church,  and  contributed  powerfully  to  this 
revival.  The  Bishops  enjoyed  a  larger  measure  of  influence  in  the 
education  of  youth  and  the  clergy.  In  the  appointment  of  bishops 
the  Emperor  was  careful  to  select  only  men  of  virtue  and  ability.  To 
promote  the  growth  of  faith  among  his  subjects,  he  invited  the  Jesuits 
and  Redemptorists  to  return,  granting  them  permission  to  establish 
themselves  in  the  principal  towns  of  his  Empire. 

165.  Since  the  accession  of  Francis  Joseph  I.,  in  1848,  Catholic 
life  in  Austria  has  received  a  new  and  powerful  impulse.  Scarcely  had 
the  troubles  of  the  first  years  of  his  reign  subsided,  when  the  youthful 
Emperor  resolved  to  remove  the  restraints  which  hampered  the  free 
action  of  the  Church.  Renouncing  the  false  principles  of  Josephism, 
which  had  been  productive  of  nothing  but  evil  to  both  Church  and 
State,  he  concluded  a  concordat  with  the  Holy  See,  in  1855,  by  which 
the  ecclesiastical  affairs  of  Austria  were  definitely  settled. 

166.  By  the  Concordat  the  Placetum  regiwn  was  abolished,  and 
so  papal  documents  and  episcopal  ordinances  stand  in  need  of  no 
official  authorization.  The  instruction  of  Catholic  youth,  especially 
their  religious  education,  as  well  in  private  as  in  public  schools  and 
institutions,  is  under  the  supervision  of  the  bishops  ;  without  their 
approval  no  one  can  teach  Catholic  theology  or  catechism  in  any 
school  or  institution  whatever.  For  the  Catholic  youth,  only  Catholic 
teachers  or  professors  can  be  appointed.  Bishops  can  conduct  the 
clerical  seminaries  according  to  the  rules  laid  down  in  canon  law. 
Although  modern  Liberalism  has  since  made  repeated  attempts  to 
again  usurp  authority  over  ecclesiastical  matters,  and  succeeded  even 
in  having  the  Concordat  abolished,  (1870),  the  Church  in  Austria  has 
proved  too  strong  to  submit  to  fresh  encroachments. 

167.  Though  the  Catholic  religion  is  the  state  religion  of  Austria, 
all  other  religious  denominations  are  fully  tolerated,  and  civil  disquali- 
fications do  not  attach  to  any  of  them.  There  are  in  Austro-Hungary 
eleven  archbishoprics  and  forty-two  bishoprics  of  the  Latin  rite,  while 
the  Armenian  and  Greek  Catholics  have,  the  former  one  archbishop. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  AUSTRIA  AND  BAVARIA.  683 

and  the  latter  two  archbishops  and  seven  bishops.  There  are,  besides, 
one  metropolitan  and  three  suffragan  sees  which  belong  to  the 
Ruthenian  Catholic  Church  of  Austria.  The  Catholics,  including 
the  Greeks  and  other  Oriental  Christians  in  union  with  Rome,  number 
about  28,000,000  ;  the  Protestants  of  all  denominations  are  estimated 
at  3,500^000,  and  the  Greek  schismatics  at  3,000,000,  under  two  arch- 
bishops and  seven  bishops. 

168.  Infidel  doctrines  had  met  a  favorable  reception  also  in 
Germany.  The  perusal  of  the  writings  of  the  French  philosophers 
had  perverted  numbers,  especially  among  the  ^'  upper  "  classes,  to 
their  opinions.  Philosophers  like  Kant  (d.  1804)  and  Fichte  (d.  1814) 
destroyed  the  faith  in  the  hearts  of  many  of  their  disciples.  Besides 
this  anti-Christian  tendency  on  the  part  of  learning,  other  circum- 
stances were  at  work  in  undermining  religion  and  social  order  in 
Germany.  Few  countries  have  been  so  infected  with  the  false 
teachings  of  the  infidel  philosophers,  and  have  suffered  so  much  from 
the  machinations  of  secret  societies,  particularly  the  Illuminati,  '  as 
Bavaria. 

169.  Under  the  reign  of  Elector  Maximilian  Joseph  I.  (1799- 
1825)  the  Church  was  sorely  tried,  which  was  owing  chiefly  to  the 
pernicious  influence  of  Montgelas,  the  prime  minister.  Laws  were 
enacted  curtailing  freedom  of  worship  ;  religious  foundations  were 
secularized,  and  some  four  hundred  convents  were  closed  and  de- 
spoiled. Maximilian,  who,  in  1805,  was  raised  by  Napoleon  to  the 
rank  of  king,  soon  saw  the  necessity  of  co-operating  with  the  Holy 
See  in  healing  the  wounds  which  his  government  had  dealt  the 
Church.  He  removed  his  obnoxious  minister  and,  in  181 7,  entered 
into  a  concordat  with  Pius  VII.,  for  the  arrangement  of  ecclesiastical 
affairs  in  his  kingdom.  Nothwithstanding,  however,  that  the  Pope 
had  made  very  ample  concessions,  the  principal  terms  of  the  concordat 
were  rendered  ineffective  by  a  civil  constitution,  which  was  at 
variance  with  the  liberty  and  prescriptions  of  the  Church. 

170.  King  Louis  I.  (1825-1848),  himself  a  devoted  Catholic,  did 
all  he  could  to  redress  the  evils  which  afflicted  the  Church  in  Bavaria. 
During  his  reign  religion  witnessed  a  grand  revival,  notwithstanding 
the  partial  and  tyrannical  interference  of  the  government  in  ecclesias- 
tical matters.     The  different  episcopal  sees  were  filled  with  able  and 

*  The  Order  of  the  Illuminate  or  "  Enlightened  Reasoners,"  owed  Its  existence  to  Adam 
Weishaupt,  professor  of  Canon  Law  at  Ingolstadt,  Bavaria.  Filled  with  a  great  aversion  for  the 
Jesuits  and  the  Christian  religion  in  general,  he  conceived  the  idea  of  forming  an  association  which 
should  labor  for  the  establishment  of  the  dominion  of  reason  and  the  spread  of  republican  opinions. 
The  designs  of  the  Illuminati,  which  were  hostile  both  to  the  Church  and  the  State,  some  time  after 
were  discovered,  when  their  order  was  suppressed  and  Weishaupt  banished  by  the  Elector. 


684  TEE  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CHURCH. 

zealous  pastors,  the  most  noteworthy  of  whom  were  Sailer,  Wittmann, 
and  Schwabl  of  Ratisbon  ;  Weiss  of  Spire  ;  Stahl  of  Wiirzburg,  and 
Reisach  of  Eichstadt.  Bishops  were  again  allowed  the  fullest  freedom 
in  their  communication  with  the  Holy  See.  Conformably  to  his 
royal  promise,  Louis  re-opened  seminaries  for  the  education  of  can- 
didates for  the  priesthood  and  re-instated  the  Franciscans,  Carmelites, 
Benedictines,  and  other  religious  orders  that  had  been  suppressed 
under  the  preceding  reign.  In  1837,  when  the  Church  in  Prussia  was 
persecuted  by  the  imprisonment  of  the  famous  Archbishop  of  Cologne, 
von  Droste  Vischering,  the  magnanimous  monarch  pleaded  in  favor 
of  the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  Church  in  Germany. 

171.  King  Louis  distinguished  himself  by  his  patronage  of  letters 
and  the  arts  ;  he  was  the  friend  and  patron  of  such  eminent  Catholic 
writers  as  Gorres,  Mohler,  Philips,  Klee,  Dollinger,  and  Reithmayr. 
He  also  contributed  largely  to  the  restoration  and  completion  of  cathe- 
drals, the  erection  of  magnificent  churches,  and  the  construction  of 
many  public  works  and  monuments. 

172.  The  course  which  the  Bavarian  Government  has  been  pur- 
suing since  the  abdication  of  the  noble-minded  Louis  I.,  in  1848,  was 
anything  but  favorable  to  the  Catholic  cause.  Infringements  of  the 
Concordat  are  of  frequent  occurrence  ;  the  rights  of  the  Church  are 
systematically  disregarded,  especially  in  regard  to  the  education  of  the 
clergy.  The  state,  claiming  the  right  of  controlling  even  theological 
teaching,  does  not  allow  the  establishment  of  independent  theological 
institutions.  Much  disaffection  and  narrow  jealousy  on  the  part  of 
the  liberal  Government  is  shown  against  what  are  called  "  Ultramontane 
Principles,"  and  Catholic  professors  avowing  such  principles  are 
generally  neglected,  while  Protestant  or  Rationalistic  professors  are 
favored,  and  apostates  even  sustained  and  supported  in  their  resist- 
ance to  the  authority  of  the  Church.  Unfortunately,  there  is  a  large 
class  of  Catholics  in  Bavaria  who  tamely  acquiesce  in  the  abridge- 
ment of  the  rights  of  the  Church,  which  is  much  to  be  regretted. 

173.  The  Catholic  religion  is  professed  by  nearly  4,000,000, 
rather  more  than  seven  tenths  of  the  population  of  Bavaria.  But 
full  religious  liberty  is  granted  by  the  constitution,  and  the  Protes- 
tants of  the  various  denominations  number  about  1,400,000.  The 
kingdom  is  divided  into  two  archbishoprics,  those  of  Munich  and 
Bamberg,  and  six  bishoprics.  Of  the  three  universities  of  the  king- 
dom, two,  at  Munich  and  Wurzburg,  are  Catholic,  and  one,  at  Erlan- 
gen,  Protestant. 


THE  CHURCH  IX  SWITZERLAND  ASH  PROTESTANT  GERMANY.       685 

8ECTION     XLIX.      THE   CHURCH     IN   SWITZERLAND   AND   PROTESTANT     GERMANY. 

The  Church  in  Switzerland  after  the  Reformation — Effects  of  the  French  Rev- 
olution—Swiss  Bishoprics — Constitution  of  1815 — Hostility  of  the  Liberal 
Partj^ — "Articles  of  Conference'' — Intolerant  Proceedings — Alliance  of 
the  Catholic  Cantons — Civil  War — The  Church  in  Prussia — Frederick  II. — 
Frederick  William  III.— Catholics  denied  Civil  Rights  and  Religious 
Liberty — Archbishop  Clement  August— His  Imprisonment — Frederick. 
William  IV. — The  Church  in  Wurtemberg  and  other  German  States — 
Distinguished  Converts. 

174.  After  the  first  storms  of  the  Reformation  had  subsided,  the 
Catholic  and  Protestant  Cantons  of  Switzerland  guaranteed  to  each 
other  the  peaceful  enjoyment  of  their  religious  rights.  The  possessions 
of  the  Church,  her  institutions  and  monasteries,  were  respected  and 
secured  from  all  secular  interference.  Hence  it  is  that  we  hear  no 
more  of  religious  rivalries  and  disturbances  between  Catholic  and  Prot- 
estant Cantons,  although  Catholics  living  in  Protestant  districts 
continued  to  be  harassed  and  oppressed  on  account  of  their  religious 
belief.  This  system  of  mutual  toleration  lasted  till  the  occupation  of 
Switzerland  by  the  French,  in  1798,  which  was  followed  by  political 
anarchy  and  ecclesiastical  disorganization. 

175.  After  the  downfall  of  Napoleon,  Switzerland  regained  it& 
independence.  To  secure  the  interests  of  the  Church  in  that  country,. 
Pius  VII.,  at  the  request  of  the  Catholic  Cantons,  severed  its  con- 
nection with  the  Churches  of  France  and  Germany,  placing  all  the 
Swiss  bishoprics  under  the  immediate  jurisdiction  of  the  Holy  See. 
In  1823,  St.  Gall,  and  in  1828,  Basle  were  erected  into  episcopal  sees,, 
which  increased  the  number  of  bishoprics  to  five.  The  Constitution 
which  the  Federal  Assembly  adopted  ,  in  1815,  extended  equal  rights 
to  Catholics  and  Protestants.  The  existence  of  the  convents  and 
cathedral  chapters  was  guaranteed  by  a  special  article.  The  rights  of 
all  parties  being  respected,  the  relations  between  the  Catholic  and 
Protestant  Cantons  were  peaceful ;  the  Church  began  to  flourish,  and 
manifested  great  vigor  and  activity. 

176.  The  Swiss  Catholics,  however,  were  not  allowed  to  enjoy  long 
the  blessings  of  peace.  As  elsewhere,  so  in  Switzerland,  Modern 
Liberalism  proved  the  relentless  persecutor  of  the  Church.  Since 
the  year  1830,  an  attack  upon  Catholicism  was  preparing.  The 
infidel  newspapers,  in  the  interests  of  Freemasonry,  powerfully  aided 
the  movement,  and  lost  no  opportunity  of  throwing  contempt  upon 
the  Catholic  Church  and  her  institutions.  Blasphemous  and  sacrileg- 
ious writings,  and  immoral  and  libelous  pamphlets  against  the  Pope, 
the  Catholic  priesthood,  and  the  religious  orders  were  scattered  broad- 


686  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

cast  over  the  land.  Even  among  Catholics  a  party  arose,  who,  joining 
with  the  Liberals,  clamored  for  separation  from  the  Holy  See  and  for 
the  subjection  of  the  Church  to  the  State.  Under  the  rule  of 
Liberalism,  whose  aim  always  has  been  to  crush  all  who  do  not  believe 
its  doctrines,  and  especially  to  gag,  rob,  and,  if  it  were  possible, 
destroy  the  Church  of  God,  ^'  Free  Switzerland"  became  the  land  of 
religious  tyranny  and  persecution. 

177.  No  sooner  had  the  Liberals  gained  the  superiority,  than  they 
proceeded  to  enact  measures  destructive  of  the  liberty  of  conscience 
and  injuring  Catholics  in  their  most  sacred  rights.  In  1834,  the 
representatives  of  the  Protestant  Cantons  met  at  Baden,  and,  without 
any  regard  to  the  Constitution  and  existing  treaties,  drew  up  Articles 
of  Conference,  the  object  of  which  was  to  completely  subject  the 
Catholic  Church  to  the  control  of  the  state.  It  was  in  vain  that  Pope 
Gregory  XVI.  and  the  bishops  protested  against  the  Articles  as  con- 
trary to  the  rights  and  spirit  of  the  Church. 

178.  The  Liberal  party  continued  to  harass  the  Catholics,  and, 
whenever  an  opportunity  offered,  enacted  obnoxious  and  despotic  laws. 
One  encroachment  on  Catholic  freedom  succeeded  another,  until  at 
last  the  suppression  of  monasteries  in  the  Canton  of  Aargau  and  the 
general  attack  upon  the  Jesuits  and  their  flourishing  colleges  through- 
out the  Confederation  led  the  Catholic  Cantons — Lucerne,  Uri, 
Schwytz,  Unterwalden,  Zug,  Freiburg,  and  Valais — to  form,  in  1843, 
a  '^  special  confederation  " — the  Sonderlund — for  mutual  defence 
against  attacks  upon  their  faith  and  their  liberties. 

179.  The  Radicals,  having  the  majority  in  the  Federal  Diet,  pro- 
♦cured  a  resolution  dissolving  the  Catholic  Confederation  and  banishing 
the  Jesuits  from  all  Switzerland.  To  enforce  this  decree,  a  numerous 
army  was  collected  and  war  was  commenced  against  the  Catholic 
Cantons  which  resulted  in  the  defeat  of  the  latter.  The  Liberals  were 
not  slow  in  using  their  victory  against  the  Catholics,  who  were  obliged 
to  renounce  the  Sonderbund,  banish  the  Jesuits,  and  alter  the  cantonal 
government.  Some  forty  convents  were  suppressed;  Bishop  Marilley 
of  Lausanne  was  exiled,  and  a  new  constitution  was  drawn  up,  which 
ignored  the  ancient  guarantees  for  the  inviolability  of  the  monasteries 
and  other  Catholic  establishments. 

180.  The  ancient  rulers  of  Prussia,  by  early  adopting  Protestant- 
ism, acquired  a  very  important  position  as  leaders  of  the  new  faith  in 
Northern  Germany.  Clinging  to  the  preposterous  idea  that  they  were 
the  '*  Chief  Bishops  '^  over  all  their  subjects,  they  claimed  the  right  of 
regulating  also  the  affairs  of  the  Catholic  Church.  Under  Frederick 
William,   the    '^  Great    Elector,"    (1640-1688),  and   his    immediate 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SWITZERLAND  AND  PROTESTANT  GERMANY.      687 

successors,  the  attempt  was  repeatedly  made  to  sever  the  connection  of 
the  Catholics  in  Prussia  with  Rome  and  place  over  them  some  ecclesi- 
astic to  whom  the  ruler  might  delegate  his  pretended  ''  episcopal " 
rights.  These  efforts  to  reduce  the  Catholic  Church  in  Prussia,  like 
the  Lutheran,  to  a  mere  state  institution,  was  persevered  in  also  by 
Frederick  II.,  called  the  Great. 

181.  This  prince  (1740-1786),  a  rank  infidel  and  blaspheming 
scoffer,  who  looked  upon  religion  as  the  invention  of  interested 
hypocrites  and  artful  statesmen,  tolerated,  indeed,  every  form  of  creed, 
from  mere  indifference,  but  encouraged  still  more  contempt  of 
religion.  His  court  was  a  seat  of  irreligion  and  a  school  of  impiety. 
While  he  tolerated  all  other  religions,  he  oppressed  the  Catholic 
Church,  denying  her  every  free  movement.  He  suppressed  a  number 
of  convents,  excluded  Catholics  from  public  offices,  and  prevented  the 
free  election  of  bishops..  His  famous  saying  :  ''In  my  states  one  may 
go  to  heaven  as  he  likes,"  was  but  a  meaningless  phrase. 

182.  Frederick  William  III.  (1797-1840)  pursued  the  same 
policy,  but  with  increased  rigor.  In  the  Treaty  of  Vienna,  which 
secured  to  Prussia  several  new  provinces  with  a  large  Catholic  popula- 
tion, it  had  been  expressly  stipulated  that  Catholics  and  Protestants 
should  in  every  respect  be  treated  alike  by  the  State.  While  Catholic 
Austria  and  Bavaria  labored  faithfully  to  carry  out  the  provisions  of 
this  agreement,  Prussia  turned  a  deaf  ear  to  the  just  demands  of  her 
Catholic  subjects.  A  concordat,  it  is  true,  was  signed  with  the  Holy 
See,  in  1821,  which  in  some  degree  bettered  the  condition  of  the 
Catholics  in  Prussia  ;  but  the  agreement  failed  to  free  the  Church 
from  the  oppression  of  a  government,  which,  by  every  means  in  its 
power,  sought  to  check  her  influence  and  to  extend  Protestantism  at 
the  expense    f  the  Catholic  religion. 

183.  The  Catholics  of  Prussia,  who  numbered  two  fifths  of  the 
entire  population,  continued  to  be  subjected  to  much  unfair  treatment. 
They  were  excluded  from  all  privileges.  The  highest  offices  of  state 
and  army  were  exclusively  filled  by  Protestants.  The  universities 
were  wholly  Protestant  or  controlled  by  Protestants,  and  funds 
originally  destined  for  the  maintenance  of  Catholic  institutions  were 
misappropriated.  Communication  with  Rome  was  restrained,  and 
episcopal  ordinances  were  subjected  to  the  inspection  of  the  civil 
power.  Many  Catholic  churches  were  closed  or  given  over  to  Protest- 
ants. In  Silesia  alone  no  less  than  one  hundred  and  fifty-three 
churches  were  taken  away  from  the  Catholics,  in  1833. 

184.  A  serious  difficulty  arose  between  the  Prussian  hierarchy  and 
the  Government  on  the  subject  of  mixed  marriages.     A  law  published 


688  BISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

for  Silesia  in  1803,  which  provided  that  the  children  of  mixed 
marriages  should  follow  the  religion  of  the  father,  was,  in  1825, 
extended  to  the  provinces  of  the  Rhine  and  Westphalia.  This  led 
Pius  VIII.  to  forbid  mixed  marriages,  when  the  promise  was  not 
given  that  the  children  of  either  sex  should  be  brought  up  Catholics. 
Notwithstanding  this.  Archbishop  von  Spiegel  of  Cologne  concluded 
with  the  Government  a  secret  convention,  by  which  he  sacrificed  the 
Catholic  education  clause,  promising  to  abide  by  the  regulations  of 
the  State. 

185.  Clement  August  von  Droste-Vischering,  the  new  archbishop 
of  Cologne,  however,  was  determined  to  follow  the  teachings  of  the 
Holy  See,  and  in  consequence,  in  1837,  was  arrested  and  thrown  into 
prison.  For  the  same  reason  Archbishop  Dunin  of  Poseii  was  ar- 
raigned and  condemned  to  imprisonment.  This  act  of  violence  on  the 
part  of  the  Prussian  Government  aroused  the  greatest  indignation 
throughout  Europe,  and  in  Germany  caused  a  reaction  in  favor  of  the 
Catholic  Church.  Gregory  XYI.,  in  an  allocution,  made  a  solemn 
protest  against  these  outrages.  The  celebrated  Joseph  Gcerres  also 
raised  his  powerful  voice  in  defence  of  violated  Catholic  rights. 

186.  These  events  in  Prussia  wrought  a  wonderful  religious  reyival 
in  all  Germany.  With  the  exception  of  Sedlnitzky,  Prince-Bishop  of 
Breslau,  who  resigned  his  see  and  died  a  Protestant  in  1871,  all  the 
bishops  of  Prussia,  even  those  who  had  once  been  of  a  different  mind, 
steadfastly  held  to  the  law  of  the  Church.  The  venerable  archbishop 
of  Cologne  remained  in  prison  until  1839,  when  he  was  released  and 
permitted  to  retire  to  Miinster.  Under  Frederick  William  IV.,  who 
ascended  the  throne  in  1840,  peace  was  gradually  restored  between  the 
Church  and  State.  Bishops  were  now  permitted  to  correspond  freely 
with  the  Holy  See.  A  royal  decree  of  1841  created  in  the  Ministry  of 
Worship  a  special  division  for  Catholic  affairs.  Reparation  was  made 
to  the  injured  archbishop  of  Cologne,  who,  to  avoid  complication, 
accepted,  in  the  person  of  John  von  Geissel,  a  coadjutor.  Clement 
August  died  in  1845. 

187.  In  the  kingdom  of  Wiirtemberg  the  Church  was  even  less 
free  and  more  sorely  pressed  than  in  Prussia.  The  Government,  ig- 
noring the  rights  of  bishops,  took  upon  itself  to  suppress  holidays  and 
enact  laws  regulating  worship  ;  it  claimed  even  the  right  of  appoint- 
ing to  ecclesiastical  benefices.  The  royal  Placet  was  made  requisite  for 
all  ecclesiastical  decrees;  even  dispensations  from  fasting  and  impedi- 
ments to  marriage  were  subjected  to  the  supervision  of  the  civil  power. 
Religious  orders  were  proscribed,  and  their  property  was  confiscated. 
Catholic  education  was   tampered  with;    Protestant  or  rationalistic 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SWITZERLAND  AND  PROTESTANT  GERMANY.      689 

professors  were  favored,  while  orthodox  professors,  who  had  the  cour- 
age to  defend  Catholicism  against  Protestantism  and  modern  Liberal- 
ism, were  retired  by  the  Government. 

188.  In  the  Grand  Duchies  of  Baden  and  Hesse,  and  other  Prot- 
estant states  of  Germany,  the  condition  of  the  Church  was  no  better. 
Owing  to  the  vexatious  tyranny  of  the  State,  which  employed  its  power 
in  checking  the  authority  of  bishops  and  the  influence  of  the  clergy, 
as  well  as  to  the  unworthy  conduct  of  Wessenberg  and  other  liberalis- 
tic  ecclesiastics  who  were  at  the  head  of  affairs,  the  Catholic  Church 
was  reduced  to  a  state  of  deep  degradation.  Catholics,  who  formed  two 
fifths  of  the  entire  population,  had  almost  lost  courage. 

189.  In  1818,  the  Governments  of  Wiirtemberg,  Baden,  Hesse, 
Nassau,  and  other  German  states  appointed  representatives  who,  meet- 
ing at  Frankfort,  drew  up  a  "  Declaration  of  Protestant  Princes  and 
States  united  in  the  Germanic  Confederation/'  the  object  of  which 
was  to  secure  greater  concessions  from  the  Holy  See  with  a  view  of  esr 
tablishing  a  *^  National  Catholic  Church  in  Germany."  The  scheme 
was  unsuccessful,  but  the  result  of  the  negotiations  carried  on  with  the 
Holy  See  was  the  publication  of  a  Bull  by  Pius  VII.,  in  1821,  which 
provided  for  the  establishment  of  the  archbishopric  of  Freiburg,  and 
the  suffragan  sees  of  Rottenburg,  Mentz,  Fulda,  and  Limburg.  The 
divisions  of  these  dioceses  were  made  to  correspond  with  the  boundaries 
of  the  various  states. 

190.  In  the  former  kingdom  of  Hanover,  now  incorporated  with 
Prussia,  ecclesiastical  affairs  were  regulated,  under  Leo  XII.,  by  a  con- 
cordat, which  provided  for  the  erection  of  the  two  bishoprics  Hildes- 
heim  and  Osnabriick.  In  Saxony,  where  the  vast  majority  of  the 
population  are  Protestants,  the  royal  family.  Catholic  since  the  year 
of  1697,  has  done  what  it  could  to  protect  and  promote  the  interests 
of  the  Catholic  Church. 

191.  Notwithstanding  the  many  trials  which  the  Catholics  were 
subjected  to  in  Protestant  Germany,  they  adhered  loyally  to  their 
faith  and  lost  none  of  their  love  and  reverence  for  the  Church.  Con- 
trary to  what  had  been  anticipated,  the  persecution  served  only  to  pro- 
duce the  opposite  effect.  Men  arose  who  ardently  espoused  and  bravely 
defended  the  cause  of  the  oppressed  Church.  Numbers  of  Protestants, 
many  of  them  persons  of  rank  and  learning,  like  Count  Leopold  von 
Stolberg,  Frederic  von  Schlegel,  Karl  Ludwig  von  Haller,  the  histori- 
an. August  Gfrorer,  the  Duke  and  Duchess  of  Anhalt-Kothen,  and  many 
others,  returned  to  the  true  faith. 


690  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

SECTION  L.— OPPRESSION  OP  THE  CATHOLICS  IN  PRUSSIA  AND  SWITZERLAND. — ThB 

"  KULTURKAMPP.  " 

Effects  of  the  Revolution  of  1848— The  German  Episcopate — Catholicity  flour- 
ishiiig  in  Prussia — The  "  Kulturkampf  "—Begun  under  a  double  Pretext — 
First  Legislative  Acts  against  the  Church — Suppression  of  Religious  Orders 
— "  May  Laws" — The  "  Centre  Party  " — Action  of  the  German  Episcopate 
— Of  the  Pope — Imprisonment  of  Bishops  and  Priests — Gallant  Resistance 
of  the  Catholic  Laity — Further  Measures  of  Oppression — Disastrous  Effects 
of  the  Persecution — Negotiations  with  Rome — End  of  the  ''  Kulturkampf* 
—Oppression  of  the  Catholics  in  Switzerland — Attempts  of  the  Old  Cath- 
olics—Banishment of  Bishops — Suppression  of  Religious  Orders— End  of 
the  Conflict. 

192.  The  year  1848  forms  an  era  in  the  modern  history  of  Europe. 
The  insurrectionary  tumults  and  subversion  of  government  in  France^ 
Italy,  Austria,  and  the  various  states  of  Germany,  all  occurring  simul- 
taneously, mark  that  year  as  one  of  the  most  memorable  in  European 
history.  These  popular  commotions,  though  political  in  their  origin, 
were  not  without  their  influence  upon  the  Church.  One  of  the  effects 
of  the  Revolution  of  1848  was  to  sweep  away  a  whole  host  of  vexa- 
tious and  tyrannical  laws  which  till  then  oppressed  the  Church,, 
especially  in  Germany,  and  hampered  its  free  movement. 

193.  During  the  political  disturbances  then  going  on,  the  German 
episcopate,  at  the  invitation  of  Archbishop  Von  Geissel  of  Cologne,  met 
at  Wiirzburg  to  deliberate  on  the  affairs  and  needs  of  the  Church  in 
Germany,  and  lay  down  the  principles  of  ecclesiastical  liberty.  In  the 
memorial  which  they  addressed  to  the  German  sovereigns,  the  bishops 
warned  the  Governments  of  the  coming  dangers,  and  declared  that 
they  were  powerless  to  stem  the  tide  of  revolution  and  anarchy,  so  long 
as  they  were  denied  the  free  exercise  of  their  episcopal  duties. 
They  demanded  the  fullest  freedom  in  the  matter  of  education  and  in- 
struction, and  asserted  the  right  of  the  Church  to  direct  its  own  affairs, 
as  well  as  the  right  of  Catholics  to  communicate  freely  with  their 
spiritual  superiors. 

194.  Fortunately,  the  voice  of  the  German  episcopate  was  listened 
to,  especially  in  Prussia,  where  the  rights  of  the  Catholic  Church  re- 
ceived a  fair  recognition.  The  new  constitution  of  1848  recognized 
the  independence  and  confirmed  the  liberties  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
putting  her  on  an  equality  with  the  Evangelical  Church  and  other 
religious  denominations  acknowledged  by  the  state.  In  no  part  of 
Europe  was  the  Church  more  free  and  better  organized,  and  nowhere 
did  she  display  such  wonderful  activity  as  was  manifested  by  her  in 
Prussia  since  1848.     The  clergy,  stimulated  by  the  example  of  their 


r- 


OPFEESSION  OF  CATHOLICS  7iV  PBUSSIA  AND  SWITZERLAND.      691 

bishops,  showed  the  most  praiseworthy  zeal.  Convents  and  monasteries 
were  established  all  over  the  country;  scientific  associations  were 
formed;  and  newspapers  and  reviews  were  founded  in  which  Catholic 
interests  were  ably  defended.  Especially  deserving  of  mention  is  the 
open  and  courageous  manner  in  which  so  many  laymen  of  the  highest 
position  bore  witness  to  their  faith,  and  the  great  devotion  which  they 
at  all  times  manifested  towards  the  Holy  See. 

195.  Protestantism  and  infidelity  viewed  with  alarm  the  growing 
power  of  Catholicism.  To  stay  the  advancement  of  the  Church,  the 
Prussian  Government,  entering  into  an  alliance  with  the  National 
Liberal  party,  the  inveterate  foe  of  religious  independence,  initiated  a 
persecution  unexampled  in  modern  Europe.  The  first  step  in  the 
warfare  against  Rome,  or  the  "  Kulturkampf  ^' '  as  its  chief  promoter 
was  pleased  to  call  it,  was  the  suppression,  in  July,  1871,  of  the 
Catholic  division  of  the  Ministry  of  Public  Worship.  All  matters 
relating  to  the  Catholic  Church  were  henceforward  to  be  transacted 
by  the  regular  officials  of  that  department,  who  were  all  Lutherans. 

196.  To  check  the  influence  of  the  clergy  in  the  schools,  a  law 
was  enacted  which  handed  over  to  the  state  the  control  over  all 
educational  establishments  of  every  kind,  whether  private  or  public. 
In  rapid  succession  Catholic  schools  were  placed  under  Protestant 
inspectors,  and  a  Protestant  dictatorship  was  thus  established  over 
Catholic  education.  Another  law  ''  On  the  Abuse  of  the  Pulpit " 
{Kmizelparagraph)  curtailed  freedom  of  worship.  Every  expression 
of  disapproval  of  Government  measures  by  the  clergy  was  to  be  severely 
and  instantly  punished. 

197.  Next  came  the  declaration  of  war  against  the  religious 
orders.  In  June,  1872,  the  Reichstag  passed  a  law  prohibiting  the 
Society  of  Jesus  and  other  ''  affiliated  orders  "  throughout  the  whole 
extent  of  the  German  Empire.  Not  only  the  Jesuits  were  ruthlessly 
driven  out  of  the  country,  but  also  the  Redemptorists,  Lazarists, 
Barnabites,  Theatines,  Christian  Brothers,  Sisters  of  the  Sacred  Heart, 
Ursulines,  and  other  religious  orders  and  congregations,  whose  only 
crime  was  that  they  devoted  themselves  to  the  education  of  Catholic 
youth  and  the  instruction  of  the  people.  The  Prussian  Ministry  went 
so  far  as  to  interdict  the  '^Association  of  Prayer'^  and  devotions  to 
the  '^  Sacred  Heart  of  Jesus."  In  vain  did  the  bishops  of  Germany, 
who  met  at  Fulda,  in  September,  remonstrate  against  these  outrages, 
insisting  upon  the  freedom  and  independence  of  the  religious  orders. 
Pius  IX.    also  raised  his  voice  in  behalf  of    persecuted  innocence, 

»  The  reader  will  find  an  interesting  account  of   "  The  Prussian  Kulturkampf,  by  a  German ' 
Statesman  "  In  the  Dublin  Review  of  1879  and  1880,  which  has  been  consulted. 


692  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

exposing,  in  his  allocution  on  the  eve  of  Christmas,  the  had  faith  of 
Prussia  and  the  cruelty  of  its  recent  acts  of  suppression. 

198.  But  further  measures  of  persecution  were  announced.  In 
Spring  of  1873,  Dr.  Falk,  the  new  Minister  of  Public  Worship, 
introduced  into  the  Prussian  Landtag  a  series  of  bills,  known  after- 
wards as  the  May  Latvs,  ^  which  purported  to  regulate  the  relations 
of  Church  and  State,  but  in  reality  aimed  at  the  complete  dissolution 
of  the  Catholic  Church  in  Prussia.  They  provided  for  the  training  of 
a  ^' liberal  and  national,''  rather  than  "Ultramontane"  clergy,  and 
for  an  entirely  new  system  of  appointment,  removal,  and  deposition 
of  ecclesiastics ;  and  contained,  besides,  a  whole  series  of  penal 
enactments  for  the  enforcement  of  these  laws. 

199.  In  particular,  the  May  Laws  enacted  that  all  ecclesiastical 
establishments  for  the  training  of  the  clergy  should  be  placed  under 
state  control ;  that  candidates  for  the  priesthood  should  be  examined 
as  to  fitness  for  their  vocation  in  the  usual  subjects  of  a  liberal 
education  by  commissioners  of  the  state  ;  that  the  state  should  have 
the  right  to  confirm  or  protest  against  the  appointment,  as  well  as 
the  removal,  of  all  clergymen  ;  that  the  application  of  ecclesiastical 
censures  and  penalties  should  be  subject  to  the  approval  of  the 
Government ;  lastly,  that  the  State  was  to  have  the  right  to  punish 
resistance  to  these  measures  with  fines  and  imprisonment.  With  the 
view  of  compelling  the  clergy  to  bend  completely  to  State  supremacy, 
the  "Royal  Ecclesiastical  Court"  was  established,  which  was 
empowered  to  receive  appeals  against  the  decisions  of  bishops  and  to 
dismiss  every  ecclesiastic,  be  he  priest  or  bishop,  from  his  office, 
*'  whenever  his  presence  shall  have  become  incompatible  with  public 
order.'* 

200.  The  Centrum,  in  the  name  of  the  Catholics,  protested 
vigorously  against  the  new  laws  which  aimed  at  Protestantizing 
the  Catholic  Church  in  Prussia.  When  they  appealed  to  the  existing 
statutes  of  the  Prussian  Constitution,  of  which  these  laws  formed  the 
most  glaring  violation,  those  statutes,  on  motion  of  the  Government, 
were  immediately  repealed.  The  Bishops  of  Prussia,  in  their  address  to 
the  Ministry  (May  26,  1873),  declared  that  they  could  not  obey  the 
laws  in  question,  they  being  "  an  assault  upon  the  liberties  and  rights 
of  the  Church  of  God."  Pope  Pius  IX.  addressed  a  strong  autograph 
letter  of  remonstrance  to  the  Emperor  William. 

1  May  Laws :  so  called,  because  they  were  passed  In  the  month  of  May,  althouj?h  in  different  years. 
The  Bishops  of  Prussia,  In  their  Pastoral  Letter,  Issued  at  Fulda,  In  May  1873,  reduced  the  conse- 
quences of  these  laws  to  the  following?:  "  Separation  of  the  bishops  from  the  visible  head  of  the 
Church;  alienation  of  the  clergy  and  people  from  their  lawful  pastors ;  severance  of  the  faithful  in 
Prussia  from  the  universal  Church ;  and  utter  destruction  of  the  divine  organization  of  the  Church." 


OPPRESSION   OF  CATHOLICS  IN  PRUSSIA  AND  SWITZERLAND.    693 

201.  The  new  laws,  however,  having  received  the  royal  sanction, 
began  to  be  rigidly  enforced.  Bishops  and  priests  who  refused 
obedience  to  what  were  universally  regarded  as  iniquitous  and 
unjust  enactments,  were  fined,  imprisoned,  or  exiled.  Archbishops 
Ledochowski  of  Posen  and  Melchers  of  Cologne  were  amoilg  the 
first  arrested  and  imprisoned.  Other  distinguished  victims  of  Prus- 
sian persecution  were  the  Bishops  of  Treves,  Miinster,  Paderborn, 
and  Breslau.  Their  sees  were  declared  vacant  by  the  Govern- 
ment, and  the  chapters  were  called  upon  to  elect  successors  to  them. 
When  this  was  refused,  crushing  fines  were  inflicted  on  the  recusant 
canons  ;  in  some  instances  they  were  sentenced  to  imprisonment.  On 
the  other  hand,  professors  and  such  of  the  clergy  as  had  joined  the 
Old-Catholic  movement  were  maintained  in  their  office,  despite  the 
interdict  and  suspension  of  their  bishop. 

202.  All  through,  from  the  commencement,  the  Catholic  laity 
backed  their  clergy,  and  not  a  single  parish  has  been  found  want- 
ing in  obedience  to  the  Church.  On  every  occasion  the  Catholics 
of  Prussia  vigorously  protested  against  the  interference  of  the  State  in 
religious  affairs,  and  by  their  admirable  union  and  activity  defied  the 
nefarious  efforts  of  their  enemies.  Under  the  able  leadership  of  Dr. 
Windhorst,  political  associations  were  formed  over  the  whole  empire, 
and  in  the  elections  of  1874  the  number  of  Catholic  representatives  was 
increased  in  the  Prussian  Landtag  from  52  to  89,  and  in  the  Reichstag 
from  63  to  105. 

203.  This  firmness  of  the  Catholic  population  startled  the  Govern- 
ment, which  was  forced  even  now  to  acknowledge  its  mistake.  But 
passion  predominated  over  reason  and,  rather  than  give  up,  the  Prussian 
Ministry,  for  a  time,  had  recourse  to  still  harsher  measures.  The 
laws  passed  in  1873  being  found  inadequate  to  cope  with  the  opposition 
of  the  Catholic  clergy  and  people,  additional  penal  statutes  were 
enacted  in  the  years  1874,  1875,  and  1876.  The  worst  of  these  were 
'^  An  Act  for  the  Prevention  of  the  Unauthorized  Exercise  of  Eccle- 
siastical Duties,"  passed  in  May,  1874,  which  empowered  each  separate 
State  to  banish  obnoxious  priests  from  specified  districts  or  from 
Germany  altogether  at  a  moment^s  notice  ;  and  the  so-called  ^'  Bread- 
basket Law,"  of  April  22,  1875,  by  which  support  from  the  State  was 
denied  to  all  ecclesiastics  who  refused  to  promise  submission  to  the 
new  politico-religious  laws.  Another  law  admitted  "  Old  Catholics  " 
to  a  share  in  the  revenues  of  Catholic  parishes. 

204.  The  result  of  the  notorious  ''  May-laws  "  may  well  be  imag- 
ined. Hundreds  of  faithful  priests  were  imprisoned  or  made 
homeless,  being  driven  out   of   their  houses  and   their  country   for 


CDi  BISTORT  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

having  exercised  the  most  ordinary  acts  of  administration  without 
permission  from  the  government.  In  quite  a  number  of  instances 
Catholics  were  deprived  of  their  churches,  which  were  turned  over  to  a 
handful  of  Old  Catholics.  At  Wiesbaden  two  hundred  Old  Catholics 
obtained  possession  of  a  large  parish  church  to  which  twenty  thousand 
Catholics  belonged.  It  was  a  sore  trial  for  the  bereaved  Catholics  to 
see  their  places  of  worship  profaned  by  innumerable  sacrileges.  The 
next  act  of  tyranny  was  the  expulsion  of  some  nine  thousand  religious, 
about  eight  thousand  of  whom  were  women,  in  accordance  with  afresh 
law,  passed  May  31,  1875,  which  suppressed  all  existing  religious  or- 
ders and  congregations  and  interdicted  all  future  foundations  of  the 
same  in  Prussia. 

205.  The  conflict  continued  from  1873  to  1878  without  any  sign 
indicating  a  prospect  of  change  on  the  part  of  the  Government.  The 
danger  menacing  the  Church  in  Prussia  was  indeed  great,  the  rigid  en- 
forcement of  the  new  ecclesiastical  laws  working  devastation  and 
destruction  in  every  direction.  The  Church  mourned  over  dioceses 
without  bishops,  over  parishes  without  priests,  over  the  closing  of  all 
seminaries  and  educational  institutions,  and  over  the  suppression  of 
nearly  all  religious  orders  and  congregations  throughout  the  kingdom. 
In  1878,  all  episcopal  sees,  except  three,  had  become  vacant  by  death, 
or  were  deprived  of  their  bishops  by  exile  or  imprisonment,  while 
hundreds  of  parishes  were  without  priests.  Spiritual  destitution  in 
consequence  became  appalling.  Hundreds  of  thousands  of  Catholics, 
were  deprived  of  the  consolations  of  religion,  and  many  hundreds  even 
left  to  die  without  the  last  sacraments. 

206.  On  the  other  hand,  the  oppressors  suffered  fully  as  much, 
if  not  more,  than  the  oppressed.  The  terrible  evil  of  Socialism,  which,. 
up  to  the  year  1860,  hardly  existed  in  Germany,  was  spreading  with 
alarming  rapidity,  and  its  influence,  especially  among  the  working 
classes,  was  enormous.  This,  it  would  seem,  at  length  convinced  the 
Prussian  Government  that  waging  war  against  the  Church  was. 
not  the  way  to  increase  reverence  for  sovereign  authority,  but  the 
means  to  spread  anarchy  and  revolution.  Notwithstanding  the  violent 
assaults  of  the  Government  and  the  various  anti- Catholic  parties,  the 
Centrum,  under  the  lead  of  Dr.  Windhorst,  had  grown  in  strength  and 
influence ;  it  finally  held  the  balance  of  power  in  the  Prussian 
Landtag.  Dissensions  among  his  own  followers,  and  the  dangers 
threatening  the  State  from  Socialism  drove  Prince  Bismarck,  the 
prime-minister  of  Prussia,  to  seek  an  alliance  with  the  Catholics. 

207.  Encouraged  by  the  conciliating  spirit  of  Pope  Leo  XIII., 
the  Prussian  Government  sent  an  ambassador  to  Rome  and  entered 


r 


OPPRESSION  OF  CATHOLICS  IN  PRUSSIA  AND  SWITZERLAND.      695 

into  negotiations  with  the  Vatican,  which  became  especially  active  in 
1880,  when  the  first  Catholic  Eelief  Act  was  passed.  Slowly  and 
gradually  Catholic  disqualifications  were  removed  by  the  partial 
abrogation  of  the  notorious  '^  May-laws, ^^  whose  author,  Dr.  Talk,  was 
compelled  to  resign  in  1879.  The  banished  bishops  and  clergy  were 
recalled,  and  finally,  in  May,  1886,  the  *'  May  Laws  Amendment 
Bill "  was  passed,  which  virtually  put  an  end  to  that  disastrous 
conflict,  called  the  ^'Kulturkampf.^' 

208.  The  Prussian  "  Kulturkampf  "  was  not  without  its  influence 
on  the  affairs  of  the  Church  in  other  countries.  The  counterpart  of  this 
*'  struggle  for  the  sake  of  civilization  ''  we  find  in  Switzerland.  The 
cruel  oppression  of  Catholics  in  that  country,  especially  in  the  Cantons 
of  Berne  and  Basle,  which  was  at  least  countenanced,  if  not  actually 
aroused,  by  the  Prussian  Ministry,  was  feut  a  repetition  and  re-enact- 
ment of  all  that  was  undertaken  in  Germany  against  the  Church. 
The  motives  of  persecution  in  both  instances  were  the  same  ;  so  were 
the  means  and  methods  employed  by  the  enemies  of  the  Church  of  the 
same  wily  and  intolerant  character.  On  the  other  hand,  the  fidelity 
and  resistance  of  the  Swiss  Catholics  to  State  oppression  was  quite  as 
determined  and  courageous  as  that  of  their  German  brethren. 

209.  At  the  first  "  Old  Catholic  "  Assembly  of  Olten,  in  1872, 
resolutions  were  proposed  and  carried  aiming  at  the  exclusion  of  the 
Pope  from  exercising  any  jurisdiction  within  the  Republic,  and  at  the 
complete  subjection  of  the  Church  under  the  civil  power.  The 
Governments  of  the  Cantons  were  asked  to  appoint  '^  liberal '' 
ecclesiastics  in  every  parish  ;  to  admit  foreign  bishops  to  perform 
episcopal  functions  in  Switzerland,  and  to  assist  in  the  establishment 
of  a  ^'  Democratic  "  and  ^*  National  ^^  Church. 

210.  The  sacrilegious  attempts  of  the  schismatics  were  powerfully 
supported  by  several  of  the  Cantons  and  by  the  Federal  Government 
of  Berne.  The  Council  of  Geneva  went  so  far  as  to  enact  laws  for  the 
regulation  of  Catholic  belief  and  worship.  On  the  refusal  of  the 
Catholics  to  submit  to  such  arbitrary  legislation,  their  churches  were 
seized  and  made  over  to  the  Old  Catholics.  The  teaching  orders  were 
driven  out ;  Bishop  Mermillod  was  expelled  ;  faithful  priests  who 
refused  to  take  the  oath  on  the  new  Church  laws  were  deposed,  and 
intruders  installed  in  their  places.  Any  Catholic  official  who  refused 
to  conform  to  the  new  order  of  things  was  dismissed.  In  Basle, 
Bishop  Lachat  was  banished,  and  all  Catholic  schools  were  ordered  to 
be  closed. 

211.  But  the  fidelity  of  the  Swiss  Catholics  to  their  faith  was  not 
to  be  shaken.     They  met  for  service  in  improvised  churches,  often  in 


696        •  BISTORT  OF  THE  CHUBVR 

barns,  which  were  crowded  to  repletion.  Soon  the  public  became  dis- 
gusted with  the  scandalous  conduct  of  the  schismatical  clergy,  and  a 
reaction  set  in,  in  favor  of  the  oppressed  Catholics.  Pope  Leo  XIII., 
after  prolonged  negotiations,  succeeded  in  effecting  a  settlement ;  and, 
notwithstanding  the  obnoxious  laws  still  existing  in  some  of  the  Can- 
tons, better  days  seem  to  be  in  store  for  the  Church  in  Switzerland. 
After  ten  years  of  exile,  Bishop  Mermillod  was  permitted  to  return  to 
his  flock.  Several  of  the  churches  have  since  been  restored  to  the 
Catholics. 

SECTION  LI.  —THE   CHURCH  IN   ENGLAND. 

Loyalty  of  the  English  Catholics — Long  Parliament — Cruel  Laws  against 
Catholics — Condition  of  Catholics  under  Charles  II.  — New  Persecuting 
Laws — The  "  Popish  Plot  "-♦Titus  Gates — James  II.  ^Revolution  of  1688 
— William  III. — New  Penal  Laws  against  Catholics — First  Relief  Act- 
Sectarian  Bigotry — Gordon  Riots — Relief  Act  of  1791 — Catholic  Emancipa- 
tion—New  Vicariates- Apostolic — Distinguished  Bishops — The  Tractarian 
Movement — Distinguished  Converts — Dr.  Newman — Restoration  of  English 
Hierarchy— Cardinal  Wiseman — Titles  Bill— Cardinal  Manning— Present 
State  of  the  Church  in  England. 

212.  During  the  civil  war  between  Charles  I.  and  the  Parliament, 
the  English  Catholics,  to  a  maUj  had  arrayed  themselves  under  the 
royal  banner.  Their  loyalty  had  been  put  to  the  test,  and  proved 
itself  beyond  question.  They  had  sacrificed  life  and  property  for  a 
monarch  who  only  too  often  had  shed  the  blood  of  their  brethren. 
Of  the  five  hundred  noblemen  who  lost  their  lives  for  Charles  I.  in 
the  civil  war,  about  two  hundred  were  Catholics.  *  Yet  this  very 
loyalty  of  the  Catholics  to  their  king  was  a  crime  in  the  eyes  of  the 
victorious  Puritans.  Formerly  stigmatized  as  ^^  traitors,"  Catholics 
were  now  branded  as  *' malignants  "  as  well  as  '*  Papists,"  and  the 
persecution  against  them  was  fiercely  continued. 

213.  The  summoning  of  the  Long  Parliament  (1640-1653)  had 
given  the  Puritans  the  ascendancy,  and  they  immediately  set  to  work 
to  reform  religion  in  the  kingdoms  of  England  and  Ireland,  on  the 
model  of  the  Scottish  Kirk.  A  Solemn  League  and  Covenant  was 
adopted,  which  /jondemned  '^Popery  and  Prelacy,  that  is  Church 
government  by  archbishops  and  bishops; "  abolished  the  Anglican 
Establishment,  and  substituted  in  its  place  Scottish  Presbyterianism. 

»  When  Charles  II.  had  suffered  a  total  overthrow  at  Worcester  (1651),  his  safety  and  Onal  escape 
to  France  wyre  owlnj?  entirely  to  the  devotedness  of  the  Whltgreaves,  Huddlestones,  and  other 
Catholic  gentlemen,  and  to  the  fidelity  of  the  Penderells.  Catholic  peasants,  who  had  been  long 
accustomed  to  screen  from  pursuit  both  priests  and  royalists.  See  Bishop  Challoner's  Memoirs  of 
Missionary  Priests,  Vol.  II.,  for  "A  Catalogue  of  Catholics  that  lost  their  Lives  for  their  Loyalty." 


THE  CHURCH  IN  ENGLAND,  697 

To  enforce  uniformity  of  doctrine  and  worship,  severe  laws  were 
enacted  against  dissenters,  especially  against  Catholics.  If  a  Catholic 
refused  to  abjure  his  religion  and  to  conform  to  that  of  the  Presby- 
terians, he  was  to  forfeit,  at  once,  two  thirds  of  his  whole  estate,  both 
real  and  personal.  The  taking  of  priestly  ordination  in  the  Catholic 
Church  was  punished  more  cruelly  than  murder.  In  1650,  an  act  was 
passed  offering  to  the  informers  against  priests  and  Jesuits  the  same 
reward  as  had  been  granted  to  the  apprehenders  of  highway-robbers. 
Many  Catholic  clergymen  were  apprehended  and  received  sentence  of 
death  or  banishment. 

214.  The  restoration  of  the  monarchy,  in  1660,  brought  back  the 
Church  of  England.  Charles  II.  was  inclined  to  grant  toleration  to 
the  Catholics  ,  but  he  dared  not,  for  fear  of  offending  his  Protestant 
subjects.  No  sooner  had  he  ascended  his  father's  throne,  than  peti- 
tions poured  in  against  the  ^'  Papists, ''  and  once  more  a  royal  procla- 
mation ordered  all  Jesuits  and  other  priests  to  leave  the  kingdom,  under 
pain  of  suffering  all  the  penalties  of  the  law.  The  new  Parliament 
supported  the  Anglican  Establishment,  by  stringent  laws  against 
Catholics  and  dissenters. 

215.  One  of  these  statutes  was  the  Conventicle  Act,  which  made 
it  unlawful  for  more  than  five  persons  to  meet  together  for  any 
religious  purpose  that  was  not  according  to  the  Book  of  Common 
Prayer.  The  disposition  of  Charles  II.  to  screen  the  Catholics  from 
persecution,  and  his  attempt  to  suspend  the  execution  of  the  penal 
laws  against  Dissenters  caused  the  passing  of  the  Test  ^c^  (1673)  by 
Parliament,  which  disabled  all  persons  from  holding  any  office,  either 
civil  or  military,  who  did  not  take  the  oath  of  supremacy,  receive  the 
sacrament  according  to  the  Anglican  rite,  and  subscribe  a  declaration 
against  Transubstantiation.  ^ 

216.  The  year  1678  was  memorable  for  the  great  national  delusion 
of  the  Popish  Plot,  the  name  given  to  a  pretended  conspiracy  of  the 
Catholics  for  assassinating  the  king  and  for  the  overthrow  of  the 
Government  and  the  Protestant  religion.  The  Protestants  of  England 
were  then  in  great  fear  lest  a  Catholic,  the  Duke  of  York,  should 
succeed  to  the  throne.  To  prevent  this,  the  infamous  ^^  Gates  '^ 
fabrication  was  brought  forward  as  a  weapon.  Gn  the  evidence  of 
Titus  Oates,  *  a  notorious  impostor,  and  other  informers,  who  arose, 

1  One  consequence  of  the  Test  Act  was  that  the  king's  brother,  the  Duke  of  York,  a  convert  to 
Catholicity,  was  obliged  to  resign  his  post  of  Lord  High  Admiral  of  the  Navy,  which  he  had  so 
valiantly  commanded  in  the  terrific  struggle  with  the  Dutch,  in  1665.  The  Test  Act  was  not 
repealed  until  1828. 

^  Titus  Oates  was  an  English  clergyman  of  bad  character.  He  afterwards  conformed  to  the 
Catholic  Church  and  was  received  as  a  scholar  by  the  Jesuits,  being,  however,  dismissed  for  bad 


096  HISTORY  OF  IHE  CHURCH. 

twenty-four  leading  Catholics,  all  absolutely  guiltless  of  any  crime, 
were  tried  and  executed,  besides  seven  priests  who  were  executed  about 
this  time  for  the  mere  exercise  of  their  spiritual  functions.  Parlia- 
ment voted  to  Gates,  who  was  styled  the  '^  Saviour  of  the  nation,*' 
their  thanks  and  a  pension  of  £15^00,  and  passed  a  new  Test  Act, 
which  excluded  every  one  from  sitting  in  Parliament  who  had  not 
previously  subscribed  to  a  declaration  that  '*  the  invocation  or  adora- 
tion of  the  Virgin  Mary  or  any  other  saint,  and  the  Sacrifice  of  the 
Mass,  as  they  are  used  in  the  Church  of  Rome,  are  superstitious  and 
idolatrous." 

217.  James  IL  (1685-1688)  had  become  a  Catholic  while  Duke 
of  York.  ^  After  coming  to  the  throne,  he  made  no  secret  of  his 
religion;  but  more  zealous  than  prudent,  he  proceeded  with  hasty 
steps  to  bring  about,  if  not  the  complete  emancipation,  at  least  a 
toleration  in  some  form  or  other,  of  the  Catholics.  The  mischievous 
counsels  of  his  advisers,  chief  among  whom  was  the  treacherous 
Sunderland,  led  the  too  credulous  monarch  to  measures  which  aroused 
the  bigotry  of  the  Protestanjts  and  provoked  general  discontent.  It 
was  in  vain  that  Pope  Innocent  XI.  exhorted  the  king  to  temper  his 
zeal.  When  the  birth  of  a  son  to  James  had  destroyed  the  hopes  of 
the  anti-Catholic  party  that  a  Protestant  would  soon  succeed  to  the 
throne,  his  expulsion  was  determined  on,  and  with  the  aid  of  Dutch 
troops,  accomplished.    James  retired  to  France  where  he  died  in  1701.  ' 

218.  From  the  Revolution  of  1688,  by  which  William  III.  was 
established  on  the  throne,  the  English  Catholics,  for  a  period  of  one 
hundred  years,  experienced  much  danger  and  persecution,  being 
subjected  to  countless  disqualifications  and  indignities.  The  code  of 
laws  inaugurated  in  the  reigns  of  the  ^'  Deliverer  "  and  Queen  Anne 
have  scarcely  a  parallel  in  European  history ;  they  were  framed  and 
administered  on  the  principle  that  Roman  Catholics  had  no  civil  or 
political  existence  in  their  own  land,  except  by  sufferance. 

219.  The  Toleration  Act  (1689)  granted  indulgence  and  liberty  of 

conduct.  To  gain  a  livelihood,  he  devised  the  story  of  the  Popish  Plot,  which  was  readily  accepted 
by  the  Protestant  fears.  In  1685,  Oates  was  convicted  of  perjury  and  sentenced  to  stand  in  the 
pillory,  be  whipped  at  the  cart's  tail,  and  then  imprisoned  for  life ;  but  he  was  released  and  again 
received  a  pension  of  £400  a  year  under  William  III.  If  he  was  not  the  real  inventor  of  the 
*■"  Popish  Plot,"  it  is  ut  least  certain  that  the  Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  Lord  Chancellor  under  Charles  II., 
took  the  great  imposture  under  his  special  protection  ;  he  was  one  of  the  chief  supporters  of  the 
violent  attack  upon  the  Catholics,  and  especially  upon  the  Duke  of  York. 

1  Charles  II.  himself  was  reconciled  to  the  Church  on  his  death -bed,  by  Father  Huddleston.  See 
LiNGARD,  Charles  IT. 

'  The  late  Cardinal  Henry  Stuart  of  York  was  a  grandson  of  the  unfortunate  James  II.  With  his 
death,  In  1807,  the  male  line  of  the  Stuarts  became  extinct.  His  brother,  Charles  Edward,  commonly 
called  the  Young  Chevalier  by  his  adherents,  and  the  Young  Pretender  by  his  opponents,  died  In 
Florence.  In  1788. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  ENGLAND.  699 

"Conscience  to  all  dissenters,  except  ^'  Papists/'  or  '^  Popish  recusants/' 
A  special  statute  ordered  that  Catholics  should  remove  at  least  ten 
miles  from  Westminster,  and  that  a  horse  worth  £5  belonging  to  a 
^'  Papist  "  should  be  seized.  The  Bill  of  Rights  (1689)  provided  that 
any  Papist  or  any  one  that  married  a  Papist  should  be  excluded  from 
the  throne.  By  a  new  oath  of  allegiance  all  persons  holding  public 
offices  were  required  to  deny  that  any  foreign  prelate  had  or  ought  to 
have  any  spiritual  jurisdiction  in  the  kingdom..  A  later  statute  (1700) 
*^  for  further  preventing  the  growth  of  Popery  "  disabled  Catholics 
to  inherit  or  purchase  lands,  to  teach  or  instruct  youth,  and  offered  a 
reward  of  £100  to  any  person  who  should  convict  a  Catholic  of  sending 
his  child  or  ward  beyond  the  sea  to  be  educated  in  "  Papacy,"  or  who 
should  apprehend  a  '^  Popish  bishop,  priest,  or  Jesuit,"  and  convict 
him  of  saying  Mass  or  of  exercising  his  functions  within  the  realm. 

220.  Nor  were  these  cruel  enactments  allowed  to  remain  a  dead 
letter.  The  country  swarmed  with  informers  who  were  encouraged 
by  rewards  and  by  a  declaration  of  the  House  of  Commons  that  their 
hunt  for  ''  Papists"  and  '*  Popish  priests"  was  an  honorable  profession. 
Martyrdom,  indeed,  had  ceased  ;  but  the  professors  of  the  Catholic 
religion  were  left  a  helpless  prey  to  caprice,  revenge,  and  fanaticism. 
That  severe  law  which  deprived  Catholics  of  landed  property  was 
frequently  put  into  execution.  The  Catholic  clergy  in  many  parts 
of  England  lived  in  continual  fear,  being  much  annoyed  by  vile 
informers  who  endeavored  to  earn  the  reward  accorded  by  law  for  the 
apprehension  and  conviction  of  priests.  The  consequence  of  this 
cruel  oppression  was  that  many  Catholics  fled  from  their  country  to 
distant  lands.  The  total  number  of  Catholics  in  England  at  the  end 
of  the  eighteenth  century  was  probably  about  60,000. 

221.  The  penal  laws  against  Catholics  continued  in  force  until 
1778,  when,  in  the  face  of  an  American  and  European  war,  the 
British  Government  found  it  necessary  to  conciliate  the  proscribed 
classes  in  England  and  Ireland.  In  that  year  a  bill,  introduced  by 
Sir  George  Savile,  was  passed,  abrogating  some  of  the  worst  measures 
of  the  statute  of  William  III.  It  enabled  Catholics  to  take  and  hold 
lands,  and  repealed  certain  clauses  which  related  to  the  prosecution  of 
Catholic '^bishops,  priests,  and  Jesuits,"  and  which  subjected  any 
Catholic  keeping  a  school  to  perpetual  imprisonment.  This  Act  of 
1778  was  the  first  legislative  relaxation.  Catholics  now  went  in 
thousands  to  take  the  new  oath  of  allegiance,  which  it  was  possible  for 
them  to  subscribe  to  without  denying  their  religion . 

222.  The  Protestant  sectaries,  however,  were  bitterly  hostile  to 
any  measure  tending  to  relieve  the  much  oppressed  Catholics.     The 


700  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

pulpits  of  the  lower  sort,  particularly  those  of  the  Presbyterians  and 
Methodists,  '  resounded  on  the  pretended  increase  of  Popery,  and  the 
danger  threatening  the  country  from  the  late  indulgence  granted  the 
''  Papists/'  A  Protestant  Association  was  formed  for  the  purpose  of 
procuring  the  repeal  of  the  Relief  Act.  Lord  George  Gordon,  a  bigoted 
fanatic,  became  its  president.  In  June  1780,  he  headed  a  large 
and  excited  mob,  and  dreadful  riots  ensued,  in  the  course  of  which 
many  Catholic  chapels  and  private  dwellings  were  destroyed. 

223.  Additional  measures  for  the  relief  of  Catholics  were  passed 
in  1791,  when  the  statutes  of  Recusancy  were  repealed,  and  a  Catholic, 
on  taking  an  oath  of  allegiance,  could  not  be  any  more  prosecuted  for 
being  a  "  Papist"  or  a  ^'Popish  priest,"  for  hearing  or  saying  Mass,  for 
being  present  at  or  performing  any  Catholic  rite  or  ceremony,  nor  for 
entering  or  belonging  to  a  religious  order  or  community  of  the  Church 
of  Rome.  These  relaxations  were  stepping  stones  to  the  great  Catholic 
Emancipation  Act  of  1829,  by  which  the  Church  became  once  more 
free  to  preach  and  propagate  God's  Truth  without  legal  hindrance. 
Still,  however.  Catholics  continued  to  pay  double  land  tax,  from 
which  they  were  not  relieved  until  1831. 

224.  Reverting  to  the  subject  of  ecclesiastical  administration,  we 
find  that,  after  thirty  years'  vacancy,  the  Vicariate  of  England  was 
restored  in  the  person  of  Dr.  John  Leyburn,  who  was  consecrated  in 
1685.  For  nearly  sixty  years  no  Catholic  bishop  had  appeared  in 
England,  Dr.  Smith,  the  last  vicar  apostolic,  having  been  compelled 
to  leave  the  country,  in  1629.  At  the  request  of  James  II.,  Pope  In- 
nocent XL,  in  1688,  divided  England  into  four  vicariates,  appointing 
Dr.  Leyburn  vicar-apostolic  of  the  London  district,  and  three  other 
bishops— Giffard,  Smith,  and  Ellis — to  the  Midland,  Northern,  and 
Western  vicariates.  The  episcopal  succession  from  this  time  continued 
uninterrupted.  Of  the  eminent  ecclesiastics  of  the  period  preceding 
the  Emancipation,  the  saintly  Challoner,  vicar  apostolic  of  the  London 
district,  and  the  energetic  Milner,  vicar  apostolic  of  the  Midland 
district,  author  of  the  well  known  "End  of  Controversy,"  were  the 
the  most  remarkable  and  effective. 

»  "  The  passing  of  the  Relief  Act  of  1778  caused  John  Wesley,  the  founder  of  the  Methodists,  to 
write  several  violent  tracts  against  Eoman  Catholics.  In  the  early  part  of  the  year  1780,  John 
Wesley  verote  a  '  Defence  of  the  Protestant  Association,'  an  Inflammatory  production,  in  which, 
amongst  other  things,  he  said  that '  an  open  toleration  of  the  Popish  religion  is  inconsistent  with, 
the  safety  of  a  free  people  and  a  Protestant  Government,  and  thai  every  convert  to  Popery 
was  by  principle  an  enemy  to  the  Constitution  of  this  country.'  Wesley,  about  the  same  time, 
also  wrote  a  letter  to  one  of  the  newspapers  to  prove,  by  a  series  of  ridiculous  syllogisms,  that '  no 

government  not  Roman  Catholic  ought  to  tolerate  men  of  the  Roman  Catholic  persuasion " 

This  letter  and  the  Defence  of  the  Protestant  Association  were  so  incentive  to  violence,  that  Bishop 
Milner  calls  Wesley  the  chief  author  of  the  riots  of  1780."  Amherst,  History  of  the  Catholic 
Emancipation^  vol.  i.,  p.  147. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  ENGLAND.  701 

225.  During  the  second  quarter  of  the  present  century,  a  knot  of 
zealous  and  learned  Anglican  divines  started  what  is  known  as  the 
Tradnrian  Movement,  which  consisted  in  the  endeavor  of  restoring 
what  they  believed  to  be  the  Catholic  character  of  the  English  Church. 
Tlie  chief  promoters  of  the  movement  were  John  Henry  Newman, 
John  Keble,  Edward  Pusey,  and  James  Rose.  These  commenced 
the  series  of  Tracts  for  the  Times  which  attracted  the  liveliest  attention 
of  both  Catholics  and  Protestants.  The  Tracts  were  published  at 
Oxford,  during  the  years  1833-41,  hence  called  '^  Oxford  Tracts." 
Many  of  these  were  written  by  Dr.  Pusey,  who  became  the  leading 
spirit  of  what  is  known  as  the  High  Church  party,  called  after  him 
also  Puseyites.  The  movement  was  decidedly  towards  the  Catholic 
Church,  and  its  leaders  propagated  doctrines  that  are  essentially 
Catholic.  They  emphasized  in  particular  baptismal  regeneration,  the 
expediency  of  auricular  confession,  the  real  presence  in  the  Eucharist, 
the  authority  of  tradition,  the  apostolic  succession  of  the  clergy,  and 
conventual  establishments.  Despite  of  the  opposition  on  the  part  of 
the  Low  Church,  or  Evangelical,  party,  and  the  Anglican  bishops,  who 
sought  to  arrest  it,  the  movement  continued  to  spread.  In  recent  years 
a  group  of  Ritualists  has  arisen,  who  desire  the  restoration  of  many 
Catholic  ceremonies  and  usages.  Their  endeavors  have  led  to  pro- 
longed controversies,  and  even  litigation,  which  the  Public  Worship 
Regulation  Act  of  1879  was  in  vain  passed  to  check. 

226.  Henry  Newman,  the  leading  spirit  in  the  Oxford  movement, 
was  received  into  the  Catholic  Church,  in  1845,  and  his  example 
was  followed  by  many  of  the  Anglican  clergy  and  English  aristocracy.' 
Some  of  the  new  converts  were  distinguished  for  their  great  literary 
attainments,  and  their  writings  have  contributed  powerfully  to  dissipate 
ignorance  and  prejudice,  and  spread  the  doctrine  of  the  true  faith. 
Newman,  the  prince  of  the  contemporaneous  English  writers,  on  his 
return  from  Rome,  where  he  had  been  admitted  to  holy  orders,  estab- 
lished in  England  a  branch  of  the  Congregation  of  the  Oratory  of  St. 
Philip  Neri,  of  which  he  became  the  first  superior.  In  1852,  he  was 
appointed  rector  of  the  Catholic  University  in  Dublin,  and,  in  1879,  he 
was  made  a  Cardinal  by  Pope  Leo  XIII. 

227.  In  1840  Gregory  XVI.  had  raised  the  number  of  vicariates  to 
eight.  Ten  years  later  Pius  IX.,  by  the  bull  Unigenitus  Ecclesia, 
restored  the  hierarchy  in  England,  where  it  had  been  suppressed  for 
nearly  three  hundred  years.  The  whole  kingdom,  including  Wales, 
was  formed  into   an   ecclesiastical  province,   consisting  of  the  arch- 

1  See  W.  Gordon  Gorman,  "  Converts  to  Rome,  a  list  of  over  Three  Thousand  Protestants  who 
have  become  Roman  Catholics  since  the  Commencement  ol  the  Nineteenth  Century." 


702  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CHURCH. 

bishopric  of  Westminster  and  twelve  suffragan  sees.  Dr.  Nicholas 
Wiseman,  a  man  distinguished  for  his  apostolic  zeal  and  firmness,  and 
famous  for  his  vast  erudition,  was  appointed  archbishop  of  West- 
minster and  at  the  same  time  created  cardinal. 

228.  This  measure  caused  a  great  commotion  among  Protestants, 
especially  of  the  Anglican  party,  who  raised  a  great  uproar  about 
what  they  called  the  Pope's  *' insolent  intrusion."  Parliament,  in 
1851.  passed  the  Ecclesiastical  Titles  Bill,  prohibiting  Catholic  bishops 
from  taking  titles  ''of  any  place  in  the  United  Kingdom."  The 
excitement,  however,  soon  died  away,  and  the  Act  was  repealed  in 
1871.  Conversions  from  Protestantism  became  frequent ;  in  1851 
alone  thirty-three   Anglican  ministers  were  received  into  the  Church. 

229.  Among  them  was  Edivard  H.  Manning,  who,  on  the  death  of 
Cardinal  Wiseman,  in  1865,  became  his  successor  in  the  archbishopric 
of  Westminster,  and  in  1875  was  created  a  cardinal.  Like  his  illus- 
trious predecessor,  he  possesses  rare  and  singularly  varied  attainments, 
and  proved  himself  one  of  the  most  able,  zealous,  and  hard-working 
living  prelates.  There  are  fifteen  dioceses  in  England  and  Wales, 
including  one  archbishopric;  and  the  number  of  Catholics  is  estimated 
at  two  millions. 

SECTION  LII.      THE  CHURCH  IN  SCOTLAND. 

Scotch  Bigotry — Penal  Laws  against  Catholics — Catholics  under  Charles  II. — 
Under  William  III.  —The  Jacobite  Risings — Missionary  Priests — Appoint- 
ment of  Vicars  Apostolic — Relief  Act— Restoration  of  Hierarchy. 

230  It  is  difficult  to  realize  the  oppression  under  which  the 
Catholics  of  Scotland  labored  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth 
•centuries.  Catholic  worship  and  the  profession  of  the  Catholic  faith 
were  proscribed,  and  those  that  adhered  to  that  religion  were  offered 
the  cruel  choice  of  apostasy  or  confiscation  of  property,  imprisonment, 
perpetual  banishment,  and  even  death.  The  General  Assembly  of 
the  reformed  '^Kirk^'  never  ceased  to  press  upon  the  Government  the 
execution  of  these  terrible  laws  against  the  ''  idolatrous  Papists,*'  who 
were  hated  by  the  disciples  of  Knox  with  a  bitterness  unknown  in  any 
other  country. 

231.  Yielding  to  the  clamors  of  the  Presbyterian  party,  the  weak 
Charles  I.,  in  1626,  issued  a  proclamation  prohibiting  '^  Popish  rites  and 
■ceremonies"  and  commanding  all  Scotchmen  to  conform  to  the  religion 
of  the  established  '*Kirk.'*  The  harboring  of  a  '' Popish  priesf  was 
severely  punished,  and  all  parents  who  had  sent  their  children  to 
foreign  Catholic  institutions  for  education  were  ordered  to  call  them 
home   without  delay.     A  cruel  persecution  was  set   on  foot   by   the 


1 


THE  CHURCH  IN  SCOTLAND.  703 

General  Assembly,  in  1630,  when  a  number  of  Catholics,  among  them 
several  noble  ladies,  were  arraigned  and  imprisoned  for  refusing  to 
conform  to  the  profession  of  the  Presbyterian  religion. 

232.  But  the  Scotch  Catholics  had  yet  to  suffer  deeper  and  more 
bitter  afflictions.  Among  the  many  forms  of  oppression  to  which 
Catholics  were  subjected  in  Scotland,  the  most  revolting  was  that 
which  is  described  as '*  planting  wise  pastors."  To  prevent  Catholics 
from  bringing  their  children  up  in  their  own  faith,  it  was  provided 
that  the  sons  of  noblemen  professing  ''  Popery  "  should  be  committed 
to  the  custody  of  such  persons  as  were  of  the  ''true  faith."  A 
Catholic  family  could  be  compelled  to  admit  a  minister  of  the  Kirk, 
who  was  empowered  to  watch  all  their  movements  and  catechize 
their  children  twice  a  day.  No  tie,  however  tender,  and  no  rights, 
however  sacred,  were  respected  by  the  fanatical  followers  of  Knox. 

233.  The  Restoration,  under  Charles  II.,  threw  the  country  into  a 
ferment  by  re-installing  the  episcopal  clergy  and  attempting  to 
establish  the  Anglican  Church.  Party  spirit  ran  high,  and  the 
wrauglings  between  the  Episcopalians  and  Presbyterians  roused  a 
spirit  of  persecution  that  set  the  whole  country  in  a  flame,  and  from 
which  the  Catholics  suffered  heavily.  During  the  whole  reign  of  Charles 
IL,  the  Scotch  Catholics  continued  to  be  treated  with  great  cruelty, 
notwithstanding  the  endeavors  of  the  king  to  screen  them  from  the 
operation  of  the  penal  laws ;  they  were  beset  by  informers  and  spies, 
and  their  private  meetings  were  punished  as  acts  of  sedition.  James 
II.  sought  to  obtain  from  the  Scottish  Estates  a  relaxation  of  the 
penal  laws  against  the  Catholics.  This  being  refused,  he  suspended 
these  laws  by  an  exercise  of  the  royal  prerogative,  and  proclaimed 
liberty  of  conscience.  His  proclamation  was  viewed  with  abhorrence, 
especially  by  the  Episcopal  clergy. 

234.  Under  William  III.  and  Queen  Anne,  the  persecution  of 
the  Catholics  was  renewed  with  increased  fierceness,  and  continued 
unabated  till  far  down  in  the  eighteenth  century.  In  1704,  Anne 
issued  a  proclamation  commanding  the  Scotch  magistrates  to  rigidly 
carry  out  the  existing  laws  against  the  exercise  and  adherents  of  the 
ancient  faith.  A  reward  of  five  hundred  marks  was  offered  for  the 
apprehension  of  a  Jesuit  priest,  and  of  any  person  harboring  or  aiding 
the  same.  Private  meetings  of  Catholics  were  interdicted  as  rebel- 
lious, and  all  who  attended  Mass  or  Catholic  service  were  subject  to 
oppressive  fines. 

235.  The  despotism  exercised  by  the  ruling  authorities — the 
Privy  Council  and  General  Assembly — has  hardly  been  equalled  in  any 
other  country.     The  power  of  the  Catholic  nobles,  prominent  among 


704  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CHURCH. 

whom  were  the  Earls  of  Huntly,  was  broken,  and  thousands  of  the 
people  were  driven  to  the  outward  profession  of  a  religion  which  in 
their  hearts  they  despised.  The  failure  of  the  Jacobite  risings  of 
1715  and  1745,  which  found  great  support  among  the  Highland 
Catholics,  proved  disastrous  to  the  Catholic  cause  in  Scotland.  Per- 
secution had  reduced  the  Catholic  party  to  extreme  weakness  and 
distress,  and  in  the  course  of  two  centuries  and  a  half  the  professors 
of  the  old  faith  were  but  a  remnant,  scattered  mostly  in  the  wild  and 
inaccessible  parts  of  the  Highlands  and  adjacent  islands.  The  total 
number  of  Catholics  in  Scotland,  at  the  beginning  of  the  present 
century,  was  probably  about  thirty  thousand;  of  this  number  the- 
great  majority  were  Highlanders. 

236.  During  the  bad  times  following  the  Reformation,  the  Catho- 
lic faith  was  kept  alive  in  Scotland  by  missionary  priests,  amongst, 
whom  were,  besides  the  secular  clergy,  Jesuits,  Benedictines,  and 
Franciscans.  To  the  labors  of  the  Jesuits,  chiefly,  is  owing  the  preser- 
vation of  the  faith  in  some  districts.  ''  Amongst  the  Macdonalds  on 
the  Western  coast,  and  amongst  the  Chisholms  and  Frasers,  and  a 
few  other  clans,  there  have  always  been  many  Catholic  families  in 
which  the  faith  has  never  been  lost.^'  * 

237.  After  the  Catholic  hierarchy  had  become  extinct  in  Scotland, 
the  Catholics  of  that  kingdom  were  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
English  archpriests  till  1653,  when  the  Holy  See  appointed  Father 
Ballantyne  Prefect  Apostolic  for  the  Scottish  mission.  The  presence  of 
a  bishop  in  that  country  becoming  a  necessity.  Innocent  XII.,  in  1694, 
appointed  Dr.  Thomas  Nicholson  as  the  first  vicar  apostolic  of  Scotland. 
In  1731,  the  Vicariate  was  divided  into  two,  the  Lowland  and  High- 
land, and  in  1827,  into  three, — the  Eastern,  Western,  and  Northern. 
The  most  distinguished  of  the  Scotch  bishops,  since  the  Reformation, 
was  the  venerable  Bishop  Hay,  vicar  apostolic  of  the  Lowland  district, 
so  well  known  by  his  many  excellent  works.     He  died  in  1811. 

238.  When  it  was  proposed  to  extend  the  English  Act  of  1778,  for 
the  Relief  of  Catholics,  to  Scotland,  the  trumpet  of  fanaticism  was  im- 
mediately sounded.  Protestants  of  all  denominations  combined  in 
order  to  arrest  Parliament  in  granting  relief  to  the  "Papists."  The 
Scotch  Catholics  were  so  terrified  at  the  Protestant  fury  that  was 
aroused,  that  they  petitioned  the  English  Ministry  to  withdraw  the 
Relief  Bill.  This,  however,  did  not  satisfy  the  infuriated  multitudes. 
In  1779  riots  occurred  in  Edinburgh  and  Glasgow,  which  culminated  in 
the  destruction  of  Catholic  chapels  and  dwelling  houses.     The  extent 

»  Amherst,  History  of  Cath.  Emancipation,  Vol.  I.  278 :  "  The  district  of  Moldert,  for  example. 
Is  almost  entirely  Catholic  to  this  day.    Some  of  the  Western  Islands  are  almost  exclusively  Catholic.'* 


n 


I 


THE  CHURCH  IN  lEELAIW.  705 

and  violence  of  the  flame  was  the  cause  of  the  first  Scotch  Relief  Act 
being  delayed  till  1793,  fifteen  years  after  the  passage  of  the  English 
Belief  Bill. ' 

239.  During  the  last  fifty  years  the  Catholics  of  Scotland  have  large- 
ly increased,  chiefly  from  the  influx  of  Irish  population.  They  num- 
ber about  330,000.  There  are  about  350  priests,  secular  and  regular, 
having  care  of  souls  in  Scotland.  In  1878,  the  present  Pope  Leo  XIII. 
restored  the  ancient  hierarchy  of  Scotland,  creating  or  rather  restor- 
ing the  two  archbishoprics  of  St.  Andrews  and  of  Glasgow,  and  four 
suffragan  sees. 

SECTION  LIII. — THE  CHURCH  IN  IRELAND. 

Oppression  of  the  Irish  under  Charles  I. — Insurrection  of  1641 — Persecutions 
under  Cromwell — Puritan  Atrocities — Transplanting  to  Connaught — Edict 
against  the  Clergy — James  II.  and  the  Irish — Persecution  under  William 
and  Anne — Irish  Penal  Code — George  I.  and  George  II. — Irish  Relief  Acts 
— Daniel  O'Connell — Catholic  Emancipation — The  Anglican  Establishment 
— Present  State  of  the  Irish  Church. 

240.  All  the  hopes  which  the  accession  of  Charles  I.,  the  husband 
of  a  Catholic  princess,  had  raised  in  the  minds  of  the  Irish  Catholics 
soon  vanished.  In  return  for  a  voluntary  tribute  Charles  had  promised 
to  grant  to  the  Irish  people  certain  immunities  and  protections,  which 
acquired  a  great  celebrity  under  the  name  of  *'  Graces."  The  chief  of 
these  were  freedom  for  their  religion  and  security  for  their  lands.  But 
to  do  justice  to  Catholics,  especially  if  they  were  Irish,  was  no  part  of 
the  policy  of  the  English  Government. 

241.  In  1632,  Wentworth,  Earl  of  Strafford,  was  appointed  Lord 
Deputy  of  Ireland.  From  the  first,  he  looked  forward  to  confiscations. 
With  the  connivance  of  the  king,  he  appointed  a  commission  of  ^'  de- 
fective titles  "  in  Connaught,  for  the  base  purpose  of  dispossessing  the 
Irish  landlords  and  colonizing  the  province  on  the  plan  which  had  been 
pursued  with  so  much  injustice  in  Ulster,  under  James  I.  To  insure 
their  titles,  the  Irish  Gentlemen  offered  to  pay  £120,000.  The  offer 
was  accepted  and  paid,  but  the  Viceroy  refused  to  abide  by  the  condi- 
tions. At  the  same  time,  a  '^  Court  of  Wards  "  was  established,  by 
w^hich  the  children  of  Catholics  were  to  be  brought  up  among  Protes- 
tants and  educated  in  the  Protestant  faith.  Nothing  short  of  utter 
extinction  of  their  religion  and  extermination  of  their  race  seemed  to 
be  the  destined  doom  for  the  Irish  people. 

242.  These  outrages  provoked  the  whole  island  into  insurrection. 
The  Church  took  the  lead.     The  Provincial  Synod  of  Kells  as  well 

1  Amherst,  '"HM.  of  Cath.  Emancivatim,''  vol.  1.,  p.  274. 


706  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

as  the  National  Council  of  Kilkenny,  meeting,  the  one  in  1641,  the 
other  the  following  year,  pronounced  the  war  just  and  lawful,  which 
the  Catholics  of  Ireland  were  undertaking,  in  defence  of  their  religion 
and  homes  and  for  their  legitimate  sovereign,  against  the  Puritanical 
faction.  Sentence  of  excommunication  was  pronounced  against  all 
spoliators  of  Irish  property,  whether  held  by  Catholics  or  Protestants, 
and  all  distinction  between  the  new  and  old  Irish  was  forbidden. 
Pope  Innocent  X.  sent  Archbishop  Rinuccini  of  Fermo  as  his  nuncio 
to  Ireland,  with  large  supplies  of  arms  and  money. 

243.  The  rising  of  1641  was  the  commencement  of  a  terrible  war, 
which,  with  short  intervals,  lasted  until  1652.  The  Irish  chiefs  did 
what  they  could  to  humanize  the  war;  the  English  leaders,  on  the  con- 
trary, encouraged  the  ferocity  of  their  men.  By  their  command,  thou- 
sands of  men,  women,  and  children  were  slaughtered  in  cold  blood. 
English  Parliament,  in  1644,  enacted  ''that  no  quarter  shall  be  given 
to  any  Irishman,  or  to  any  papist  born  in  Ireland/'  The  watchword 
amongst  all  the  reinforcements  sent  over  from  England  was  :  Extirpate- 
the  Irish,  root  and  branch.  '■ 

244.  In  1649  Cromivell  landed  with  his  plundering  army  in  Ireland. 
He  opened  the  campaign  with  the  storming  of  Drougheda,  which  w^as 
followed  by  the  indiscriminate  massacre  of  all  its  inhabitants,  except 
thirty,  who  were  sent  to  Barbadoes  and  sold  as  slaves.  In  his  letter  to 
the  Parliament,  the  Puritan  leader  justifies  the  inhuman  slaughter  as 
a  righteous  judgment  of  God.  Wexford  shared  the  same  fate.  The 
massacre  of  Drougheda  was  renewed  with  all  its  horrors,  no  mercy  be- 
ing shown  to  age  or  sex.  Three  hundred  women  had  gathered  around 
the  cross  of  the  market-place  ;  but  in  spite  of  their  prayers  and  tears, 
t^ey  were  all  ruthlessly  slaughtered. 

245.  Ireton  trod  in  the  sanguinary  steps  of  Cromwell,  his  father- 
in-law,  and  the  same  barbarities  were  perpetrated  in  other  parts  of  the 
island.  Unfortunately,  dissension  arose  among  the  Irish,  which  gave 
the  Puritan  invaders  an  easy  victory.  Wherever  they  became  masters, 
the  plighted  conditions  were  not  kept.  Nearly  half  of  the  Irish  pop- 
ulation perished  in  the  terrible  struggle.  When  the  war  was  over, 
many  hundreds  of  boys  and  girls  were  sold  into  slavery.  The  total 
number  of  Irish  Catholics,  including  many  thousands  of  children,  sent 
into  slavery  has  been  variously  estimated  at  from  twenty  to  one  Imn- 
dred  thousand.  ' 

246.  The  measures  adopted  and  actually  enforced  under  Puritan 

»  For  an  authenticated  account  of  the  atrocities  perpetrated  by  the  Puritans  in  Ireland  we  refer 
the  reader  to  Archbishop,  now  Cardinal,  Moran's  Historical  Sketch  of  the  Persecutions  suffered 
by  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  under  the  Rule  of  Cromwell  and  the  Puritans,  li:84. 

»  MORAN,  p.  321. 


r 


THE  CHURCH  IN  IRELAND,  707 

Rule  against  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  surpassed  in  ferocity  the  per- 
secuting edicts  of  the  ancient  pagan  rulers.  It  was  during  the  Pro- 
tectorate of  Cromwell  that  the  Transplantation  to  Connaught  was 
effected.  Three  entire  provinces  were  confiscated  and  parcelled  out 
amongst  the  Puritan  soldiers  and  '■  Adventurers,"  as  the  creditors  of 
Parliament  were  called,  whilst  all  the  Irish  that  still  remained  were 
removed  to  the  desolate  province  of  Connaught.  There  they  were 
to  dwell,  and  not  allowed  to  enter  a  walled  town,  or  come  within  five 
miles  of  one,  on  pain  of  death.  ' 

247.  The  sufferings  of  the  Irish  clergy  and  religious  during,  and 
still  more  after,  the  war,  defy  description.  To  say  Mass  was  an  act 
of  treason,  and  to  be  a  priest  was  to  be  an  enemy  of  the  Common- 
wealth. By  the  edict  of  1653,  all  ecclesiastics,  secular  and  regular, 
were  commanded,  under  penalty  of  treason,  to  depart  from  the  island 
within  twenty  days,  and  should  they  not  comply  with  this  edict, 
or  should  they  return  to  Ireland,  they  incurred  the  penalties  speci- 
fied in  a  law  of  Queen  Elizabeth,  that  is,  they  were  "  to  be  hanged, 
cut  down  while  yet  alive,  beheaded,  quartered,  disembowelled  and 
burned  ;  the  head  to  be  set  on  a.  spike,  and  exposed  in  the  most 
public  place."  In  the  persecution  under  Puritan  rule,  **  more  than  three 
hundred  priests  were  put  to  death  hy  the  sword  or  on  the  scaffold,  amongst 
whom  were  three  bishops  ;  more  than  a  thousand  were  sent  into 
exile,  and  amongst  these  all  the  surviving  bishops,"  except  the  Bishop 
of  Kildare,  who  was  too  weak  to  move. " 

248.  Under  Charles  II.  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  enjoyed  a  con- 
siderable amount  of  toleration,  in  spite  of  existing  laws.  But  their 
expectation  that  they  would  be  restored  to  their  estates  was  doomed 
to  disappointment.  The  ''  Act  of  Settlement,"  passed  by  the  Irish 
Parliament  in  1662,  legalized  the  Cromwellian  spoliations,  and  gave  the 
royal  sanction  to  all  the  bloody  deeds  of  Puritan  barbarity  against 
the  Catholics  of  Ireland.  The  infamous  ^' Gates"  fabrication  was, 
as  in  England,  so  in  Ireland,  the  signal  for  fresh  persecution^.  A 
proclamation  was  published  commanding  all  "■  Popish  bishops,  Jesuits, 
and  priests  to  leave  the  kingdom,"  and  positive  orders  were  given  that 
"  all  Popish  societies,  convents,  seminaries,  and  schools  "  should  be  forth- 
with dissolved  and  closed,  and  all  "  Mass-houses  and  meetings  for  Popish 
services  "  be  suppressed.  Archbishop  Talbot  of  Dublin  was  cast  into 
prison,  where  he  ended  his  life,  whilst  Archbishop  Plunket  of  Armagh 

*  "  No  pen  can  describe  the  frightful  scenes  of  misery  that  ensued.  With  famine  and  pestilence, 
despair  seized  upon  the  afflicted  natives.  Thousands  died  of  starvation  and  disease ;  others  cast 
themselves  from  precipices,  whilst  the  walking  spectres  that  remained  seemed  to  indicate  that  the 
whole  plantation  was  nothing  more  than  a  mighty  sepulchre."'  Moran,  Hist.  Sketch,  p.  305. 

2  Moran,  Hist.  Sketch,  pp.  256-260. 


708  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

was  taken  to  London,  found  guilty  on  some  wildly  impossible  charge, 
and  executed,  1681.  * 

349.  James  II.,  being  himself  a  Catholic,  had  the  honest  desire  of 
granting  to  the  Irish,  as  to  all  his  subjects,  real  liberty  of  conscience, 
and  it  was  only  natural  that  the  Catholics  of  Ireland,  who  had  been  so 
cruelly  persecuted  by  Protestant  kings,  should  hope  for  better  treat- 
ment from  a  monarch  of  their  own  faith.  But  the  Protestants  of 
England  and  Ireland  were  determined  to  reserve  intact  to  themselves 
the  preponderance  they  had  gained  over  the  Catholics,  and  the  tyranny 
they  had  already  made  such  good  use  of  for  so  long  a  time,  of  oppres- 
sing them.  The  hopes  which  James  entertained  of  recovering  his 
crown  with  the  aid  of  the  loyal  Irish  were  annihilated,  through  his  own 
imbecility,  by  the  Battle  of  the  Boyne,  (July,  1690). 

250.  William  III  of  Orange  (1689-1702),  it  would  seem,  had  the 
honest  intention  of  observing  the  articles  agreed  upon  in  the  Treaty  of 
Limerick,  namely,  to  allow  to  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  liberty  of  wor- 
ship, and  all  their  estates  and  rights  which  they  held  in  the  reign  of 
Charles  II.  But  Protestant  bigotry  and  the  greed  of  the  new  colonists, 
who  had  hoped  for  fresh  confiscations,  would  not  consent  to  extend 
the  claims  of  justice  and  rights  to  *'  Irish  Papists."  In  1692,  the 
English  Parliament  passed  an  act  imposing,  besides  the  oath  of  al- 
legiance, a  renunciation  of  the  spiritual  authority  of  the  Pope  and  a 
declaration  against  Transubstantiation,  upon  members  of  the  Irish 
Houses.  When,  therefore,  the  Irish  Parliament  met,  every  Catholic 
refusing  to  make  this  declaration  was  excluded.  "^ 

251.  The  Irish  Protestants  being  thus  put  in  the  sole  legislative 
possession,  set  to  work  upon  the  system  of  oppression  known  to 
infamy  as  the  Irish  Penal  Code.  (1)  By  the  first  of  the  penal  statutes 
passed  under  William,  in  1695,  no  Catholic  could  keep  a  school  or 
teach  any  person  even  in  private  houses ;  Catholic  parents  were  for- 
bidden to  send  their  children  abroad  for  education,  under  penalty  of 
outlawry  and  confiscation.  (2)  By  the  ''  Disarming  Act,"  Catholics  were 
denied  the  use  of  arms  and  excluded  from  the  army,  which  they  could 
not  enter,  even  as  privates.  (3)  In  1697,  all  bishops,  priests,  and 
religious  were  commanded  to  depart  from  the  kingdom,  liable  to 
capital  punishment  if  they  should  return.  The  number  of  priests, 
secular  and  regular,  shipped  off  at  the  time  amounted  to  over  nine 
hundred.  (4)  The  "  Intermarriage  Act"  prohibited  a  Protestant  from 
marrying  a  Catholic  ;  (a  religious /awr  not  intended  as  such);  the 
children  of  a  mixed  marriage  could  be  taken  away  to  be  educated  in 

'  See  Cardinal  Moran,  Memoirs  of  the  Most  Rev.  Oliver  Plunket,  1861,  p.  322. 
*  From  that  time  until  the  Emancipation,  in  1829,  no  Irish  Catholic  ever  took  part  in  the  legislation 
of  his  own  country. 


i 


THE  CHURCH  IN  IRELAND.  709 

the  Protestant  faith.  Such  was  the  policy  that  a  Protestant  Parlia- 
ment thought  wise  to  adopt  towards  a  people  whose  only  fault  was 
too  much  loyalty,  and  whose  only  crime  was  their  creed. 

252.  The  penal  statutes  of  Queen  Anne^s  reign  were  especially 
severe,  and  were  deliberately  framed  with  the  object  of  depriving  Irish 
Catholics  of  what  little  property  they  still  possessed.  (1)  Catholics 
could  not  be  guardians  or  trustees.  Catholic  parents  could  be  com- 
pelled to  maintain  and  educate  their  Protestant  Children.  Any  son 
of  a  Catholic,  by  turning  Protestant,  became  the  proprietor  of  his 
father's  estates  in  fee  simple.  (2)  Catholics  were  disqualified  from 
inheriting  or  purchasing  lands,  or  taking  leases,  except  for  terms  of 
not  more  than  thirty-one  years.  (3)  Any  Catholic  harboring  or 
entertaining  a  priest  was  declared  guilty  of  high  treason  and  subject 
to  its  penalties.  (4)  As  it  was  found  impossible  to  banish  the  entire 
body  of  the  Catholic  clergy,  an  Act  of  1704  ordered  all  priests  to 
register  their  names  and  abodes.  By  an  Act  of  1710  they  were  re- 
quired to  take  the  oath  of  abjuration  under  the  penalties  of  trans- 
portation, and  of  high  treason  if  ever  after  found  in  the  country.  ' 

253.  Xor  were  these  acts  allowed  to  remain  inoperative  ;  the 
country  swarmed  with  informers  who  were  encouraged  by  rewards  and 
by  a  declaration  that  their  mercenary  trade  was  ^'  an  honorable 
profession. '^  Thus  was  the  Protestant  Ascendancy  established  in 
Ireland.  Never  has  any  legislative  body  passed  laws  more  oppressive 
and  degrading  than  those  were  which  the  Irish  Parliament  enacted 
against  Catholics  during  the  reigns  of  William  III.,  and  Queen  Anne. 
One  of  the  effects  of  this  terrible  code  was  the  destruction  of  the 
Catholic  gentry ;  many  of  the  best  families  emigrated,  and  a  few 
apostatised.  The  penal  system,  though  inflicting  frightful  evils  on  the 
country,  failed  in  its  object.  Priests  continued  to  arrive  from  the 
foreign  seminaries,  in  spite  of  the  existing  laws.  In  1732,  there  were 
some  nine  hundred  "  Mass-houses  "  served  by  over  fourteen  hundred 
priests. 

254.  The  penal  laws  against  the  Catholics  of  Ireland  continued 
during  the  reigns  of  George  I.  and  George  II.  with  unabated  rigor.  ' 
The  Toleration  Act  of  1719,  in  favor  of  Dissenters,  expressly  excepted 
Catholics,  who,  moreover,  were  deprived  of  the  right   of  voting  at 

^  R.  R  Madden,  Historical  Notice  of  Penal  Laws  against  Reman  Catholic,  sp.  145.  See  also 
A.  J.  Thebaud,  The  Irish  Race  314-319. 

2  "  A  law  (of  George  I.  empowered  auy  Protestant  to  seize  the  horse  of  a  Catholic,  let  It  be  worth 
what  it  might,  and  keep  legal  possession  of  it  on  the  payment  of  Ave  pounds."  ...  In  the  reign  of 
George  XL.  Catholics  "were  prohibited  fiom  being  barristers  or  solicitors  ;  and  if  a  Protestant 
barrister  or  solicitor  married  a  Catholic,  he  was  subjected  to  all  the  penalties  attached  to  Catholics. 
The  priest  who  celebrated  a  marriage  between  a  Catholic  and  a  Protestant  might  be  hanged." 
Madden,  Poial  Laws,  etc.,  p.  147. 


7X0  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Parliamentary  and  municipal  elections.  While  Catholic  education 
was  absolutely  forbidden,  the  Government  established  Charter  8chooh 
to  provide  Protestant  education  gratis  for  the  Catholic  poor.  As  late 
as  1744,  all  of  a  sudden,  a  fresh  persecution  broke  out.  The  Govern- 
ment issued  a  proclamation  ordering  the  apprehension  of  all  Catholic 
clergymen  and  the  suppression  of  the  religious  houses  which  had  been 
quietly  re-opened  the  few  years  previous. 

255.  When  the  American  war  commenced,  in  1775,  the  persecution 
of  the  "Irish  enemy '^  began  to  abate.  The  English  Government 
then  felt  that  it  was  expedient  to  relieve  Ireland,  and  the  Irish 
Catholics  in  particular,  of  some  of  their  disabilities.  The  Act  passed 
in  1787  for  the  relief  of  the  English  Catholics  was  followed  by  a 
similar  Bill  for  the  benefit  of  the  Catholics  in  Ireland,  who  were  now 
allowed  a  few  of  the  rights  of  citizens.  By  this  Relief  Bill,  and  other 
Acts  passed  in  1782,  1792,  and  1793,  Catholics  were  permitted  to 
j^urchase,  inherit,  and  dispose  of  lands  ;  to  vote  at  Parliamentary  and 
municipal  elections  ;  priests  and  schoolmasters  were  relieved  from  the 
liability  to  persecution  ;  the  restrictions  on  the  legal  profession  were 
removed  to  some  extent ;  the  "  Intermarriage  Act "  also  was  repealed. 
In  1795,  Maynooth  College  was  founded  and  subsidized  for  the  educa- 
tion of  candidates  for  the  Catholic  priesthood. 

256.  In  1823,  Daniel  O'Connell  planned  and  established  the 
famous  Catholic  Association  for  the  purpose  of  securing  the  complete 
emancipation  of  the  Catholics.  By  the  efforts  of  this  association, 
crowned  with  the  election,  and  final  admission  to  Parliament,  of 
O'Connell,  for  the  county  of  Clare,  and  by  the  Catholic  Rent  which  it 
was  enabled  to  raise,  the  British  Government  was  at  last  forced  to 
yield  to  the  just  claims  of  the  Catholics.  Catholic  Emancipation  was 
obtained  by  the  moral  force  of  the  Irish  people,  led  by  the  immortal 
O'Connell,  in  1829.     O'Connell,  styled  the  "  Liberator,"  died  in  1847. 

257.  IN ot withstanding,  in  the  plantation  under  James  I.  and 
Charles  II.,  ample  provision  had  been  made  for  the  establishment  of 
the  Anglican  Church  in  Ireland,  its  position  in  that  country  was 
always  weak.  Non-residence  was  shamefully  common  amongst  the 
dignitaries  of  the  Anglican  Establishment,  who  were  invariably  taken 
from  among  the  English  courtiers.  Of  the  many  disorders  that 
preyed  upon  the  Protestant  Church  in  Ireland,  frequent  complaints 
were  made  by  the  highest  authorities  of  the  Establishment  and  State 
themselves.  And  for  the  support  of  that  Establishment  the  Irish  were 
forced  to  pay  tithes  out  of  their  property.  The  Anglican  Church  of 
Ireland,  formerly  in  union  with  the  Church  of  England,  ceased  to  be 
a  State  establishment  by  the  '* Disestablishment  Act"  of  1869. 


r 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RUSSIA  AND  POLAND,  711 

258.  The  Catholic  Church,  however,  has  made  great  material 
progress  in  Ireland  during  the  last  fifty  years  ;  the  island  is  fairly 
covered  with  beautiful  religious  edifices — cathedrals,  churches,  char- 
itable and  literary  institutions.  Besides  the  ecclesiastical  colleges  of 
Maynooth  and  All  Hallows,  there  are  some  fifteen  other  clerical 
seminaries,  and  quite  a  number  of  flourishing  colleges  in  Ireland. 
Under  the  auspices  of  the  Irish  episcopate  a  Catholic  University  was 
established  at  Dublin,  in  1854,  which  is  in  a  flourishing  condition. 

259.  The  Catholic  population  of  Ireland  is  estimated  at  about 
four  millions,  and  this  flock  is  ruled  by  a  hierarchy  of  four  archbishops 
and  twenty-four  bishops.  In  1850,  a  National  Synod  was  ho^^^  in 
Thurles,  in  which  numerous  and  important  decrees  were  enacted, 
regulating  matters  of  discipline  and  worship.  At  the  meeting  of  the 
Irish  bishops  which  took  place  at  Maynooth,  in  1869,  the  system  of 
mixed  education,  particularly  the  so-called  '^  National  Schools,"  was 
discussed  and  condemned  as  *'  dangerous  to  the  faith  and  morals  of 
Catholic  youth."  Of  the  eminent  Irish  ecclesiastics,  since  the 
Emancipation,  Cardinals  Cullen,  (d.  1878)  and  McCabe,  (d.  1885),  and 
Archbishop  MacHale,  (d.  1881)  are  named  as  the  most  remarkable  and 
effective. 

SECTION  LIT. — The  Church  in  Russia  and  Poland. 

Condition  of  the  Catholics  under  Catherine  II. — Suppression  of  the  Ruthenian 
Dioceses — The  Church  under  Paul  I.  and  Alexander  I. — Oppression  of  the 
Catholics  under  Nicholas  I.  and  his  Successors — Enforced  Suppression  of 
the  United  Greek  Church — Sufferings  of  Polish  Catholics. 

260.  At  the  second  partition  of  Poland,  in  1793,  nearly  all  the 
sees  of  the  Grmco-Ruthenians,  or  United  Greeks,  ^  passed  under 
Russian  dominion.  As  one  of  the  conditions  of  the  treaty  with 
Austria  and  Prussia,  liberty  of  conscience  and  freedom  of  worship  was 
guaranteed  to  the  Catholics  of  both  rites.  Diplomatic  stipulations, 
however,  proved  no  bar  to  Russian  intolerance,  and  the  Catholics  of 
the  conquered  districts  were  subjected  to  fierce  and  constant  persecu- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  imperial  Government. 

261.  Jealous  of  any  control  by  the  Roman  Pontiff  over  her 
subjects,  the  imperious  Catharine  II.  (1762-1796)  endeavored  to  sup- 
plant Catholic  prelates  by  others  of  the  Orthodox  Church.  With  the 
exception  of  one,  all  the  United  Ruthenian  dioceses  were  suppressed  ; 
and  before  the  end  of  her  reign,  some  10,000  parishes,  150  convents, 

1  lu  1595,  Michafcl  Ragosa,  metropolitan  of  Klew,  and  his  suffragans  severed  their  connection  with 
the  Patriarchate  of  Constantinople,  and  at  their  own  request  were  received  by  Clement  VIII.  into  the 
Catholic  Communion.     Thus  the  Grceco-Ruthenian  province  arose. 


712  BISTORT  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

and  seven  millions  of  Catholics  had  been  forcibly  separated  from  the 
Koman  See  and  united  with  the  National  Church. 

262.  Under  the  reigns  of  Paul  I.  (1796-1801)  and  Alexander  I. 
(1801-1825),  *  the  Catholics  were  treated  with  more  justice.  The 
former,  a  fair-minded  monarch,  entered  into  negotiations  with  the 
Holy  See,  which  led  to  the  reorganization  of  the  Catholic  hierarchy 
in  Russia.  Three  of  the  Ruthenian  dioceses,  suppressed  under  Catha- 
rine II.,  were  restored,  together  with  a  number  of  convents,  while  for 
the  Catholics  of  the  Latin  Rite  six  episcopal  sees  were  established, 
with  Mohilew  as  an  archbishopric.  The  number  of  Catholics  of  both 
rites  rapidly  increased,  which  necessitated  the  erection  of  several  new 
bishoprics.  Warsaw  was,  in  1817,  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  metropolitan 
see. 

263.  During  the  reign  of  Nicholas  I.  (1825-1855),  the  persecution 
of  the  Catholics  in  Russia  was  renewed  with  increased  rigor.  It  is  hard 
to  believe  the  harsh,  not  to  say  cruel,  oppression,  to  which  Catholics 
were  subjected  ;  all  possible  means  that  fanaticism  and  brutal  force 
could  devise  were  employed  by  the  Moscovite  Government  to  separate 
them  from  Rome  and  force  them  into  the  communion  of  the  National 
Church.  Freedom  of  worship  and  liberty  of.  conscience,  so  often 
promised  and  guaranteed  in  most  solemn  treaties,  had  become,  in 
Russia,  words  without  meaning. 

264.  The  hierarchy  of  the  United  Greeks  was  abolished,  all  their 
dioceses,  excepting  one,  being  suppressed  and  replaced  by  schismatical 
bishoprics  ;  hundreds  of  their  churches  were  forcibly  seized  and  given 
over  to  the  Schismatics  ;  they  were  prevented  from  repairing  their 
ancient  edifices  which  were  falling  into  ruins,  and  forbidden  to  erect 
new  ones  ;  their  bishops  and  priests  were  hindered  in  their  ministra- 
tions, imprisoned,  and  sent  into  exile  for  resisting  the  interference 
of  the  Government,  and  congregations  for  the  same  reason  dispersed  by 
force,  and  thousands  of  Catholics  were  driven  by  strategem,  and  even 
by  personal  inflictions  and  cruelties,  into  the  schismatic  communion. 
Apostasy  from  Catholicism  was  encouraged  and  rewarded,  while 
conversions  from  the  Orthodox  Church  to  Latinism  were  severely 
punished.  The  Latin  clergy  were  forbidden  to  administer  the 
sacraments  to  Catholics  of  the  Greek  rite,  and  marriage  between 
Catholics  and  members  of  the  National  Church  could  be  solemnized 
only  before  the  schismatic  clergy,  and  upon  the  condition  that  the 
children  be  educated  in  the  Orthodox  faith. 

^  Alexander  I.  Is  said  to  have  contemplated,  some  time  before  his  death,  the  reunion  of  the 
Russian  with  the  Latin  Church.  In  all  probability  he  was  reconciled  to  the  Catholic  Church  on  his 
death-bed.  The  reader  will  find  an  interesting  article  on  the  question  in  Herder's  Kirchen- 
Lexicon,  New  Edition,  by  K.  Brischar,  S.  J. 

r 


THE  CHURCH  IN  RUSSIA  AND  POLAND.  m 

265.  The  efforts  of  the  Russian  Government  were  heroically  re- 
sisted by  the  Ruthenian  people,  and  the  clergy  in  general.  Some  of  the 
clergy,  however,  including  even  three  bishops,  were  induced  by  worldly 
considerations  to  abjure  the  Catholic  Church  and  petition  the  em- 
peror to  receive  them  and  their  flocks  into  the  communion  of  the 
"Holy  Orthodox  Church/'  The  perfidious  Joseph  Siemaszko, 
metropolitan  of  Mohilew,  headed  the  movement.  The  petition  was  of 
course  granted.  By  this  measure  about  two  millions  of  United 
Greeks  were  joined  to  the  Orthodox  Establishment. 

266.  The  Catholic  Poles  were  subjected  to  similar  persecutions. 
Every  engine  was  put  into  action  to  compel  them  to  unite  with  the 
Russian  Church.  The  Russian  Government,  after  suppressing  nearly 
all  the  convents  in  the  land,  in  many  places  seized  the  churches  of 
the  Catholics,  and  drove  out  and  banished  their  bishops  and  priests, 
thus  putting  it  out  of  their  power  to  follow  their  worship.  The 
Revolution  of  1830  terminated  in  the  annihilation  of  Polish  nation- 
ality, and  caused  the  Moscovite  Government  to  deal  still  more  cruelly 
with  the  unhappy  Poles.  Catholics  in  many  instances  were  subjected 
to  severe  inflictions  and  physical  sufferings.  Thousands  of  Polish 
children  were  kidnapped  by  order  of  the  Government  and  carried  off 
into  the  interior  of  the  empire  to  be  brought  up  in  the  Orthodox 
faith. 

267.  The  insurrection  of  1863  cost  Catholic  Poland  dear.  Its 
sanguinary  suppression  was  followed  by  fresh  persecutions,  which  in 
barbarous  cruelty  surpass  anything  since  the  days  of  pagan  Rome. 
Priests  were  imprisoned  and  executed  for  rendering  spiritual  aid  to 
dying  insurgents ;  all  Catholic  nobles  were  commanded  to  leave  the 
country  and  sell  their  estates,  which  only  schismatics  were  permitted 
to  buy  in.  Hundreds  of  Catholic  churches  were  taken  away  under 
the  pretext  that  they  had  been  Russian  four  centuries  before. 

268.  Kor  were  the  higher  clergy  spared.  Archbishop  Felinski  of 
Warsaw  and  the  Bishop  of  Chelm  were  transported  into  the  interior  of 
the  empire,  while  Bishop  Kalinski  of  Wilna  was  exiled  to  Siberia  for 
refusing  to  acquiesce  in  the  innovations  ordered  by  the  Government. 
The  horrible  cruelties  inflicted  on  the  unhappy  Poles  by  the  Russians 
excited  the  sympathy  of  all  Europe.  Austria,  France,  and  England 
had  recourse  to  diplonmtic  intervention,  which,  however,  produced 
no  result.  Russia  has  not  yet  ceased  to  persecute  her  Catholic  sub- 
jects. Some  three  hundred  priests  are  in  exile  in  Siberia,  and  as  late 
as  1885,  the  new  Bishop  of  Wilna  was  banished  to  Jaroslaw. 


ti4  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

in.— THE  CHURCH  IN  AMERICA  AND  AUSTRALASIA. 


dteCTION  LV.^-THK   CHURCH   IN   BRITISH  NORTH  AMERICA. 

The  Church  in  Canada  under  French  Rule — Diocese  of  Quebec — Bishop  Laval — 
The  Church  under  English  Rule — In  Canada — In  Acadia — In  Newfoundland 
— The  Catholic  Missions — The  Quebec  Act — Present  State  of  the  Church. 

269.  During  the  occupation  of  Canada  by  the  French,  the 
Catholic  religion  was  publicly  professed,  and  was  in  fact  the  only 
religion  practised  in  that  country.  The  Canadian  Church  was  made 
up  mainly  of  French  colonists  and  Christian  Indians.  It  began 
and  for  nearly  fifty  years  continued  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the 
archbishop  of  Rouen.  France  was  then  the  greatest  European  power 
in  the  New  World.  Her  dominion  comprised  all  Nova  Scotia,  New- 
foundland, Labrador,  the  Hudson  Bay  Territory,  the  greater  part  of 
the  States  of  Maine,  Vermont,  and  New  York,  and  extended  in  the 
West  over  the  extensive  valley  of  the  Mississippi  to  the  north  of  the 
Spanish  possessions. 

270.  Such  was  also  the  extent  of  the  diocese  of  Quebec,  over 
which  the  pious  Francis  Laval  was  first  placed  as  vicar-apostolic,  and 
in  1674  as  bishop.  The  new  bishopric  became  immediately  dependent 
on  the  Holy  See.  After  founding  a  seminary  and  establishing  a 
chapter  in  his  episcopal  city,  Bishop  Laval  retired  in  1688,  leaving 
the  Abbe  de  St.  Vallier  as  his  successor  in  the  see  of  Quebec.  "  Bishop 
Laval,''  says  Shea,  "  died  (1708)  as  a  saint,  and  was  venerated  as  one; 
many  sought  his  intercession  with  God,  and  for  nearly  two  centuries 
frequent  miracles  have  been  ascribed  to  him.  The  Church  of  Canada 
in  our  day  has  petitioned  for  the  canonization  of  Bishop  Laval.  As  by 
his  authority  the  Church  was  established  in  New  York,  Michigan, 
Illinois,  and  Wisconsin,  and  the  cross  borne  down  the  current  of  the 
Mississippi,  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States  cannot  be  indif- 
ferent to  the  cause  which  may  Result  to  the  honor  of  public  suffrages 
at  our  altars  one  who  exercised  episcopal  jurisdiction  over  so  vast  a 
part  of  our  territory."  * 

271.  Various  attempts  had  been  made  on  the  part  of  England  to 
extend  her  dominion  over  ''  New  France,"  bufe  the  country  remained 
in  the  possession  of  the  French  until  1713,  when,  by  the  terms  of  the 
Treaty  of  Utrecht,  Newfoundland,  Acadia,  and  the  Hudson  Bay 
Territory  were  ceded  to  Great  Britan.  Finally,  by  the  Treaty  of 
Paris,  in  1763,  North  America  passed  over  wholly  to  England.    There 

^  J.  G.  SHEA,  The.  Catholic  Church  in  Colonial  Days,  p.  343. 

r 


THE  CHURCH  IN  BRITISH  NORTH  AMERICA.  715 

1^ere  at  this  period  about  seventy  thousand  inhabitants  in  Canada,  and 
less  than  fiv6  hundred  of  these  were  English  and  Protestant.  The 
great  majority  were  French  and  Roman  Catholics. 

272.  ''Had  her  ministers,"  writes  Dr.  Mullock/  ^'  either  ordinary 
foresight  or  patriotism,  and  had  a  few  millions  been  expended  on 
the  French  settlements  in  America,  not  alone  Canada,  but  the  whole 
of  the  Western  portion  of  the  continent,  the  Southern  States  bordering 
on  Mexico,  the  lower  provinces  of  New  Brunswick,  Nova  Scotia, 
Newfoundland,  and  Prince  Edward  Island,  would  now  be  French  in 
blood,  language,  and  religion.  .  .  .  The  opposition  of  Louis  XIV. 
to  the  Pope,  the  so-called  '  liberties '  of  the  Gallican  Church,  which 
favored  and  nurtured  Jansenism,  and  subsequently  developed,  during 
ihe  regency  and  reign  of  Louis  XY.,  the  frightful  infidelity  of  Vol- 
taire and  his  associates,  lost  to  France  the  New  World 

Her  glory  in  the  Western  Hemisphere  is  departed.  Forty  millions 
may  hereafter  use  her  language  as  their  vernacular  throughout  the 
world,  while  English  will  be  the  mother-tongue  of  at  least  two  hund- 
red millions  of  the  human  race." 

273.  Both  the  Treaty  of  Utrecht  and  of  Paris  guaranteed  the  free 
exercise  of  the  Catholic  religion  for  Canada.  But  such  stipulations 
proved  no  bar  to  English  intolerance.  The  successive  English  gover- 
nors did  what  they  could  to  undermine  the  Catholic  religion  in  the 
newly  acquired  colony,  for  the  purpose  of  making  Anglicanism  the 
dominant  and  established  religion.  But  all  efforts  of  this  kind  proved 
fruitless,  and  though  persecution  of  a  petty  sort  was  frequently  resorted 
to,  and  the  interests  of  religion  suffered  severely,  the  Canadians  were 
able  to  maintain  their  rights  and  continued  faithful  to  the  Church. 

274.  But  it  was  not  so  in  Acadia  and  Newfoundland.  Acadia,  our 
modern  Nova  Scotia,  which  was  ceded  to  England  at  the  Treaty  of 
Utrecht,  contained  an  entirely  Catholic  population.  In  spite  of  the 
sworn  faith  of  treaties,  the  inhabitants  were  constantly  hampered  in 
the  exercise  of  their  religion.  Their  priests  were  arbitrarily  imprisoned 
or  banished  from  the  province,  and  the  people  were  subjected  to  every 
sort  of  injustice  and  oppression.  In  1756,  seven  thousand  Acadians, 
for  the  sole  reason  that  they  were  Catholics,  were  ruthlessly  torn  from 
their  homes,  deprived  of  all  their  property,  and  scattered  along  the 
American  sea-coast  from  Massachusetts  to  Georgia.  " 

275.  In  Newfoundland  Catholics  were  looked  upon  as  outlaws 
whom  every  petty  tyrant  considered  fit  subjects  for  persecution.  We 
find  the  public  records  stained  with  orders  for  the  burning  of  mass- 

*  Quoted  in  M.  F.  Howlet's  Ecclesiastical  History  of  Newfoundland,  p.  161. 
^  See  Shea,  The  Church  in  Culonial  Days,  ch.  Iv.,  p.  421. 


716  HISTORY  OF  TEE  CHURCH. 

houses,  and  for  the  banishing  of  such  as  dared  to  assist  at  the  Catholic 
worship.  Catholics  were  forbidden  to  do  business  in  the  province,  or 
keep  a  public  house.  No  more  than  two  Catholics  were  allowed  to  live 
in  one  house,  unless  in  the  house  of  a  Protestant.  A  special  order  re- 
quired *'  all  children  born  in  the  country  to  be  baptized  according  to 
law,"  that  is,  to  be  given  up  to  the  ministers  of  the  Anglican  sect. ' 

276.  Catholic  missionaries  from  Canada  had  flourishing  missions 
in  the  out-territory,  amongst  the  Indians  upon  the  Wabash,  the  Illinois, 
and  other  parts  which  now  form  the  States  of  Michigan,  Wisconsin, 
Illinois,  and  Indiana.  But  soon  after  the  transfer  of  Canada  to  Britain, 
the  missionaries  were  obstructed  and  finally  compelled  to  leave  their 
missions,  and  thus  the  whole  of  this  immense  range  of  country  was 
thrown  back  to  its  original  desolation. 

277.  But  the  American  Revolution  and  the  state  of  affairs  in 
Europe  forced  England  to  adopt  a  more  moderate  policy  and  to  respect 
the  religious  feelings  of  her  Catholic  subjects  in  Canada.  To  conciliate 
the  Catholic  Canadians  and  secure  their  allegiance  in  the  approaching 
struggle  with  the  American  colonies,  English  Parliament,  in  1774, 
passed  what  is  known  as  the  Quebec  Act,^  which  legalized  the 
Catholic  Church  in  Canada,  and  confirmed  the  French  Canadians  in 
their  rights  and  possessions  on  condition  of  taking  an  oath  of 
allegiance,  which  was  so  worded  as  not  to  hurt  the  conscience  of 
Catholics. 

278.  Inconsequence  of  the  freedom  which  circumstances  forced 
England  to  grant  to  the  Catholics  in  North  America,  the  Church 
began  to  prosper,  and  its  growth,  especially  during  the  last  half 
century,  has  been  rapid  and  wonderful.  While  in  1825  there  was  but 
the  one  bishopric  of  Quebec,  there  are  at  present  in  British  America 
six  archbishoprics,  twenty  bishoprics,  and  four  prefectures  apostolic, 
with  a  Catholic  population  of  about  two  millions. 

1  HowLET's  Ecclesiastical  History,  p.  178. 

2  The  clause  of  the  Quebec  Act  as  to  the  Catholic  rellj?ion  Is  as  follows ;  "  And  for  the  more  per- 
fect security  and  ease  of  the  minds  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  said  province,  It  is  hereby  declared  that 
his  Majesty's  subjects  professing  the  religion  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  of  and  in  the  same  province  of 
Quebec,  may  have,  hold,  and  enjoy  the  free  exercise  of  the  religion  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  subject 
to  the  Kings  supremacy,  declared  and  established  by  an  act,  made  in  the  first  year  of  the  reign  of 
Queen  Elizabeth,  over  all  the  dominions  and  countries  which  then  did  or  thereafter  should  belong  to 
the  imperial  crown  of  this  realm ;  and  that  the  clergy  of  the  said  Church  may  hold  and  enjoy  their 
accustomed  dues  and  rights,  with  respect  to  such  persons  only  as  shall  profess  the  said  religion." 
The  unfortunate  comments  of  the  Continental  Congress  (1774)  on  the  Quebec  Act  may  be  said 
to  have  been  the  chief  cause  why  the  Canadians  refused  to  join  the  Americans  In  their  struggle 
with  the  mother  country.  In  the  address  to  the  people  of  Great  Britain,  Congress  complained 
that  English  Parliament  had  granted  religious  liberty  in  Canada :  '*  Nor  can  we  suppress  our 
astonishment  that  British  Parliament  should  ever  consent  to  establish  in  that  country  a  religion 
that  has  deluged  your  Island  in  blood,  and  dispersed  impiety,  bigotry,  persecution,  murder,  and 
rebellion  through  every  part  of  the  world." 


r 


THE  CHU  RCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  717 

SECTION   LVI.— THE    CHURCH  IN   THE    UNITED    STATES — COLONIAL   PBRIOD. 

Early  Colonists — Settlement  of  Maryland — Lord  Baltimore — Catholic  Liberality 
— Puritan  Ingratitude — Act  of  Toleration  passed  by  Catholics — Abolished 
by  Protestants— Penal  Laws  against  Catholics  in  Maryland — In  Virginia — 
In  New  York — In  New  England — Puritan  Bigotry — Witchcraft  Frenzy — 
Cruelties  against  the  Indians. 

279.  The  early  settlers  of  the  thirteen  colonies  which  afterwards 
formed  the  "  United  States  of  America "  were  as  unlike  in  their 
religions  views  as  in  their  national  character.  In  1607,  the  Episcopa- 
lians, under  Captain  John  Smith,  took  possession  of  Virginia  ;  in 
1613,  Dutch  Calvinists  established  themselves  in  what  is  the  present 
State  of  New  York  ;  in  1620,  Puritan  Nonconformists,  known  as  the 
''Pilgrim  Fathers,"  landed  at  Plymouth,  and  laid  the  foundation  of 
New  England ;  in  1684,  English  Quakers,  under  the  guidance  of 
Willi  an  Penn,  occupied  Pennsylvania,  while  English  Catholics,  under 
Lord  Baltimore,  founded  the  present  State  of  Maryland. 

280.  Sir  Cecil  Calvert,^  an  English  Catholic  nobleman,  better 
known  as  Lord  Baltimore,  having  obtained  from  Charles  L  a  charter  for 
the  settlement  of  Maryland,  in  1634,  sent  out  his  brother,  Leonard 
Calvert,  and  two  hundred  English  emigrants,  chiefly  Catholics,  to 
establish  a  colony  in  his  new  possessions.  The  new  settlement,  to 
which  the  name  of  St.  Mary^s  was  given,  began  with  Catholics  and 
Protestants  living  together  in  peace,  neither  interfering  with  the  relig- 
ious rights  of  the  other.  Thus  "  religious  liberty,"  says  Bancroft, 
''obtained  a  home,  its  only  home  in  the  wide  world,  at  the  humble 
village  which  bore  the  name  of  St.  Mary's." 

281.  Lord  Baltimore  intended  that  Maryland  should  be  a  place  of 
refuge  for  English  Catholics,  who  had  even  more  reason  than  the 
Puritans  to  flee  from  persecution.  The  political  and  religious  hatred, 
with  which  the  mass  of  the  English  people  regarded  Catholicism  was 
increasing  in  bitterness,  and  the  king  was  continually  harassed  with 
petitions  to  enforce  more  strictly  the  penal  laws  against  Catholic 
recusants.  But  Maryland  was  to  be  something  more  than  a  Catholic 
colony.  It  was  to  be  "  a  free  soil  for  Christianity."  Lord  Baltimore 
purposed  to  make  all  creeds  equal  in  his  province.  To  this  "  Land  of 
the  Sanctuary,"  therefore,  came  the  Puritans  who  were  whipped  and 

1  The  true  founder  of  Maryland  was  Sir  George  Calvert,  father  of  Cecil  Calvert,  who,  shortly 
before  his  death,  In  1532,  had  petitioned  Charles  I.  for  a  charter  of  Maryland.  He  was  Secretary  of 
State  to  James  I.,  but  was  compelled  to  resign  his  office  in  consequence  of  having  become  a  Catholic. 
He  continued,  however,  in  the  favor  of  the  king,  who  created  him  Baron  of  Baltimore  in  the  Irish 
peerage.  Five  Lords  Baltimore  succeeded.  Benedict,  the  fourth  Lord  Baltimore,  renounced  Cath- 
olicism and  became  a  Protestant.    The  title  became  extinct  in  1771. 


718  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

oppressed  in  Anglican  Virginia,  and  the  Quakers  and  Prelatists  who 
fled  from  Puritan  New  England. 

282.  The  Maryland  Catholics,  however,  were  ill  requited  for  their 
magnanimity  by  their  Protestant  guests.  Allying  themselves  to 
Clay  borne,  the  sworn  enemy  of  the  Balti  mores,  the  ungrateful  Puri- 
tans, in  1645.  raised  an  insurrection  against  the  Catholics  and  their 
governor,  and  made  themselves  masters  of  the  province.  The  Jesuit 
missionaries  were  sent  in  chains  to  England,  and  many  Catholics  were 
deprived  of  their  possessions  and  banished.  The  rebellion  was  sup- 
pressed, but  not  till  it  had  wrought  in  the  colony  much  confusion  and 
waste  of  property. 

283.  To  insure  the  continuance  of  peace  and  mutual  confidence 
among  the  colonists,  the  Assembly  of  Maryland,  at  the  instance  of 
Lord  Baltimore,  in  1649,  passed  the  famous  Act  concerning  Religion, 
which  provided  that  no  persons  believing  in  Jesus  Christ  should  be 
molested  in  respect  to  their  religion,  or  the  exercise  thereof,  or  be 
compelled  to  adopt  the  belief  or  exercise  of  any  other  religion  against 
their  consent.  By  the  adoption  of  this  statute  the  Catholic  planters 
of  Maryland  procured  for  their  adopted  country  the  distinguished 
honor  of  being  the  first  of  the  American  States  in  which  toleration  was 
established  by  law.  * 

284.  But  "the  Puritans,**  so  says  Bancroft,  "  had  neither  the 
gratitude  to  respect  the  rights  of  the  government  by  which  they  had 
been  received  and  fostered,  nor  magnanimity  to  continue  the  toleration 
to  which  alone  they  were  indebted  for  their  residence  in  the  colony." 
After  the  execution  of  Charles  I.,  the  Puritan  faction  hastened  to 
-espouse  the  fortunes  of  Cromwell.  They  rose  against  and  deposed  the 
governor  appointed  by  Lord  Baltimore,  and  established  a  government 
of  their  own  liking,  one  of  whose  first  acts  was  to  revoke  the  Toleration 
Act.  The  Provincial  Assembly,  called  together  in  1654,  from  which 
'Catholics  were  rigidly  excluded,  passed  an  act  concerning  religion 
which  declared  that  ^ '  none  who  prof essed  and  exercised  the  Popish 
(commonly  called  the  Eoman  Catholic)  religion,  could  be  protected  in 
the  Province,  but  to  be  restrained  from  the  exercise  thereof.** 

285.  On  the  restoration  of  the  monarchy  in  England   (1660), 

•  The  memorable  ^''Act  of  Toleration,''''  the  first  law  securing  religious  liberty  that  ever  passed  an 
jLmerlcan  legislature,  provided :  ''  Whereas,  the  enforcing  of  the  conscience  In  matters  of  religion 
hath  frequently  fallen  out  to  be  of  dangerous  consequence  In  those  commonwealths  where  it  hath 
been  practised,  and  for  the  more  quiet  and  peaceable  government  of  this  province,  and  the  better 
to  preserve  mutual  love  and  unity  amongst  the  Inhabitants  here,"  it  was  enacted  that  no  person 
"  professing  to  believe  In  Jesus  Christ  shall,  from  henceforth,  be  any  ways  troubled,  molested,  or 
<llscountenanced  for,  or  In  respect  of  his  or  her  religion,  nor  In  the  free  exercise  thereof  within  this 
province, .  •  .  nor  any  way  compelled  to  the  belief  or  exercise  of  any  other  religion,  against  his  or 
her  consent.'    See  J.  G.  Shea,  The  Calholic  Church  in  the  Colonial  Days. 

r 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  7V.i 

Lord  Baltimore  regained  his  rights  as  proprietor,  and  the  Toleration 
Act  was  revived  to  its  fullest  extent.  Peace  and  tranquillity  once 
more  reigned  in  Maryland,  and  remained  undisturbed  until  the  acces- 
sion of  William  and  Mary,  (1688),  when  the  Puritans,  under  Coode, 
for  the  third  time  rose  in  arms,  formed  an  *'  Association  for  the  de- 
fense of  the  Protestant  Religion/'  and  abolished  the  authority  of  Lord 
Baltimore.  Maryland  became  and  remained  a  royal  province  for  a 
quarter  of  a  century. 

286.  The  Maryland  Catholics  now  entered  on  a  period  of  great 
trial.  Religious  liberty  and  political  equality  of  all  Christians  were 
abolished.  In  1692,  the  colonial  Legislature  declared  the  Church  of 
England  to  be  the  established  religion  of  Maryland  ;  disfranchised 
Catholics  and  compelled  them  to  pay  tithes  for  the  support  of  the 
Anglican  Establishment.  By  a  law  passed  in  1702,  all  Protestant 
dissenters  were  entitled  to  the  full  benefit  of  the  acts  of  toleration 
passed  under  William  by  the  English  parliament.  But  this  grace  was 
strictly  withdrawn  from  Catholics,  who  had  been  the  first  to  grant 
toleration  to  other  people. 

287.  In  1704,  an ''Act  to  prevent  the  increase  of  Popery  in  the 
Province,"  forbade  all  bishops  and  priests  to  say  Mass  or  exercise  any 
functions  of  their  ministry  in  public,  and  enacted  that  any  Catholic 
priest  attempting  to  convert  a  Protestant,  or  undertaking  upon  himself 
the  education  of  youth,  should  be  transported  to  England,  that  he 
might  there  undergo  the  penalties  which  English  statutes  inflicted  on 
such  actions.  Catholics  could  hear  Mass  only  in  their  own  houses,  and 
it  was  only  under  this  restriction  that  Catholic  worship  could  be 
practised  in  Maryland  for  a  period  of  seventy  years. 

288.  Another  law  declared  Catholics  incompetent  to  purchase 
lands,  or  to  take  landL  by  inheritance,  and,  moreover,  provided  that  a 
Catholic  child,  by  becoming  a  Protestant,  could  exact  his  share  of 
property  from  his  parents  ''  as  though  they  were  dead."  Catholics 
were  taxed  twice  as  much  as  Protestants.  A  law,  passed  in  1615, 
placed  ' '  Irish  Papists  "  on  a  footing  with  negro  slaves  and  imposed  a 
tax  on  the  importation  of  servants  from  Ireland  "to  prevent  importing 
too  great  a  number  of  Irish  Papists  into  the  Province." 

289.  Anti-Catholic  legislation  was  not  confined  to  Maryland  ;  the- 
penal  laws  of  the  other  colonies  against  Catholics  were  equally,  if  not 
more,  severe.  In  Virginia  the  original  settlers,  who  professed  the 
religion  of  the  English  Episcopal  Church,  embodied  in  their  code 
all  the  ferocious  laws  of  the  mother-country  against  the  Catholics. 
Attendance  at  the  Anglican  service  was  compulsory  ;  non-conformists, 
including  Protestants  of  other  denominations,  were  fined  or  expelled. 


720  HISTORY  OF  TEL  CHURCH. 

Lord  Baltimore  even,  who,  in  1629,  visited  Virginia  on  a  tour  of  ob- 
servation, was  promptly  ordered  to  leave,  because  he  was  a  Catholic.  * 
A  Catholic  was  not  permitted  to  hold  office,  to  vote,  or  to  keep  arms  ; 
he  could  not  even  own  a  horse  worth  over  £5.  An  act  of  1705,  un^ 
paralleled  in  history,  declared  Catholics  incompetent  as  witnesses, 
and  this  fearful  law  was,  in  1753,  extended  to  all  cases  whatever.* 

290.  The  Dutch,  who  settled  in  *'New  Netherland,"  now  the. 
State  of  New  York,  were  zealous  Calvinists,  and  Calvinism  was  the 
acknowledged  religion  of  the  colony.  Yet  no  special  intolerance  was- 
evinced  towards  other  creeds.  In  1683,  after  the  country  had  passed 
into  the  hands  of  the  English,  a  Catholic,  Colonel  Dongan,  was  ap- 
pointed governor  by  the  Duke  of  York — afterwards  James  II. — from 
whom  it  received  its  name.  Under  him  the  first  New  York  Legisla- 
ture convened  and  enacted  a  "  Charter  of  Liberties,"  securing  freedom 
of  conscience  and  religion  to  all  peaceable  persons  who  profess  faith 
in  God  by  Jesus  Christ."  Thus  in  New  York  also  religious  liberty 
was  first  proclaimed  by  Catholics. 

291.  But  the  accession  of  William  and  Mary  to  the  throne 
blasted  all  hopes  of  the  true  faith  in  New  York.  In  1691,  the  Gen- 
eral Assembly  enacted  a  law,  the  so-called  '^  Bill  of  Eights,"  annulling 
the  ^*  Charter  of  Liberties  "  of  1683,  and  denying  *'  liberty  to  any 
person  of  the  Romish  religion  to  exercise  their  manner  of  worship, 
contrary  to  the  laws  of  England."  By  a  law  passed  in  1700  for  the 
purpose  of  checking  the  Catholic  missions  among  the  Indians,  it  was 
enacted  that  every  Jesuit  or  Popish  priest,  coming  into  the  province, 
should  be  subjected  to  perpetual  imprisonment,  and  in  case  of  escape 
and  recapture,  to  the  punishment  of  death.  '  Another  law  excluded 
Catholics  from  office  and  deprived  them  of  the  right  to  vote.  As  late 
as  1778,  Father  De  la  Motte  was  cast  into  prison  in  New  York  for 
saying  Mass. 

292.  The  laws  of  the  New  England   colonies  against   Catholics 

'  "  To  the  Virginians  he  (Lord  Baltimore)  was  not  a  welcome  visitor They  tendered  to  him 

and  his  followers  the  oaths  of  allegiance  and  supremacy.  The  latter  was  one  which  no  Catholic 
could  conscientiously  take,  and  it  was  therefore  refused  by  Baltimore.  His  offer  to  take  a  modified 
oath  was  rejected  by  the  council,  and  they  requested  him  to  leave  the  country."  W.  T.  Brantley 
In  Narrative  and  Critical  History  of  America,  vol.  iii.,  p.  519. 

'  "  Not  even  England  herself  sought  to  crush,  humble,  and  degrade  the  Catholic  as  Virginia  did, 
he  was  degraded  below  the  negro  slave;  for  though  the  negro,  mulatto,  or  Indian,  could  not  be  a 
witness  against  a  white  person,  a  Catholic  could  not  be  put  on  the  stand  as  a  witness  against  white 
man  or  black;  the  most  atrocious  crime  could  with  impunity  be  committed  in  the  presence  of  a  Cath- 
olic on  his  wife  or  child,  whom  he  was  made  powerless  to  defend,  and  his  testimony  could  not  be 
taken  against  the  murderer."    G.  Shea,  The  Catholic  Church  in  Colonial  Days,  p.  410. 

'  Such  was  the  hatred  against  Catholics  and  the  intolerance  of  the  Government,  that,  in  1741,  an 
inoffensive  wayward  Episcopal  clergyman.  Rev.  John  Ury,  was  arrested,  tried,  and  hanged  on  the 
ground  of  his  being  a  Catholic  priest.— See  Shea,  p.  399. 


THE  CHUBCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES.  721 

were  equally  severe.  By  a  statute  of  Massachusetts,  passed  in  1647, 
*'  Jesuits  and  Popish  priests "  were  subjected  to  banishment,  and  in 
case  of  their  return,  to  death.  In  Ehode  Island,  Catholics  were 
excluded  from  the  rights  of  citizenship.  Among  the  Blue  Laws  ^  of 
Connecticut  we  find  one  enacting  that  *'no  priest  shall  abide  in  this 
dominion  ;  he  shall  be  banished,  and  suffer  death  on  his  return.  Priests 
may  be  seized  by  any  one  without  a  warrant." 

293.  Although  the  Puritans  had  fled  from  England  on  account  of 
religious  persecutions,  they  refused  to  grant  to  others  the  liberty  of 
conscience  which  they  claimed  for  themselves.  The  only  approved 
churches  in  the  New  England  colonies  were  those  organized  on  the 
congregational  system  ;  all  others,  the  English  Episcopal  Church 
included,  were  illegal.  And  none  but  members  of  the  approved 
Church  could  be  admitted  freemen.  To  be  a  freeman  one  liad  to  be 
a  Puritan.  Every  year  Guy  Fawkes'  Day  (5th  of  November)  was  cele- 
brated throughout  New  England  by  burning  the  Pope  in  effigy. 
George  Washington,  in  the  beginning  of  the  War  of  Independence, 
checked  "the  ridiculous  and  childish  custom,"  as  it  was  called  by  him. 

294.  Keligious  intolerance  was  carried  to  such  an  extent  by  the 
New  England  Puritans,  that  they  actually  tormented  and  even  put  to 
death  persons  holding  dissenting  doctrines.  By  a  law  of  Massachus- 
etts, passed  in  1657,  "Quakers,  or  other  blasphemous  heretics  "  were 
prohibited  from  emigrating  into  the  colony  ;  if  they  did,  they  were  to 
have  one  of  their  ears  cut  off  ;  and  for  a  third  offence,  they  were  to 
have  their  tongue  bored  through  with  a  hot  iron.  ^  In  1629,  four 
Quakers  were  executed  on  Boston  Common.  Persons  who  conformed 
to  the  observances  of  the  Anglican  Church,  or  who  disappproved  of 
infant  baptism,  were  banished  from  the  colonies.  Eoger  Williams, 
the  first  of  American  Baptists,  was  obliged  to  flee  from  Puritan  intol- 
erance in  Massachusetts  on  account  of  his  theological  views,  especially 
for  denying  the  authority  of  the  magistrates  in  matters  of  religion. 

295.  But  New  Plymouth  disgraced  itself  especially  by  the  many 
judicial  murders  attending  the  witchcraft  frenzy.  Four  persons  were 
put  to  death  for  ^'^  crime  of  witchcraft,"  in  Massachusetts,  in  1645, 
and  three  in  Connecticut,  in  1662.  In  1692,  nineteen  of  twenty-eight 
supposed  witches,  who  had  been  capitally  convicted,  were  hanged  in 
Salem,  and  one,  who  refused  to  plead,  was  pressed  to  death;  while  one 

1  The  Blue  Laws  of  Connecticut  embraced  among  other  provisions  the  following :  "  No  one  shall 
travel,  cook,  make  beds,  sweep  house,  cut  hair,  shave  on  the  Sabbath-day.  No  woman  shall  kiss  her 
child,  and  no  husband  shall  kiss  his  wife,  or  wife  her  husband,  on  the  Lord's  day.  No  one  shall  read 
;  common  Prayer,  keep  Christmas  or  i^aints'  days,  make  mince  pies,  dance,  play  cards,  or  play  on  any 
Instiument  of  music,  except  the  drum,  trumpet,  and  jews'  harp."  See  Archbishop  Spalding's 
Miscellanea. 


722  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

hundred  and  fifty  persons  were  in  prison  on  the  same  charge,  and 
complaints  against  two  hundred  others  had  been  presented  to  the 
magistrates.  ' 

29G.  Most  disgraceful,  and  truly  worthy  of  barbarians,  was  the 
policy  that  guided  the  Protestant  colonists  in  their  dealings  with  the 
aboriginal  inhabitants  of  our  country.  Populous  Indian  tribes, 
who  might  have  been  easily  won  to  Christianity  and  civilization,  were 
literally  exterminated.  In  Khode  Island  the  poor  savages  were  sold 
like  cattle,  while  in  Massachusetts  it  was  the  same  to  shoot  a  wolf,  or 
an  Indian.  It  is  calculated  that  upwards  of  180,000  of  the  poor  savages 
were  slaughtered  in  Massachusetts  and  Connecticut  alone.  While  the 
tribes  evangelized  by  the  French  and  Spaniards  subsist  to  this  day, 
except  where  brought  in  contact  with  the  English  colonists,  all  the 
Indian  tribes  which  formerly  inhabited  the  territory  of  New  England 
Lave  wholly  disappeared  and  exist  only  in  memory.  " 

SECTION  Lvii. — The  Church  in  the  United  States,  Continued. 

The  Revolution — Religious  Freedom  how  Obtained — American  Missions  under 
Foreign  Jurisdiction — Bishop  Carroll — Diocese  of  Baltimore — Ecclesiastical 
Establishments — Baltimore  an  Ai-chbishopric — Archbishops  Neale  and 
Margchal — New  Sees — Bishop  England — Archbishops  Whitfield  and 
Eccleston — Provincial  Councils  of  Baltimore — New  Metropolitan  Sees — 
Archbishop  Kenrick — First  Plenary  Council — Anti-Catholic  Agitation — 
Know-Nothiugism — The  Church  and  the  Civil  War — Archbishop  Spalding 
— Second  Plenary  Council — Third  Plenary  Council — Progress  and  Present 
State  of  the  Church — American  Cardinals. 

297.  It  was  reserved  to  the  Revolution  of  1775  to  change  the 
legal  status  of  the  Catholics  in  America  and  place  them  on  an  equality 
with  other  citizens.  Many  reasons  concurred  to  bring  about  this 
happy  change.  Not  only  had  the  American  Catholics  taken  a  noble 
part  in  the  long  and  fierce  struggle  for  independence,  but  Catholic 
countries,  especially  France  and  Spain,  had  contributed  greatly  to  the 
successful  issue  of  the  contest.  The  Catholics  were  represented  in 
the  Continental  Congress  by  such  men  as  Charles  and   Daniel  Carroll, 

1  J.  Grahame,  History  of  the  United  States  of  North  America,  Book  ii„  ch.  v.  The  same 
author,  in  a  foot-note,  adds :  "  This  Is  nothing  to  the  slaughter  that  was  inflicted  in  the  rofrular 
course  of  justice  or  Injustice  in  England.  Howell,  in  two  letters,  one  dated  Feb.  3,  164-,  the 
other,  Feb.  20, 1647,  says,  that  in  two  years  there  were  indited  in  Suffolk  and  Essex  between 
200  and  300  witches,  of  whom  more  than  half  were  executed."— After  twenty  executions  had  been 
made,  several  Puritan  ministers  addressed  Governor  Phir)s  of  Massachusetts,  thanking  him  for  what 
he  had  done,  and  exhorted  his  Excellency  to  proceed  in  so  laudable  a  work. 

2  From  all  classes— from  Puritans,  from  Dutch  Calvinists,  and  from  English  Episcopalians— the 
poor  Indians  received  the  same  treatment.  "  New  England  waged  a  disastrous  war  of  extermina- 
tlon;  the  Dutch  were  scarcely  ever  at  peace  with  the  Algonqulns ;  the  laws  of  Maryland  refer  to 
Indian  hostilities  and  massacres  which  extended  as  far  as  Richmond."    Bancroft,  II.,  564. 


r 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES,  CONTINUED.  723 

the  former  being  also  one  of  the  signers  of  the  ^'  Declaration  of 
Independence/'  Amongst  the  delegates  who  framed  and  signed  the 
Federal  Constitution  were  two  Catholics — Daniel  Carroll  of  Maryland, 
and  Thomas  Fitzsimmons  of  Pennsylvania. 

298.  The  liberty  of  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States, 
which  had  been  brought  about  by  the  exigencies  of  the  time,  is 
guaranteed  by  Section  3,  of  Article  VI.  of  the  Constitution,  which 
provides  that  ''  no  religious  test  shall  ever  be  required  as  a  qualification 
to  any  office  or  public  trust  under  the  United  States;  "  and  by  one  of 
the  amendments  subsequently  passed,  which  says  :  '^  Congress  shall 
make  no  law  respecting  the  establishment  of  a  religion  or  prohibiting 
the  free  exercise  thereof. '*  Though  liberty  of  conscience  was  granted 
to  Catholics,  still  many  of  the  States  long  refused  them  civil  and 
political  rights.  Thus  the  intolerant  provisions  of  the  colonial  period 
were  abrogated  in  New  York  only  in  1806;  in  Connecticut  in  1816; 
in  Massachusetts  in  1833;  in  North  Carolina  in  1836;  in  New  Jersey  in 
1844;  and  in  New  Hampshire  some  years  ago. 

299.  Before  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution,  the  various 
missions  of  America  were  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  parent  nations. 
Florida  was  subject  to  the  Bishop  of  Cuba ;  the  missionaries  of  the 
Northwest  owed  ecclesiastical  obedience  to  the  Bishop  of  Quebec, 
while  those  laboring  in  the  original  colonies  were  under  the  jurisdic- 
tion of  the  Vicar  Apostolic  of  London.  But  during  the  revolutionary 
war  all  communication  between  the  Catholics  in  the  colonies  and  their 
bishop  was  interrupted. 

300.  On  the  close  of  the  war,  the  American  clergy,  perceiving 
the  manifest  impropriety  of  being  ruled  by  an  English  vicar  apostolic, 
in  1784  petitioned  the  Holy  See  for  the  appointment  of  a  superior 
from  their  midst,  who  should  have  all  the  faculties  of  a  bishop.  On 
their  recommendation,  Pius  VI.  appointed  Father  John  Carroll 
prefect  apostolic,  and  five  years  later,  in  1789,  made  him  bishop  of 
Baltimore.  A  native  of  Maryland,  born  in  1735,  Carroll  had  been 
educated  in  France,  and  had  been  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Jesus 
until  its  suppression  by  Clement  XIV.,  when  he  returned  to  America. 
On  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution,  he  with  his  relative,  the  also 
illustrious  Charles  Carroll  of  Carrollton,  at  once  took  sides  with  his  own 
country.  During  the  war  he  was  appointed  one  of  four  commissioners 
to  visit  Canada  for  the  purpose  of  gaining  over  the  Canadians  to  their 
cause.  *     The  diocese  of  Baltimore  originally  included  all  the  States 

1  The  persons  chosen  for  this  mission  were  Benjamin  Franklin,  Samuel  Chase,  Charles  Carroll  of 
Carrollton,  the  distinguished  Catholic  patriot,  and  Father  John  Carroll,  a  cousin  of  Charles.  The 
embassy  proved  a.failure,  because  the  Canadians  learned  that  the  New  England  colonies  had 


724  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

East  of  the  Mississippi  from  the  Ohio    River,  except  Florida,  and 
numbered  in  all  about  25,000  souls,  with  about  thirty  priests. 

301.  To  provide  more  effectually  for  the  religious  wants  pf  his 
flock.  Bishop  Caroll,  in  1791,  convoked  a  diocesan  synod.  Twenty- 
two  missionaries  were  present.  A  petition  was  adopted,  praying  the 
Holy  See  to  establish  a  new  bishopric,  or  at  least  to  appoint  a  coad- 
jutor to  the  ordinary  of  Baltimore.  In  1800,  Father  Leonard  Neale 
was  consecrated  coadjutor  to  Bishop  Caroll.  The  French  Revolution 
was  the  means  of  promoting  the  cause  of  religion  in  the  young 
Republic.  Between  1791  and  1799,  twenty- three  French  priests 
sought  refuge  on  our  shores — all  men  of  great  worth,  endowed  with  all 
the  qualities  for  missionary  life.  The  arrival  of  these  clergymen 
enabled  Bishop  Caroll  to  supply  the  most  pressing  wants  of  his  vast 
diocese.  ' 

302.  From  the  first  Bishop  Carroll  directed  his  efforts  towards  the 
education  of  the  young  and  the  establishment  of  religious  institutions. 
Under  the  impulse  of  his  apostolic  zeal  arose  colleges  and  convents. 
In  1790,  the  Sulpitians  opened  a  seminary  at  Baltimore  and  the  Jesuits 
a  college  at  Georgetown.  ^  In  1809,  Mount  St.  Mary^s  College,  near 
Emmitsburg,  was  begun  by  Father  Dubois.  Other  important  estab- 
lishments for  the  infant  Church  were  commenced  by  the  Augustinians 
and  the  Dominicans,  the  former  founding,  at  Philadelphia,  the 
convent  and  church  of  St.  Augustine,  in  1790,  the  latter,  under  Father 
Fenwick,  afterwards  first  bishop  of  Cincinnati,  the  convent  of  St. 
Rose,  at  Springfield,  Kentucky,  in  1805. 

303.  The  first  community  of  nuns  in  the  United  States  ^  was 
established  in  1790,  by  Belgian  Carmelites,  at  Port  Tobacco,  whence 
they  afterwards  removed  to  Baltimore.  About  1792,  a  colony  of 
''Poor  Clares,"  driven  from  France,  settled  at  Georgetown.  Meeting 
with  no  success,  they  returned  to  Europe.  Their  convent  was 
occupied  by  a  society  of  **  Pious  Ladies,"  who,  under  the  direction  of 
Archbishop  Neale,  accepted  the  rules  and  vows  of  the  Visitation  nuns 

Included  amonc  their  jfrievances  against  the  British  crown  the  "  Intolerable  tyranny  of  the  King 
of  En^fland  in  allowing  the  practice  of  the  Popish  religion  in  Canada." 

1  Six  of  them  afterwards  became  bishops— Dubois  of  New  York ;  Flaget  of  Bardstown ;  David, 
coadjutor  to  Bishop  Flaget ;  Dubourg  of  New  Orleans ;  Mar«^chal  of  Baltimore,  and  Cheverus  of 
Boston  (afterwards  Cardinal  and  archbishop  of  Bordeaux).  Other  distinguished  exiles  from  France 
were  Richard,  (delegate  in  Congress  from  Michigan);  Ciquard,  (who  labored  among  the  Indians  of 
Maine) ;  Matignon,  Gamier,  and  Badln,  who  was  the  first  priest  ordained  in  the  United  States- 

'  The  Jesuits  opened  a  classical  school  at  Bohemia,  Pennsylvania,  as  early  as  1745.  Among  the 
earliest  known  pupils  of  the  Academy  at  Bohemia  were  Benedict  and  Edward  Neale,  James  Heath, 
and  John  Carroll,  the  future  archbishop  of  Baltimore.— J.  G.  Shea,  "  The  Catholic  Church  in 
Colonial  Days,"  p.  404. 

5  Ursullnes  lauded  and  founded  an  establishment  at  New  Orleans  as  early  as  1727 ;  It  exists  to  this 
<lay.    But  Louisiana  did  not  then  belong  to  the  United  States. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES,   CONTINUED.  725 

and  thus  formed  the  first  community  of  that  order  in  the  United 
States.  Mrs.  Seton,  a  convert  to  Cathohcity,  with  four  associates, 
in  1809.,  founded  the  first  house  of  American  Sisters  of  Charity  at 
Emmitsburg. 

304.  The  number  of  Catholics  having  considerably  increased, 
especially  in  the  large  towns  on  the  Atlantic  coast,  Pius  VII.,  in 
1808,  raised  Baltimore  to  metropolitan  rank,  creating  four  new  sees 
at  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Boston,  and  Bardstown.  In  1803,  Louisi- 
ana was  ceded  to  the  United  States  ;  New  Orleans,  which  had  been 
made  a  bishopric  in  1793,  also  came  under  the  jurisdiction  of  the  arch- 
bishop of  Baltimore.  Archbishop  Carroll  died  in  1815.  His  successor. 
Dr.  Neale,  survived  him  only  two  years.  Archbishop  Marechal  (1817- 
1828)  had  the  consolation  of  dedicating  the  Cathedral  of  Baltimore, 
which  had  been  begun  by  Dr.  Caroll.  New  sees  were  erected  in  1820, 
at  Charleston  and.  Eichmond,  Dr.  John  England,  an  Irish  priest  of 
great  zeal  and  learning,  being  appointed  for  Charleston.  The  sees  of 
Cincinnati  and  St.  Louis  were  next  created.  Fathers  Fenwick  and 
Rosati  being  consecrated  for  the  new  bishoprics. 

305.  The  most  important  event  of  Archbishop  Whitfield^s  (d. 
1834)  administration  was  the  holding  of  the  First  Provincial  Council 
of  Baltimore,  in  1829.  There  were  present,  besides  the  presiding 
metropolitan,  five  bishops,  the  four  remaining  suffragans  being  unable 
to  attend.  Four  years  after,  the  second  Provincial  Council  was  con- 
vened, which  was  attended  by  ten  suffragan  bishops.  On  this  occa- 
sion a  regular  mode  of  nominating  bishops  for  vacant  sees  was  adopted, 
which  was  approved  by  the  Holy  See.  Among  the  other  notable  de- 
crees of  this  Council  are  two,  placing  the  Indian  ^  and  Negro  missions 
in  Liberia  under  the  special  charge  of  the  Society  of  Jeuss. 

306.  Archbishop  Eccleston  was  called  upon  to  preside  over  five  of 
the  Provincial  Councils  of  Baltimore,  which  followed  at  intervals  of 
three  years,  in  1837,  1840,  1843,  1846,  and  1849.  The  most  notable 
decree  of  the  Sixth  Council,  attended  by  twenty-three  bishops,  was 
that  **^the  Most  blessed  Virgin  Mary  conceived  without  sin  is  chosen 
as  the  Patroness  of  the  L^nited  States."  The  sees  of  Oregon  and  St. 
Louis,  meanwhile,  had  become  archbishoprics.  Pius  IX.,  at  the  request 
of  the  Seventh  Provincial  Council,  in  1850,   raised  also  New  York, 

^  The  total  number  of  Indians  living  within  the  dominions  of  the  United  States,  including 
Alaska,  is  calculated  at  300,000,  of  whom  perhaps  one  third  are  Catholics.  In  1874,  the  Bureau  of 
Catholic  Indian  3Iissions  was  established  for  the  purpose  of  representing  to  the  Government  the 
Interests  and  wants  of  the  Catholic  Indians.  The  principal  work  of  the  Bureau  is  the  establishment 
of  Boarding  and  Day  Schools  among  the  Indian  tribes,  of  which  there  exist  thirty-three,  in  charge 
of  religious  communities  with  an  aggregate  of  2,700  pupils.  The^-e  are,  besides,  a  number  of  private 
schools  in  charge  of  Catholic  teachers. 


726  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Cincinnati,  and  New  Orleans  to  Metropolitan  rank.  In  the  newly 
created  provinces  provincial  councils  were  likewise  held,  and  decrees 
passed  which  received  the  sanction  of  the  Holy  See. 

307.  On  the  death  of  Archbishop  Eccleston,  in  1851,  Bishop  Fr. 
P.  Kenrick,  already  famed  as  a  theologian  and  publicist,  was  trans- 
ferred from  Philadelphia  to  the  Archbishopric  of  Baltimore  and 
appointed  Apostolic  Delegate  to  preside  over  the  First  Plenary  Cou7icil 
of  the  entire  episcopate  of  the  country.  The  Council  met  at  Balti- 
more in  1852,  and  thirty-two  archbishops  and  bishops  took  part  in 
its  deliberations.  The  decrees  of  this  Council  related  chiefly  to  eccle- 
siastical discipline,  the  school  question,  and  other  important  matters, 
and  proposed  the  creation  of  eight  new  sees.  They  received  the  sanc- 
tion of  Pius  iX.,  who  also,  by  a  brief  of  1858,  granted  to  the  See  of 
Baltimore  the  prerogative  of  precedence. 

308.  During  the  fifty  years  following  the  Revolution,  Catholics 
were  generally  left  unmolested  in  the  practice  of  their  religion.  About 
this  time,  however,  a  violent  agitation,  amounting  to  persecution,  was 
commenced  against  the  Church  and  its  institutions.  The  ^'  No  Po- 
pery ''  cry  resounded  from  the  pulpits  and  the  press  throughout  the 
land.  Protestant  associations  were  formed  in  every  city  of  the 
Union,  with  the  avowed  object  of  protecting  the  liberties  of  the  coun- 
try against  alleged '^machinations  of  the  Jesuits  and  plots  of  the 
Pope.''  '*  Maria  Monk's  Disclosures,"  as  the  foul  utterances  of  an 
abandoned  woman  were  called,  and  other  vile  volumes,  containing  the 
most  arrant  fictions  that  were  ever  palmed  off  upon  society,  were  con- 
cocted by  unscrupulous  Protestant  ministers,  to  deceive  and  arouse  the 
public  against  Catholicity  and  its  professors.  * 

309.  The  anti-Catholic  crusade  opened  with  the  destruction  of 
the  Ursuline  convent  at  Charlestown  by  citizens  of  Boston,  in  1834, 
and  culminated  in  the  fearful  riots  of  1844,  at  Philadelphia  and  New 
York.  The  flames  broke  out  afresh  in  1853,  when  Archbishop  Bedini, 
the  Pope's  Nuncio  to  Brazil,  visited  the  United  States.  It  was  then 
that  Know-Nothi7igism — a  secret  association  formed  against  the  Cath- 
olic Church — sprang  into  existence  and  committed  fearful  acts  of 
riot  and  bloodshed  in  Louisville  and  several  New  England  towns. 

t  The  concocters  of  the  "  Awful  Disclosures  of  Maria  Monk  "  were  the  Revs.  Bourne,  Brownlee, 
and  Slocum,  Protestant  ministers.  In  1844,  the  "  Native  American  "  party  provoked  a  fearful  riot 
in  Philadelphia,  which  lasted  three  days.  Several  Catholic  churches,  a  house  of  the  Sisters  of 
Charity,  and  a  number  of  pr'vate  dwellings  belonging  to  Catholics  were  destroyed,  besides  many 
Catholics  being  killed.  In  1854  Know-Nothing  mobs  destroyed  Catholic  churches  at  Manchester  and 
Dorchester, New  Hampshire;  at  Bath,  Maine;  and  at  Newark,  New  Jersey,  and,  besides  burning 
a  number  of  houses,  killed  a  large  number  of  Irish  and  German  Catholics,  at  Louisville.  For  an 
account  of  these  anti-CathoUc  movements.  See  Courcey  and  Shea,  History  of  the  Catholic 
C7mrc/j,  chapters  xvl.  and  xxviii.  Also  Archbishop  Spxldisg,  Miscellanea:  "The  Philadel- 
phia Blots." 


THE  CHURCH  IN  THE  UNITED  STATES,   CONTINUED.  727 

To  protect  the  Catholics  from  the  bigotry  and  blind  hatred  of  their 
enemies  required  the  prudence  and  courage  of  such  prelates  as  Arch- 
bishops Kenrick,  Hughes,  Spalding,  and  Purcell. 

310.  From  1861  to  1865,  the  United  States  was  torn  by  a  fierce 
civil  war.  In  that  terrible  conflict  Catholics  were  not  backward  on 
either  side,  but  were  found  in  the  Federal  and  Confederate  armies, 
fighting  for  what  each  side  considered  to  be  their  country  and  their 
rights.  But  while  many  of  the  Protestant  sects  were  divided  into 
hostile  parties,  the  Catholic  Church  preserved  her  unity  throughout 
all  the  States. 

311.  On  the  death  of  Archbishop  Kenrick,  in  1863,  the  learned 
and  eloquent  Bishop  Spalding  of  Louisville  was  called  to  succed  him 
in  the  archbishopric  of  Baltimore.  As  Apostolic  Delegate  he,  in  1866, 
convened  the  Second  Ple7iary  Comicil  of  Baltimore,  which  was  attended 
by  seven  archbishops  and  thirty-eight  bishops.  One  of  the  decrees  of 
the  council  recommended  to  the  Holy  See  the  erection  of  fifteen  new 
episcopal  sees.  Owing  to  the  rapid  development  of  the  country  and 
the  large  increase  of  the  Catholic  population,  due  to  emigration  from 
Europe,  gradually  each  state  became  a  separate  diocese,  and  the  more 
populous  states  themselves  an  ecclesiastical  province,  with  metropoli- 
tan and  suffragan  sees.  San  Francisco  was  made  a  metropolitan  see 
in  1853;  Boston,  Philadelphia,  Milwaukee,  and  Santa  Fe  were  created 
archbishoprics  in  1875  ;  Chicago,  in  1880;  and  St.  Paul,  in  1888. 

312.  Archbishop  Spalding,  who  died  in  1872,  had  a  worthy  suc- 
cessor in  Bishop  Bayley  of  Newark,  whose  place  was  filled  in  1877  by 
Bishop  Gibbons  of  Richmond — now  the  ninth  archbishop  of  Balti- 
more. A  conference  of  American  archbishops  was  held  in  Rome  in. 
1883,  to  discuss  the  questions  affecting  the  interests  of  the  Church  in 
this  country.  The  result  was  the  convening  of  the  Third  Plenaiy 
Council,  which  met  at  Baltimore  the  following  year.  No  such  gather- 
ing had  been  before  witnessed  in  the  history  of  the  American  Church, 
Among  its  attendants  it  numbered  fourteen  archbishops,  sixty  bishops, 

^five  visiting  bishops  from  Canada  and  Japan,  one  prefect  apostolic, 
and  seven  mitred  abbots.  The  appointed  task  of  the  Council  was  to 
promote  uniformity  of  discipline  and  provide  for  the  exigencies 
and  a  closer  organization  of  the  Church  in  America. 

313.  The  progress  of  the  Church  in  the  United  States,  with  its 
multitude  of  Catholic  institutions,  which  have  all  been  created  by  the 
American  Catholics  themselves,  are  almost  without  a  parallel.  The 
Catholic  population  is  estimated  at  8,000,000,  some  placing  it  as  high 
as  10,000,000.  The  hierarchy,  which  receives  fresh  additions  almost 
yearly,  now  consists    of    eighty-one  members, — viz.,    thirteen   arch- 


728  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

bishops,  sixty  bishops,  and  seven  vicars  apostolic,  besides  one  prefect 
apostolic.  There  are  also  eight  mitred  abbots.  The  religious  orders 
and  congregations  of  both  sexes  have  increased  wonderfully  in  number 
as  well  as  in  the  sphere  of  their  operation. 

314.  In  most  of  the  States  are  communities,  many  of  them  very 
large  and  possessing  grand  institutions,  of  the  children  of  St.  Augus- 
tine, St.  Francis,  St.  Dominic,  St.  Ignatius,  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,  St. 
Alphonsus  de  Liguori,  and  St.  Paul  of  the  Cross.  Besides  these, 
there  are  Trappists,  with  two  abbeys  ;  Sulpicians  in  charge  of  two 
Seminaries;  Fathers  of  the  Cross,  a  very  flourishing  order;  Fathers  of 
Mercy;  Priests  of  the  Most  Precious  Blood;  Oblates  of  Mary  Immacu- 
late; Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools;  Brothers  of  Mary,  and 
Alexian  and  Xaverian  Brothers.  Among  the  female  orders  are 
Dominicanesses,  Carmelites,  Ursulines,  Visitation  Nuns,  Sisters  of 
Charity,  of  Mercy,  of  the  Sacred  Heart,  of  St.  Joseph,  of  the  Holy 
Oross,  of  Notre  Dame,  of  the  Good  Shepherd,  Little  Sisters  of  the 
Poor,  Poor  Handmaids,  and  many  others. 

315.  According  to  the  Missiones  Catholicae  Ritus  Z^^mi,  published 
by  order  of  the  Roman  Propaganda  for  1887,  there  are  in  the  Union 
about  thirty-three  different  religious  orders  of  men,  and  fifty  of  women; 
7,030  churches  and  chapels,  with  7496  priests  ;  483  educational  and 
charitable  institutions,  and  2862  parochial  schools  with  an  attendance 
of  over  half  a  million  of  pupils.  Like  Pius  IX.,  who  in  1875  created 
Archbishop  McCloskey  of  New  York  cardinal,  also  His  Holiness,  Pope 
Leo  XIII.,  manifested  his  regard  for  the  Church  in  the  United  States, 
by  giving  the  purple  accompanied  with  the  red  hat  to  another  Ameri- 
can prelate.  Archbishop  Gibbons  of  Baltimore,  in  1886. 

316.  In  spite  of  great  disadvantages  and  losses  from  peculiar  and 
unavoidable  evils,  the  Catholic  Church  in  the  United  States  has  stead- 
ily advanced,  materially  and  spiritually.  This  is  owing,  next  to  God, 
in  a  great  measure  to  the  zeal  and  activity  of  the  pioneer  bishops  and 
missionaries,  who  labored  not  only  to  conserve  and  consolidate,  but 
also  to  extend  the  Church  in  this  country.  Cheverus  and  Matignon 
in  New  England;  Connelly,  Dubois,  and  Hughes  in  New  York;  Con- 
well,  Gallitzin  and  Kenrick  in  Pennsylvania;  England,  Dubourg,  and 
Rosati  in  the  South;  Flaget,  Fenwick,  Brute,  David,  Badin,  and  Ner- 
inckx  in  the  Southwest ;  Rese,  Loras,  Henni,  Cretin,  Heiss,  and 
Kundig  in  the  West;  and  the  two  Blanchets  in  Oregon  and  adjoining 
territories,  performed  noble  work,  and  laid  broad  and  solid  foundations, 
on  which  arose  the  magnificent  edifice  of  the  American  Church. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  MEXICO  AND  SOUTH  AMERICA,  729. 

SECTION  LVIII. — THE  CHURCH  IN  MEXICO  AND  SOUTH  AMERICA. 

Spain  and  the  South  American  Colonies— The  Church  in  Mexico — Under  Santa 
Anna — Bitter  Persecutions — Dissolution  of  the  California  Missions — The 
Church  under  the  Empire — Persecutions  renewed  under  the  Republic — 
Present  State  of  the  Mexican  Church — The  Church  in  Central  and  South 
America — Condition  of  the  Indians — Progress  of  the  Church. 

317.  The  un-Catholic  and  godless  spirit  which,  since  the  middle  of 
the  last  century,  controlled  the  Spanish  Government,  is  responsible  for 
the  loss  of  the  vast  territories  acquired  by  Columbus,  Cortez,  Pizarro, 
and  the  other  great  men  who  planted  the  banner  of  Spain  from  His- 
paniola  to  the  Straits  of  Magellan.  Spanish  rule  received  its  death- 
blow in  South  America  by  the  factions  and  revolutions  which  disturbed 
the  imbecile  reign  of  Ferdinand  VII.  All  her  dominions  in  the  New 
World,  except  Cuba  and  Porto  Rico,  threw  off  their  allegiance  to  Spain 
and  formed  themselves  into  independent  republics. 

318.  The  state  of  affairs  of  the  Mexican  Republic  since  the  estab- 
lishment of  its  independence,  in  1821,  has  not  been  at  all  prosperous.^ 
Conspiracies,  insurrections,  and  civil  wars  have  kept  the  country  in  mis- 
ery and  confusion.  The  supreme  power  was  often  seized  by  some  suc- 
cessful commander,  who,  proclaimed  by  the  troops,  instead  of  chosen  by 
the  people,  was  compelled  to  protect  his  usurped  office  by  armed  force- 
against  military  rivals.  The  Church  suffered  most  heavily.  As  a  gen- 
eral thing  her  welfare  depended  upon  the  party  in  power.  Whenever 
the  Yorkinos,  or  Liberals,  were  in  the  ascendancy,  the  Church,  as  a 
rule,  was  sorely  oppressed. 

319.  The  Constitution  of  1824,  which  was  modeled  somewhat  after 
that  of  the  United  States,  declared  the  religion  of  Mexico  to  *^^  be  per- 
petually the  Roman  Catholic  Apostolic,  which  was  to  be  protected  by 
just  and  wise  laws."  This  did  not,  however,  save  the  Church  from 
persecution.  Under  the  presidency  of  Smita  Anna  (1833-1836)  a 
system  of  spoliation  and  wrong  was  begun.  Congress  decreed  the  sup- 
pression of  the  convents  and  the  dissolution  of  the  Indian  missions;  it 
was  even  proposed  to  confiscate  the  entire  property  of  the  Church,  and 
appropriate  it  to  the  payment  of  the  national  debt. 

320.  Under  the  operation  of  these  iniquitous  laws,  the  lands, 
buildings,  and  cattle  of  the  missions  in  California  were  seized,  under 
the  pretext  that  the  whole  property  should  be  divided  among  the  con- 
verted Indians.  In  fact,  however,  a  few  men  enriched  themselves  by 
plundering  the  property  of  the  poor  red  men.      The   work  of  Father 

1  The  chief  heroes  of  Mexican  Independence  were  devoted  and  patriotic  priests— Hidalgo,  Morelos, 
Matamoras— whose  names  are  to  this  day  enshrined  In  the  hearts  of  the  people,  in  spite  of  all 
political  changes  and  religious  persecution. 


730  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

Juniper  Serra  and  his  associates  was  totally  destroyed  ;  the  savages, 
gathered  together  with  so  much  trouble,  again  wandered  into  the 
woods,  and  the  devoted  missionaries  were  left  without  means  of  sup- 
port. When,  in  1842,  Father  Garcia  Diego  was  appointed  bishop  of 
both  Californias,  he  found  the  Catholic  Indians  reduced  from  30,000 
to  4,000,  their  cattle  from  424,000  to  28,000,  and  their  other  stock  in 
proportion. 

321.  The  arbitrary  and  usurping  conduct  of  Santa  Anna  led  to 
insurrections  and  to  a  war  with  the  United  States,  which  resulted  in 
the  loss  of  extensive  territories— Texas,  New  Mexico,  and  Upper  Cali- 
fornia— to  the  Mexican  Republic.  Santa  Anna  in  consequence  was 
deposed  and  banished  the  country,  and  Herrera  chosen  president  in 
his  place.  The  policy  pursued  by  the  new  president  and  his  successor 
Arista  was  friendly  and  highly  favorable  to  the  Church  ;  but  their 
administration  was  of  short  duration. 

322.  From  1853,  the  history  of  Mexico  is  one  of  revolution  and 
counter  revolution.  In  1856,  under  president  Comonfort  and  his  suc- 
cessor, the  property  of  the  clergy  was  confiscated,  and  civil  wars  con- 
tinued to  distract  the  country.  The  administration  of  Benito  Juarez, 
who  became  president  in  1861,  was  marked  by  sweeping  enactments 
against  the  liberty,  independence,  and  rights  of  the  Church.  Congress 
passed  laws  suppressing  all  monasteries  and  convents,  and  declaring  the 
ecclesiastical  estates  national  property.  Church  property  to  the  value 
of  1300,000,000  was  confiscated  ;  monastic  vows  were  abolished,  and 
religious  were  forbidden  to  live  in  community. 

323.  The  establishment  of  the  Empire  under  the  Austrian  arch- 
duke Maximilian,  in  1863,  was  hailed  with  joy  by  Catholic  Mexico, 
which  had,  up  to  that  time,  groaned  under  the  yoke  of  an  anarchical 
government,  and  mourned  over  the  ruins  and  disasters  of  the  Catholic 
religion.  But  the  expectations  of  the  friends  of  the  Church  were  sadly 
disappointed.  The  emperor,  instead  of  protecting  the  Church,  as  he 
had  promised,  was  busily  engaged  in  enforcing  the  spoliating  decrees 
of  Juarez  and  in  reviving  the  claims  of  the  Spanish  kings  in  matters 
of  religion.  It  was  to  no  purpose  that  the  Mexican  episcopate  remon- 
strated against  the  gross  violation  of  the  rights  of  the  Church,  and  that 
Pope  Pius  IX.  reminded  the  emperor  of  his  duties  as  a  Christian 
prince. 

324.  By  his  attitude  towards  the  Church  Maximilian  lost  not 
only  the  approval  of  the  Holy  See,  but  forfeited  also  the  confidence  of 
the  Mexican  people,  whose  chief  glory  in  all  times  has  been  their 
Roman  Catholic  faith.  The  empire,  in  consequence,  was  brought  to  a 
speedy  end  by  the  Liberal  party,   for  whose  benefits  the  youthful 


THE  CHURCH  IN  MEXICO  AND  SOUTH  AMERICA.  731 

sovereign  had  sacrificed  the  interests  of  the  Church  and  of  a  Catholic 
nation.  Betrayed  by  the  party  in  which  he  had  confided,  Maximilian, 
in  other  respects  a  well-meaning  and  high-minded  prince,  was  made 
a  prisoner,  and,  (on  June  19,  1867,)  barborously  shot  by  order  of 
Juarez,  against  the  remonstrances  of  the  United  States  and  several  of 
the  European  governments. 

325.  The  triumph  of  the  republic  over  the  empire  did  not  put  an 
end  to  revolutions  or  religious  persecutions,  which  continued  almost 
without  interruption  to  the  present  day.  The  Mexican  government, 
which  is  wholly  controlled  by  freemasons  and  freethinkers,  is  as 
antagonistic  to  the  Church  to-day  as  ever.  The  clergy  are 
allowed  no  part  in  the  education  of  youth,  and  are  not  permitted  to 
exercise  any  religious  rites,  or  even  to  speak  on  religious  topics  in  any 
public  institution.  They  are  prohibited  from  wearing  any  distinctive 
dress  in  public,  or  the  slightest  insignia  of  their  calling.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  government  protects  Protestant  missionary  enterprises,  and 
encourages  the  circulation  of  irreligious  and  infidel  writings,  with  the 
view  of  drawing  away  the  people  from  the  mother  Church. 

326.  The  latest  estimates  give  the  population  of  Mexico  at  about 
9,200,000.  Five  millions,  or  rather  more  than  one  half  of  the  popula- 
tion are  pure  Indians,  the  rest,  comprising  a  mixture  of  various  races; 
the  white  or  European  descended  inhabitants  number  about  500,000. 
With  the  exception  of  about  100,000  infidel  Indians  and  a  small 
number  of  Protestants,  the  population  is  entirely  Catholic.  There 
are  in  Mexico  three  archbishoprics  and  eighteen  bishoprics. 

327.  Spain  and  Portugal,  during  the  eighteenth  century, 
permitted  the  persecution  of  religion  and  the  banishment  of  religious 
orders  ;  revolution,  infidelism,  and  wide-spread  ruin  were  the  results. 
In  Central  and  South  America  the  colonies  revolted  one  after  another 
and  set  up  independent  governments.  Imperfectly  peopled  and 
suddenly  torn  from  the  breast  of  the  mother-country,  by  which  they 
were  badly  governed  under  a  Pombal,  Aran  da,  and  their  infidel  suc- 
cessors, some  of  the  South  American  Republics  have  ever  since  strug- 
gled in  the  deadly  grasp  of  anarchy. 

328.  While  Spain  and  Portugal  refused  to  recognize  the  new 
South  American  Eepublics,  they  claimed  all  their  former  rights,  in- 
cluding that  of  episcopal  presentation,  over  these  countries.  Owing 
to  the  opposition  of  the  European  governments,  episcopal  sees  were 
left  vacant ;  confusion  and  laxity  of  morals  became  almost  universal, 
because  there  were  no  bishops  to  maintain  discipline.  It  was  not  till 
1827,  that  Pope  Leo  XII.,  disregarding  claims  which  could  no  longer 
be  upheld,  provided  for  the  reorganization  of  the  hierarchies  in  the 


732  BISTORT  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

new  American  States.  At  the  request  of  Dom  Pedro  I.,  a  similar 
provision  was  made  for  the  Empire  of  Brazil. 

329.  In  Central  and  South  America,  as  well  as  in  Mexico,  the 
Indian  element  in  the  population  is  an  important  one.  Fully  two 
thirds  of  the  inhabitants  in  all  these  countries  consist  of  aboriginal 
'*  Indians'*  and  mixed  races  ;  the  number  of  Europeans  and  their 
descendants  in  some  is  very  small  and  on  the  decrease.*  The  greater 
part  even  of  the  politicians  "  who  have  been  at  the  head  of  South  Amer- 
ican republics  since  their  separation  from  the  European  governments 
has  been  of  Indian  origin. 

330.  The  Catholic  Spaniards  and  Portuguese  did  not  begin 
colonizing  the  new  world  by  proscribing  the  indigenous  inhabitants ; 
they  converted  and  elevated  them  ;  they  even  intermarried  with  them  ; 
in  a  word,  like  Christians,  they  sought  to  civilize  the  aboriginal  Indians 
of  America.  A  barbarous  and  savage  tribe,  however,  is  not  lifted  in 
one  generation  to  the  state  of  the  civilized  nations  in  Europe.  If  it 
required  centuries  before  Christianity  could  effect  a  marked  change 
in  the  life  of  our  European  forefathers,  we  must  not  expect  the 
Indians  to  advance  more  rapidly  on  the  path  of  civilization. 

331.  The  protracted  civil  wars  in  the  Spanish  American  States 
have  had  the  effect  of  greatly  retarding  the  growth  of  religion.  Hap- 
pily there  are  now  abundant  signs  of  the  beginning  of  a  time  of  peace, 
in  which  the  Church  will  be  able  to  regain  lost  ground,  at  least  in 
most  of  these  countries,  above  all,  by  providing  for  the  education  of 
the  young.  Brazil,  Chili,  and  Peru  especially,  have  given  the  most 
assuring  evidences  of  a  vigorous  religious  life.  Among  the  religious 
orders  laboring  in  Central  and  South  America  are  the  Jesuits,  Fran- 
ciscans, Dominicans,  Redemptorists,  Passionists,  and  the  Fathers  of 

.the  Holy  Ghost  and  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Mary.  Institutions 
of  learning  and  of  charity  have  been  founded  in  all  parts  of  South 
America. 

332.  The  number  of  dioceses  in  Spanish  America,  including  the 
West  Indies  and  the  Mexican  Republic,  has  increased  from  forty-seven 
in  the  beginning  of  the  present  century,  to  ninety-five.  This  number 
includes  fifteen  archbishoprics.  To  these  must  be  added  one  arch- 
bishopric and  twelve  suffragan  sees  in  Brazil.  Except  in  the  extreme 
South  and  the  still  imperfectly  explored  interior  of  South  America, 

*  In  Central  America,  as  in  Mexico,  the  great  mass  of  the  population  consists  of  aboriginal  Indians, 
mulattoes,  negroes,  and  mixed  races.  Of  the  population  of  Peru  and  Chill,  the  two  most  pros- 
perous of  the  South  American  republics,  fully  two-thirds  are  of  Indian  and  mixed  races.  See  S. 
Keltie,  Statesman'' h  Year-Booktor  1887. 

2  Father  Hidalgo,  "  the  Washington  of  Mexico,"  and  Juarez,  late  president  of  that  republic, 
were  of  Indian  descent. 


THE  CHURCH  IN  AUSTRALIA.  733 

paganism  may  be  said  to  have  been  completely  banished  from  the 
land  by  the  old  missioners.  The  Catholic  population  in  all  Spanish 
and  Portuguese  America  is  estimated  at  about  44,000,000.  Adding 
to  these  the  number  of  Catholics  in  the  United  States  and  British 
America,  the  entire  Catholic  population  in  the  New  World  is  at  least 
54,000,000. 

SECTION  Lix. — The  Church  in  Australia. 
Anglican  Intolerance — First  Missionaries — Vicar  General  UUathorne — Vicariate 
Apostolic  of  New  Holland— Erection  of  Episcopal  Sees— Archbishop 
Folding — First  Provincial  Council — Missions  among  the  Australian  Natives 
— New  Sees — Second  Provincial  Council — Cardinal  Moran — First  Plenary 
Council. 

333.  The  religious  history  of  Australia,  or  Australasia,  which 
term  includes  the  British  colonies  of  Australia,  Tasmania,  and  New 
Zealand,  begins  with  the  year  1787,  when  these  islands  became  penal 
colonies  of  England.  '  Among  the  convicts  transported  to  Australia, 
were  many  Irish  Catholics,  whose  religion,  joined  with  patriotism, 
was  their  only  crime.  Instead  of  being  ministered  to,  as  they 
requested,  by  Catholic  priests,  they  were  driven,  even  with  the  whip, 
to  assist  at  the  Anglican  service,  as  no  other  religion  was  then  tolerated 
in  the  colonies. 

334.  In  1818,  Pius  VII.  established  the  vicariate  apostolic  of 
Mauritius,  with  jurisdiction  also  over  the  Australasian  islands.  For 
the  Australian  colonies  the  Rev.  Mr.  Flynn  was  appointed,  on  whom 
the  Holy  See  had  conferred  the  title  of  archpriest,  with  power  to 
administer  confirmation.  But  the  colonial  government,  which  con- 
sisted mostly  of  Protestant  ministers,  could  ill  brook  the  presence  of  a 
Catholic  priest  in  the  islands  :  so,  when  Father  Flynn  arrived  in 
Australia,  he  was  at  once  seized,  put  in  prison,  and  finally  sent  back 
to  England. 

335.  This  intolerance  of  the  colonial  authorities  gave  great  offense, 
even  in  Protestant  England.  To  reconcile  public  feeling,  the  English 
Government  was  obliged,  in  1820,  not  only  to  permit  two  Catholic 
priests  to  serve  the  Irish  exiles  in  the  Australian  colonies,  but  also  to 
grant  them  a  yearly  support.  The  two  missionaries.  Father  Therry 
and  Connolly,  chose,  the  former  New  South  Wales  as  the  field  of  his 
labors,  the  latter,  Tasmania,  or  Van  Diemen's  Land.     In  the  face  of 

'  This  means  of  getting  rid  of  criminals  dated  from  the  reign  of  Charles  H.,  when  magistrates 
began  to  sentence  certain  convicts  to  the  North  American  colonies.  Finally,  transportation  was 
legally  established  by  an  Act  of  Parliament,  in  1717.  After  the  Declaration  of  American  Indepen- 
dence, penal  settlements  were  established  in  the  Australian  islands.  But  the  Infected  importation 
of  criminals  was  opposed  by  the  colonists,  and  met  with  the  threat  of  secession,  which  compelled 
the  English  Government,  in  1857,  to  definitely  abolish  the  system  of  transportation. 


734  mSTOBT  OF  TEh  CHURCH. 

continual  opposition  on  the  part  of  the  colonial  authorities,  these 
brave  pioneers  won  a  footing  in  the  new  continent.  Meanwhile, 
Catholic  emancipation  in  England  had  borne  its  fruits  ;  it  had  secured 
liberty  also  to  the  Catholics  in  the  British  colonies.  There  being 
no  further  opposition  made  on  the  part  of  the  Government,  other 
priests  volunteered  their  services  for  the  Australian  missions. 

336.  In  1832,  the  Rev.  W.  Ullathor7iey  a  Benedictine,  now  bishop 
of  Birmingham,  England,  was  appointed  Vicar  General  and  Visitor 
Apostolic  of  that  desolate  mission  by  the  Holy  See.  ^  There  were 
then  in  whole  Australia  and  New  Zealand  only  one  partly  finished 
church,  two  chapels,  and  four  free  schools,  in  charge  of  only  three 
priests.  The  result  of  his  zeal  and  activity  soon  became  manifest. 
The  Propaganda  at  Rome  now  began  to  pay  special  attention  to  the 
Australian  missions,  and  in  1835  named  the  Rev.  Bede  Folding,  a 
Benedictine  from  England,  Vicar  Apostolic  of  '^  New  Holland, '"*  which 
comprised  the  whole  of  Australia,  besides  Tasmania,  Norfolk,  and 
other  islands. 

337.  On  arriving  in  Australia,  Bishop  Folding  found  a  destitute 
flock  scattered  over  an  immense  territory.  His  first  care  was  to 
secure  fellow-laborers  for  this  extensive  vinyard.  For  this  purpose  he 
sent  Vicar  General  Ullathorne  to  Europe,  whose  mission  resulted  so 
successfully  that  soon  he  had  twenty-three  priests  at  his  command. 
In  1840,  the  first  Sisters  of  Mercy  arrived  from  Ireland ;  they  were 
charged  with  the  care  of  the  orphans  and  female  prisoners.  The 
<;ause  of  religion  thus  greatly  advanced,  and  soon  the  meager  and 
incipient  flock  began  to  increase  wonderfully.  Five  years  after  the 
-arrival  of  Bishop  Folding,  the  Catholics  already  formed  one  third  of 
all  the  inhabitants  in  the  colonies,  and  their  number  was  yearly  in- 
creased by  immigration  as  well  as  by  numerous  conversions  among  the 
Protestant  colonists,  of  whom  in  some  years  as  many  as  two  hundred 

.and  more  returned  to  the  true  Church. 

338.  The  rapid  growth  of  the  Church  in  the  new  Continent 
^caused  Pope  Gregory  XVI.,  in  1842,  to  erect  the  vicariate  of  ^^  New 
Holland  ^'  into  an  ecclesiastical  province.  Sydney  became  a  metro- 
politan see,  with  two  suffragan  bishoprics  at  Adelaide,  in  New  South 
Wales,  and  Hobart  Town,  in  Tasmania.  In  1844,  Archbishop  Folding 
held  his  First  Frovincial  Cou7icil ;  it  was  attended  by  two  suffragan 

>  It  was  Dr.  Ullathorne,  who  first  informed  the  world  in  a  letter  published  among  the  Annals  of 
the  Propagation  of  the  Faith,  how  the  poor  Irish  exiles  were  treated  in  Australia.  "  It  was 
forbidden  them  to  speak  Irish  under  pain  of  fifty  strokes  of  the  whip ;  and  the  magistrates,  who  for 
tJie  most  part  belonged  to  the  Protestant  clergy,  sentenced  also  to  the  whip  and  to  close  confinement 
those  who  refused  to  go  to  hear  their  sermons,  and  to  assist  at  a  service  which  their  consciences 
disavowed." 


THE  CHURCH  IN  AUSTRALIA.  735 

bishops  and  thirty-three  missionaries  from  all  parts  of  the  Australian 
Continent.  The  most  important  decrees,  adopted  by  this  council, 
bore  upon  the  life  and  manners  of  the  clergy,  the  founding  of 
Catholic  schools  in  all  the  missions,  and  on  the  preservation  and 
administration  of  Church  property. 

339.  Thus  far,  but  little  had  been  done  for  the  evangelization  of 
the  aboriginal  inhabitants.  The  few  missionaries  that  could  be 
spared  from  Europe  were  insufficient  to  answer  the  exigencies  of  the 
Catholic  immigrants  that  yearly  arrived  in  great  numbers  to  settle 
in  the  Southern  Continent  Before  the  Church  authorities  could 
think  of  undertaking  the  conversion  of  the  native  tribes,  Protestants 
had  practically  occupied  that  field.  Episcopalian  and  Wesleyan 
missioners  rivalled  each  other  in  the  endeavor  to  christianize  the 
Australian  natives.  But  in  spite  of  every  temporal  advantage,  all 
their  efforts  met  with  signal  failure.  Not  even  a  solitary  pagan  is 
known  to  have   been  converted  byProtestant  missioners. 

340.  Far  different  are  the  results  that  the  Catholic  missioners 
achieved  among  the  aborigines  of  Australia.  Father  Therry,  the 
pioneer  priest  of  Australia,  already  preached  to  the  natives  and  made 
some  converts.  It  was  in  1845  that  the  evangelization  of  the  Austra- 
lian natives  was  regularly  begun.  In  that  year  two  Spanish  Benedic- 
tines, Fathers  Serra  and  Salvado,  commenced,  in  Western  Australia, 
one  of  those  settlements  so  often  undertaken  by  the  earlier  followers 
of  St.  Benedict  for  the  civilization  of  barbarous  nations.  The  first 
years  of  the  mission  were  filled  with  severe  trials  and  sufferings  ;  but 
the  untiring  zeal  and  energy  of  the  two  missioners  overcame  every 
obstacle. 

341.  At  New  Nor  da,  as  this  Benedictine  colony  is  called,  a  large 
native  settlement  has  grown  around  the  monastery,  where  aborigines 
of  Australia,  whoni  Protestant  missionaries  have  declared  incapable 
of  being  civilized,  are  to  be  seen  busy  in  cultivating  the  soil  and  in 
every  kind  of  handicraft  and  workmanship,  or  living  as  monks,  for 
some  of  them  have  been  received  into  the  Benedictine  order.  The  set- 
tlement is  still  a  flourishing  one  and  includes,  besides,  three  branch 
missions  in  other  parts  of  the  colony.  The  founders  of  New  Norcia, 
which  in  1867  was  made  an  Abhey  NuUius,  were  both  elevated  to  the 
episcopal  dignity  ;  Father  Serra  becoming  the  coadjutor  bishop  of 
Perth,  while  Salvado  was  made  bishop  of  Port  Victoria,  in  1849,  but 
continued  to  reside  at  Neiv  Norcia,  of  which  he  became  first  Lord  Abbot. 
342.  There  are  Catholic  natives  also  in  the  archdiocese  of  Sidney 
as  well  as  in  some  other  dioceses.  In  the  North  of  Australia,  at  Port 
Victoria,  German  Jesuits,  and  in  the  South,  priests  of  the  Congrega- 


738  BISTORT  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

tion  of  the  Sacred  Heart  of  Mary,  have  laid  the  foundations  of  new 
missions  for  the  evangelization  of  the  natives.  In  New  South  Wales 
the  entire  tribe  of  the  Burragorang  has  been  won  to  the  Church.  ^ 

343.  As  the  mighty  tide  of  emigration  from  the  British  Islands, 
especially  from  Ireland,  set  in,  the  Catholic  population  increased 
rapidly  in  Australia.  Hence  bishoprics  were  soon  found  necessary  in 
all  the  larger  towns.  In  1866,  the  Province  of  Sydney  counted  one 
archbishopric  and  nine  suffragan  sees.  There  were,  besides,  four  bish- 
oprics in  Tasmania  and  New  Zealand,  which  until  lately  were  im- 
mediately subject  to  the  Holy  See.  The  few  hundred  oppressed 
Catholics,  who  on  the  arrival  of  the  first  vicar  apostolic,  thirty  years 
ago,  formed  the  entire  Church,  had  increased  to  several  hundred 
thousand  souls. 

344.  In  view  of  the  rapid  growth  of  the  Church  in  the  southern 
hemisphere.  Archbishop  Folding  was  called  upon  to  convene  and  pre- 
side over  the  Second  Provincial  Council,  which  met  at  Melbourne,  in 
1869.  The  decrees  passed  by  the  Fathers  inculcate  the  supreme  ne- 
cessity of  Catholic  education  and  urge  the  establishment  of  parochial 
schools,  as  well  as  normal  schools  for  the  training  of  Catholic  teachers. 
In  1874,  Melbourne  was  raised  to  Metropolitan  rank,  receiving  five 
suffragan  sees,  while  Sydney  retained  six  suffragan  bishoprics. 

345.  Archbishop  Folding  died  in  1877;  he  was  succeeded  by  the 
Most  Kev.  Bede  Vaughan.  On  his  death,  in  1884,  Bishop  Moran  of 
Ossory,  one  of  Ireland^s  most  learned  prelates,  was  promoted  to  the 
colonial  Archbishopric  of  Sydney.  The  first  great  act  of  Archbishop 
Moran,  who  meanwhile  had  been  created  cardinal,  was  to  convene  the 
First  Australian  Plenary  Council,  which  met  at  Sydney,  in  1885.  All 
the  bishops  of  Australia  and  New  Zealand,  to  the  number  of  twenty, 
with  two  archbishops,  were  present  or  represented.  Among  the  acts 
of  the  Council  was  a  petition  to  the  Holy  See  for  the  erection  of  new 
sees  and  vicariates,  in  behalf  partly  of  the  Maoris,  or  natives,  of  New 
Zealand. 

346.  According  to  the  Missiones  Catholicce  Ritus  Latini,  the 
Church  in  Australia  and  New  Zealand  numbers  about  600  priests,  some 
1100  churches  and  chapels,  over  700  parochial  schools,  which  are 
attended  by  95,000  pupils.  The  Catholic  population  is  about  650,000,. 
and  this  flock  is  ruled  by  a  hierarchy  of  five  archbishops — Sydney, 
Melbourne,  Adelaide,  Brisbane,  and  Wellington  in  New  Zealand — 
seventeen  bishops,  and  four  vicars  apostolic. 

»  "  Tbe  offer  made  by  the  Government  of  New  South  Wales,  of  three  hundred  thousand  acres 
of  land  to  any  mlssioners  who  would  undertake  to  civilize  the  natives  within  that  colony,  has  been 
accepted  by  His  Holiness  the  Pope.,"    Catholic  Minsions,  December  1887. 


CONTRO  VERSIES  AND  HERESIES.  737 

CHAPTER  III. 


SCHISMS  AND   SECTS. 


SECTION  LX.  CONTROVERSIES  AND  HERESIES. 

Bull  of  Alexander  VII.  against  Jansenism — The  "  Formulary  " — Jansenlst  Sub- 
terfuges— The  "Clementine  Peace"— Quesnel — The  Bull  Unigenitus — The 
Appellants — Port  Royal — Jansenist  Church  of  Holland— Molinos — His 
Quietism — Articles  of  Issy— F6nelon's  "Maxims  of  the  Saints" — John 
Ronge— Abbg   Chatel— The  Old  Catholics— In   Germany — In  Switzerland. 

347.  The  Bull  of  Alexander  VII.,  declaring  that  the  Five  Propo- 
sitions condemned  by  his  predecessors  were  really  the  tenets  of 
Jansenius,  and  were  contained  in  his  book,  was  generally  received 
with  submission  in  France.  To  meet  the  miserable  subterfuges  of  the 
Jansenists,  the  Pope  imposed  on  all  ecclesiastics  the  subscription  of  a 
Formulary  declaring  unreserved  assent  to  the  Papal  decision.  Four 
I)ishops — those  of  Angers,  Beauvais,  Pamiers,  and  Arlet — however, 
refused  to  sign  the  Formulary,  except  with  the  evasive  distinction 
between  question  of  right  and  question  of  fact, 

348.  On  the  former  question  the  Jansenist  party  admitted  the 
Churches  infallibility  and  the  duty  of  entire  submission;  but  on  the 
^'  question  of  fact,"  that  is  on  the  question  whether  a  book  contains 
certain  specified  errors,  they  maintained,  the  Church  could  not  pro- 
nounce with  infallibility,  and  that  it  is  enough  if  the  faithful  received 
her  decision  with  respectful  silence  {silentium  ohsequiosum).  After 
much  delay  and  strife,  the  refractory  prelates  consented,  during  the 
pontificate  of  Clement  IX.,  to  subscribe  the  papal  Formulary,  and 
apparently  became  reconciled  to  the  Holy  See. 

349.  This  memorable  event  is  commonly  called  the  Peace  of 
Clement;  but  that  peace,  which  was  attended  by  so  much  fraud  and 
intrigue  on  the  part  of  the  sectaries,  was  of  short  duration.  Despite 
of  all  the  condemnations,  Jansenism  continued  to  infect  the  French 
clergy.  The  controversy  was  revived,  in  1702,  by  the  well-known  dis- 
pute on  the  so-called  Case  of  Conscience  and  by  the  Oratorian,  Pasquier 
Quesnel,  whose  celebrated  work,  entitled  "  Moral  Reflections  on  the 
New  Testament,"  contained  all  the  most  obnoxious  doctrines  of 
Jansenism. 

350.  Pope  Clement  XI.  was  not  slow  in  adopting  repressive 
measures  against  the   daring  sectaries.     In  his  Bull  Vineam  Domini 


738  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

he  condemned  the  theory  of  "  respectful  silence/^  and  insisted  that 
Catholics  were  bound  to  give  full  and  undoubting  consent  to  the 
decisions  of  the  Church.  In  the  celebrated  Bull  Unige7iitus,  of  1713, 
he  condemned  one  hundred  an(l  one  propositions  from  QuesneFs  book 
as  false,  impious,  and  even  as  heretical.  Some  of  the  French  clerg}', 
headed  by  Cardinal  Noailles,  archbishop  of  Paris,  appealed  against  tlie 
last  named  Bull  to  a  future  Council,  from  which  circumstance  they 
were  called  Appellants.  This  step  was  followed,  in  1718,  by  the  publi- 
cation of  the  Bull  Pastoralis  on  the  part  of  the  Holy  See,  excom- 
municating those  who  refused  to  obey  the  bull  Unigenitus. 

351.  Louis  XIV.,  always  a  determined  foe  of  Jansenism,  lent. all 
his  support  to  the  measures  of  the  Popes  against  this  dangerous 
heresy.  The  Cistercian  Convent  of  nuns  of  Port  Royal  de  Paris  was 
the  great  center  of  the  Jansenist  movement.  Its  abbess  Angelique, 
the  sister  of  Antoine  Arnauld  and  the  pupil  of  Saint-Cyran,  dissuaded 
the  nuns  from  frequent  Communion,  on  the  ground  that  a  less  frequent 
reception  would  increase  their  desire  for  the  sacrament.  The  nuns  of 
Port  Royal  refusing  to  subscribe  the  Papal  Formula,  were  interdicted 
and  forbidden  to  receive  novices.  Remaining  obstinate,  the  deluded 
religious  by  royal  order  were  all  expelled,  and  their  convent  was  utterly 
destroyed,  in  1710. 

352.  After  the  death  of  Quesnel,  in  1719,  the  Jansenist  contro- 
versy gradually  relaxed  in  France.  Cardinal  Noailles  recanted  in  1728, 
shortly  before  his  death,  and  his  example  was  followed  by  the  greater 
number  of  the  Appellant  bishops  and  by  the  Sorbonne.  A  few  bishops, 
however,  and  a  number  of  priests,  chiefly  regulars,  obstinately  refused 
to  accept  the  Bull  Unigenitus,  preferring  exile  to  submission. 
What  they  had  failed  to  accomplish  by  force  and  intrigue,  the  Jansen- 
ists  now  endeavored  to  obtain  by  pretended  miracles.  At  the  tomb  of 
a  certain  Francis  of  Paris,  who  died  in  1727,  and  was  reckoned  very 
holy  by  the  Jansenists  on  account  of  his  extravagant  austerities, 
numerous  miracles  were  reported  to  have  taken  place.  In  crowds  the 
people  visited  the  grave  of  the  Jansenist  Saint,  and  many  fell  into 
pretended  ecstasies  and  horrible  convulsions,  which  gained  for  the 
fanatical  sectaries  the  name  of  Convulsionaries.  New  disturbances 
arose  when  Archbishop  Beaumont  of  Paris  and  other  bishops  in  1  749 
instructed  their  clergy  to  refuse  the  sacraments  to  obstinate  Appel- 
lants. The  French  parliament  interfered  and  inflicted  severe  punish- 
ment on  priests  who,  faithful  to  their  duty,  obeyed  the  instructions  of 
their  ecclesiastical  superiors. 

353.  Many  French  Jansenists  fled  to  Holland,  where,  with  the 
assistance  of  the  Vicar  Apostolic  Peter  Kodde,  and  Dominic  Varlet, 


r 


CONTROVERSIES  AND  HERESIES.  139 

titular  bishop  of  Babylon,  '  they  formed  an  independent  Church,  with 
Utrecht  as  a  centre.  The  Ja7isenist  Church  of  Holland  continues  to 
the  present  day.  It  numbers  less  than  5000  souls  and  is  ruled  by  one 
archbishop  and  two  bishops.  In  point  of  doctrine  and  discipline  the 
Dutch  Jansenists  remain  just  where  they  were  at  the  time  of  their 
separation  from  the  CathoKc  Church.  They  protested,  however, 
against  the  definition  of  the  Immaculate  Conception  and  Papal 
Infallibility. 

354.  Michael  de  Molinos,  a  Spanish  priest,  advocated  a  system  of 
piety,  which  obtained  the  name  of  Quietism..  In  his  work  entitled 
'^  Spiritual  Guide, ^'  Molinos  maintained  that  Christian  perfection  con- 
sists in  a  state  of  perfect  rest  and  quiet,  in  which  the  soul,  remaining 
wholly  passive  under  the  influence  of  God^s  Spirit,  neither  forms  any 
acts  nor  is  moved  by  a  fear  of  hell  or  a  desire  for  heaven.  In  1685, 
Pope  Innocent  XI.  condemned  sixty-eight  propositions  of  Molinos  ;  the 
author  himself  was  confined  in  a  convent  at  Rome,  where,  after 
recanting  his  errors,  he  died,  reconciled  to  the  Church,  in  1696. 

355.  The  doctrines  of  Molinos  were  taught,  in  a  modified  form,  by 
Madame  Guyon,  a  woman  of  extraordinary  piety  and  purity  of  life. 
Her  Quietist  ideas  she  gave  to  the  world  in  a  number  of  mystical 
treatises,  of  which  the  following  are  the  principal  ones  :  "  A  Short  and 
Easy  Method  of  Prayer  ; '*  '^  Spiritual  Torrents;"  and  "Mystical 
Sense  of  the  Canticles."  Her  writings,  giving  great  offense,  were  ex. 
amined  and  condemned  by  a  commission  of  bishops  which  met  at  Issy, 
in  1695,  and  of  which  the  celebrated  Fenelon  and  Bossuet  were 
members.  The  commission  drew  up  thirty-four  articles  concerning 
the  sound  maxims  of  a  spiritual  life — Articles  of  Issy — which  Madame 
Guyon  humbly  subscribed.     She  died  a  very  edifying  death,  in  1717. 

356.  In  the  condemnation  of  the  writings  of  Madame  Guyon 
Fenelon  had  acquiesced  ;  but  as  she  made  a  formal  submission  to  the 
Church,  he  vindicated  her  character.  Moreover,  in  a  work  entitled 
"  Maxi^ns  of  the  Saints"  Fenelon  defended  the  Quietist  idea  of  ^'holy 
indifference  as  to  eternal  bliss  or  woe,"  springing  from  a  pure  and  dis- 
interested love  of  God.  Fenelon  was  answered  by  many  doctors  of  the 
Sorbonne  and  refuted  by  Bossuet,  and  his  book  was  condemned  by 
Pope  Innocent  XII.  in  1699.  Fenelon  made  a  most  edifying  submis- 
sion by  publicly  denouncing  his  own  book. 

He  had  been  Vicar  General  to  Bishop  Saint  Vallier  of  Quebec,  and  for  several  years  had  labored 
zealously  as  a  missionary  among  the  Illinois  and  other  tribes  in  the  Mississippi  Valley.  But  on  his 
return  to  Europe,  where,  in  1718,  he  was  raised  to  the  episcopacy  as  bishop  of  Babylon,  he  avowed  his 
Jansenistical  doctrines,  withdrew  into  Holland,  and  took  an  active  part  in  establishing  the  Jansen- 
ist  Church  of  Utrecht.  He  consecrated  four  successive  pretended  archbishops  and  died  in  1742, 
after  having  been  excommunicated  by  three  successive  popes.  Shea,  the  Cath.  Church  in  Colo- 
nial Days,  p.  556. 


740  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

357.  Jo/m  Eonge,  an  apostate  priest,  became  the  founder  of  a  sect 
in  Germany,  which,  notwithstanding  the  thorough  Protestant  and 
radical  principles  it  professed,  called  itself  the  German  Catholic,  also 
the  Chrutian  Catholic  and  Apostolic  Church.  Ronge,  who  was  hailed 
by  the  Liberal  and  Protestant  factions  of  Germany  as  another  Luther, 
rejected  all  but  two  sacraments.  The  remnant  of  this  sect,  which 
was  largely  composed  of  Protestants,  subsequently  joined  the  national 
Protestant  Church  of  Prussia,  and  has  since  ceased  to  exist  as  a  dis- 
tinct denomination.  Ronge  died  impenitent,  in  1887.  Attempts  have 
been  made  also  to  establish  an  independent  National  Catholic  Church 
in  various  other  countries  ;  in  France  by  the  A  hhe  Francis  Chdtel ;  in 
Belgium  by  Ahhe  Helsen  ;  and  in  Poland  by  the  apostate  priest  Ozers- 
kiy  the  companion  of  Ronge.  But  the  endeavors  of  these  apostates 
proved  likewise  abortive. 

358.  The  definition  of  Papal  Infallibility  by  the  Vatican  Council 
served,  to  a  small  number  of  nominal  Catholics  in  Germany,  France 
and  Switzerland,  as  a  pretext  for  secession  from  the  Catholic  Church. 
The  opposition  against  the  Council  was  headed  in  Germany  by  Dr. 
Dollinger,  at  one  time  a  most  zealous  defender  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
and  his  example  was  followed  by  nearly  all  the  Catholic  instructors  of 
the  University  of  Munich,  and  by  professors  at  Bonn,  Breslau,  Frei- 
burg, Prague,  and  other  universities  and  gymnasia  of  Germany.  After 
the  precedent  of  the  Jansenists  of  Holland,  the  new  sectaries  called 
themselves  Old  Catholics  ;  but  more  appropriately  are  they  called 
Protesting  Catholics,  or  New  Protestants.  They  protest  against  what 
they  term  Papal  innovations  on  the  ancient  Catholic  faith. 

359.  The  leaders  of  the  protesting  movement  in  Germany  were, 
besides  Dr.  Dollinger.  Professors  Friedrich  of  Munich  ;  Reusch,  Lan- 
gen,  and  Knoodt  of  Bonn  ;  Reinkens  of  Breslau  ;  Scliulte  of  Prague, 
and  Michaelis  of  Braunsberg.  Being  excommunicated  by  their  respec- 
tive bishops,  they  proceeded,  against  the  express  wish  of  Dollinger,  to 
organize  a  schism  and  form  Old-Catholic  congregations.  Dr.  Reinkens 
was  consecrated  bishop  by  Heydekamp,  the  Jansenist  bishop  of  De- 
venter,  in  1873. 

360.  In  Switzerland  only  three  priests  refused  submission  to  the 
Vatican  decrees  ;  but  there  the  Protesting  Catholics,  consisting  in 
great  part  of  persons  of  disreputable  character,  rejected  the  name  of 
Old  Catholics  and  preferred  to  call  themselves  ^'  Christian  Catholics  " 
{ChristkathoUken).  Their  bishop  became  Edward  Herzog,  who  was 
consecrated  by  Dr.  Reinkens  in  1876.  The  ''  Christian  Catholics"  in 
Switzerland,  more  radical  than  the  Old  Catholics  of  Germany,  have  a 
married  clergy  and  celebrate  Mass  in  the  vernacular;    confession  is 


NEW  PROTESTANT  SECTS.  ^  741. 

optional  with  them.  This  sect,  although  supported  by  the  Protestant 
and  Liberal  Cantons,  is  fast  dwindling  away.  Attempts  have*  been 
made  to  form  Old  Catholic  congregations  in  Austria,  by  the  notorious 
Aloys  Anton  ;  and  in  France,  by  the  eloquent  ex-Carmelite  Hyacinth 
Loyson;  but  they  proved  a  complete  failure. 

SECTION   LXI. — NEW   PROTESTANT   SECTS. 

The  Pietists —Their  Doctrines— The  Herrnhuters— Their  Tenets — Religious 
State  of  England  in  the  Eighteenth  Century— Rise  of  New  Sects — The 
"  Friends  " — Their  Distinguishing  Doctrine— The  Quakers — Their  Peculi- 
arities— John  Wesley— The  Methodists — Their  Peculiar  Doctrines — The 
Methodists  during  the  War  of  the  Revolution — Division  of  the  Sect  into 
Wesleyans  and  Whitefieldites — Swedenborg — His  New  Jerusalem  Church — 
The  Shakers— The  Unitarians — The  Universalists — The  Congregationalists 

— The  Mormons — The  Spiritualists. 

* 

361.  The  great  distinctive  principle  of  the  self-styled  Reformers 
was  the  rejection  of  Church  authority,  and  their  assertion  of  the  right 
of  private  judgment  in  matters  of  religion.  This  principle  is  res- 
ponsible for  the  endless  '^diversities,"  or,  as  they  have  been  called, 
'*  variations,"  of  Protestantism,  and  for  the  almost  countless  number  of 
sects  that  have  sprung  up  among  Protestants  since  the  Reformation. 
As  men  are  diiferently  constituted,  they  naturally  take  different  views 
even  of  religion  ;  and  if  the  principle  of  private  judgment  holds  true, 
then  each  one  has  the  right  to  adopt  a  religious  system  for  himself. 

362.  Philip  James  Spener,  a  Lutheran  preacher,  born  in  Alsace, 
in  1635,  became  the  founder  of  a  sect  known  as  Pietists.  Lamenting 
the  absence  of  all  warmth  and  piety  in  the  Lutheran  Church,  which 
he  censured  as  heartless  and  spiritless,  and  as  '^  an  outward  corrupt 
body,"  he  instituted  '^  associations  of  pious  souls,"  for  the  special 
edification  of,  and  for  the  cultivation  of  evangelical  morality  among  his 
fellow-religionists.  These  were  the  famous  collegia  ^Jietatis,  from  which 
the  name  ''  Pietists"  has  been  derived. 

363.  In  several  writings,  especially  in  a  work  entitled  '^  Pious 
Desires,"  Spener  frankly  admitted  the  moral  laxity  and  disorders 
prevailing  in  the  Lutheran  Church  and  proposed  the  remedies  which, 
in  his  opinion,  were  to  heal  them.  Indifferent  to  all  dogmas,  he 
insisted  mainly  on  what  he  called  a  living  faith,  holding  that  religion 
is  wholly  an  affair  of  the  heart,  and  that  ^'  the  true  believer  must  be 
conscious  of  the  moment  wherein  his  justification  (the  illapse  of 
grace)  has  taken  place."  Spener,  a  well-meaning  and  meritorious 
man,  effected  much  good  among  his  fellow-religionists.  Despite  of 
much  opposition  on  the  part  of  his  fellow  preachers,  he  gained  great 


742  ^  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

popularity   and   shook   the  foundations  of    Lutheran    orthodoxy   in 
Germany.     He  died  1705. 

364.  Of  a  similar  tendency  is  the  fanatical  sect  of  United 
Brethren  (Unitas  Fratrum),  sometimes  called  Moravians,  founded  by 
Count  Zinzendorf,  a  German  nobleman,  who  established  a  colony  of 
Moravian  Brethren  on  his  estate  in  Saxony,  named  Herrnhut,  whence 
they  are  commonly  known  as  Herrnhuters.  Though  a  Lutheran  sect, 
the  Herrnhuters  differ  from  the  orthodox  Lutherans  both  in  doctrine 
and  ecclesiastical  discipline.  Leaving  all  the  distinctive  tenets  of  the 
various  Protestant  sects  out  of  question,  they  adopted  as  articles  of 
faith  only  what  they  called  the  "  fundamental  Scripture  truths,^^  in 
which  all  agree,  and,  at  the  same  time,  introduced  a  new  system  of 
Church  government,  consisting  of  bishops,  presbyters,  and  deacons. 

365.  The  sect  of  Herrnhuters  includes  three  different  tropes  or 
modifications — the  Lutheran,  Calvinistic,  and  Moravian — and  admits 
Christians  of  all  denominations  without  compelling  them  to  renounce 
their  peculiar  tenets.  In  1741,  Zinzendorf,  who  had  himself  ordained 
a  bishop  of  his  sect,  by  a  pretended  Moravian  bishop,  came  to  America, 
and  founded  a  colony  of  Herrnhuters  at  Bethlehem,  in  Pennsylvania. 
The  sect,  however,  is  not  very  numerous  in  this  country,  and  even  less, 
so  in  Europe.  These  sectaries  have  always  been  distinguished  by  a 
spirit  of  pride,  which  has  been  the  fruitful  source  of  fresh  divisions. 

366.  The  religious  fanaticism  of  the  great  Rebellion  in  England, 
pushed  even  to  frenzy,  was  followed  by  a  period  of  general  spiritual  lax- 
ity, which  passed,  at  last,  into  the  most  frivolous  unbelief.  The  An^ 
glican  Church  had  sunk  to  deep  degradation.  The  established  worship 
appeared  void  and  meaningless  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  ;  it  consisted 
of  nothing  more  than  a  dry,  cheerless  repetition  of  forms  and  hymns, 
although  composed  in  the  vernacular  tongue.  *'  To  this  we  must  add 
the  numberless  disputes  which  then  convulsed  the  Anglican  Establish- 
ment. Opinions  crowded  upon  opinions,  each  seeking  its  foundation 
in  Holy  Writ ;  and  yet  not  one  being  able  to  prove  by  that  standard 
its  own  truth,  or  the  untenableness  of  the  opposite  system  ;  and  no 
living  human  authority,  invested  with  a  divine  sanction,  was  anywhere 
recognized."  ^  This  spiritual  misery  of  the  English  people,  making  a 
deep  impression  on  religious-minded  men,  gave  rise  to  many  new  sects* 

367.  The  Society  of  Friends,  commonly  called  Quakers,  owe  their 
origin  to  George  Fox,  a  shoemaker,  who  was  born  in  Leicestershire,  in 
1624,  and  died  in  1690.  The  term  Quaker  seems  to  have  been  bestowed 
upon  the  new  sect  in  allusion  to  Fox's  phrase  in  addressing  the  people  : 
**  Tremble  at  the  word  of  the  Lord.''   The  principal  distinguishing  doc- 

»  J.  A.  MfflHLER,  Symbolism,  Sec.  Ixlv. 


NEW  PROTESTANT  SECTS.  743 

trine  of  the  Quakers  is  that  of  "the  inward  light  of  Christ/Mn  the  lan- 
guage of  the  sect  also  called  ''  the  internal  word/^  "  Christ  withi7i,"  and 
*'  Kingdom  of  God  within.'^  This  divine  light  of  Christ,  who  always 
speaks  when  man  is  silent,  is  the  source  of  all  religious  knowledge, 
as  well  as  of  all  pious  life,  and  is  all-sufificient  to  redeem  and  save  man. 

368.  This  doctrine  led  the  Quakers  to  reject  all  sacraments, 
including  baptism  and  the  Lord's  supper,  as  well  as  every  established 
service.  They  have  no  appointed  ministers,  observe  no  festivals,  and 
use  no  rites  or  ceremonies.  In  their  meetings,  they  remain  in 
profound  silence  until  some  one  believes  himself  moved  by  the  Holy 
Spirit  to  speak.  Women  may  exhort  and  speak  as  well  as  men,  for 
the  "spirit  of  Christ"  is  bestowed  irrespectively  of  rank,  learning,  or 
sex.  The  Quakers  refuse  taking  oaths,  abstain  from  all  military 
service,  condemn  dancing,  all  kinds  of  games,  and  despise  all  music, 
vocal  as  well  as  instrumental. 

369.  The  Quakers  were  subjected  to  much  persecution  in  England, 
which  caused  William  Penn,  one  of  their  distinguished  members,  to 
found  the  colony  of  Pennsylvania.  One  of  the  leading  articles 
of  the  constitution  adopted  in  this  colony  granted  freedom  of  con- 
science to  all  who  acknowledged  the ''one  eternal  God."  The  sect, 
which  is  split  into  four  parties— the  Orthodox,  HicJcsites,  Gurneyites, 
and  Wilhurites — amounts  to  upward  of  200,000  in  the  world. 

370.  John  Wesley,  an  Anglican  clergyman,  is  the  recognized 
founder  and  legislator  of  Methodism,  While  a  student  at  Oxford  he 
formed,  with  his  brother  Charles  and  a  few  other  scholars,  among 
whom  the  eloquent  Whitefield  soon  became  eminent,  a  little  society  for 
their  mutual  edification  as  well  as  for  their  literary  improvement.  In 
their  meetings  the  members  of  the  association  read,  besides  the 
classical  authors,  also  spiritual  works,  including,  among  other  Catholic 
books,  the  "Imitation  of  Christ."  From  the  strict  observance  of  a 
pious  method,  or  rule  of  life,  the  association  obtained  the  name  of 
Methodists,  which  afterwards  remained  attached  to  them. 

371.  Such  was  the  beginning  of  a  religious  movement  which, 
taking  its  rise  in  1734,  extended  itself  into  all  parts  of  England  and 
Wales,  made  some  progress  in  Scotland,  and  crossed  the  Ocean  into 
the  New  World.  Eetaining  the  liturgy  and  constitution  of  the  Angli- 
can Church,  Wesley  and  his  associates,  at  first,  propagated  only  their 
religious  practices,  their  hours  of  prayer  and  Bible-reading,  and  their 
fasts  and  frequent  communions.  The  energy  and  enthusiasm  with 
which  they  preached  attracted  everywhere  great  crowds.  Encouraged 
by  their  success,  they  began  preaching  in  public  places  and  open  fields. 
In  1774  Methodism  claimed  already  30,000  members. 


744  HISTORT  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

372.  From  the  Herrnhuters,  with  whom  he  had  become  acquaint- 
ed, Wesley  adopted  the  doctrine  that  **  the  remission  of  sin  and  the 
presence  of  divine  grace  in  the  soul  is  accompanied  with  a  heavenly 
inward  peace,  manifesting  itsdlf  externally  in  exalted  bodily  excite- 
ment, such  as  convulsive  fits."  Attacks  of  this  kind  were  called 
*' outward  signs  of  grace,"  and  were  held  to  be  miraculous.  The 
preaching  of  Whitefield  was  especially  successful  in  bringing  about 
sudden  conversions,  which  were  usually  accompanied  with  such  convul- 
sive attacks. 

373.  Wesley  at  first  disavowed  all  intention  of  separating  from 
the  Anglican  Church  and  maintained  the  necessity  of  loyalty  to  that 
Establishment  and  of  her  orders  for  lawful  preaching  and  ministry. 
Subsequently,  however,  he  satisfied  himself  that  bishops  and  presbyters 
were  one  and  the  same  order  in  the  Church  of  Christ  and  consequent- 
ly had  the  same  right  to  ordain.  He  accordingly  assumed  episcopal 
character  and  ordained  elders  and  even  consecrated  bishops.  A  pre- 
tended Greek  bishop,  called  Erasmus,  then  residing  in  England,  was 
also  solicited  to  impart  holy  orders.  The  separation  of  the  Methodists 
from  the  Anglican  Church  was  thus  formally  established. 

374.  During  the  war  of  the  Eevolution  the  Methodist  societies  in 
America  were  left  almost  wholly  without  ministers  ;  the  latter,  siding 
with  England  against  the  Colonies,  had  gone  over  into  British  domin- 
ion. ^  After  the  war  was  over,  Wesley  proceeded  to  organize  an 
independent  Methodist  Church  in  America.  He  ordained  Dr.  Coke 
and  Mr.  Francis  superintendents,  or  bishops,  in  1783,  and  sent  them  to 
ordain  elders  in  the  New  World.  He  also  prepared  a  liturgy,  differing 
little  from  that  of  the  Church  of  England.  The  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  in  America  was  thus  created  with  bishops,  presbyters,  and 
deacons,  a  liturgy,  and  a  creed. 

375.  The  Articles  of  Religion  which  Wesley  prepared  for  his 
Methodist  societies  are  substantially  an  abridgment  of  the  Thirty-nine 
Articles  of  the  Anglican  Church.  In  abridging  the  Articles,  some 
were  changed,  others  were  wholly  omitted.  Wesley  and  Whitefield 
could  not  agree  on  the  questions  of  predestination  and  grace.  The 
latter  was  a  partisan  of  the  most  rigid  predestinarianism,  which  Wes- 
ley, who  was  more  inclined  to  Arminianism,  classed  among  the  most 
abominable  opinions  that  had  ever  sprung  up  in  a  human  head.  The 
poctrinal  differences  between  the  two  was  the  cause  of  their  separation. 

376.  Whitefield  organized  what  is  known  as  the  Calvinistic 
Methodist  Church,  while  the  partisans  of  Wesley  were  called  after  him 

*  Wesley  addressed  a  pamphlet  to  the  Americans  condemning  their  conduct  and  taking  sides  with 
the  English  Cabinet;  "  No  governments  under  heaven,"  said  he,''  "are  so  despotic  as  the  republi- 
can ;  no  subjects  are  governed  in  so  arbitrary  a  manner  as  those  of  a  commonwealth." 


J^EW  PROTESTANT  SECTS.  745 

Wesley  ans,  or  Wesley  an  Methodists. '  The  first  Methodist  society  in 
America  was  established  in  the  City  of  New  York,  in  1766.  During 
the  Civil  war  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  divided  into  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church  North  and  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church  South.  Civil  suits  were  the  outcome  of  the  division.  The 
Supreme  Court  of  the  United  States  at  last  settled  the  rights  of  the  two 
organizations  to  the  common  property.  Methodism  in  this  country 
claims  two  million  members. 

377.  Emayiuel  Swedenborgj  the  son  of  a  Swedish  bishop,  and  a 
man  distinguished  for  great  arid  varied  learning,  by  his  numerous 
mystical  writings  had  prepared,  the  way  for  the  founding  of  a  new  sect, 
which  called  itself  the  "  New  Jerusalem  Church,^*  also  the  "  New  Tes- 
tament Church.^'  Swedenborg  pretended  to  hold  intercourse  with  the 
world  of  Spirits — receiving  instructions  as  to  the  nature  of  heaven  and 
hell  and  the  beings  and  things  therein — and  that  he  had  been  commis- 
sioned by  God  to  introduce  a  new  and  imperishable  era  in  the  Church. 
The  second  coming  of  the  Lord  promised  in  the  Gospel  was  to  take 
place  in  him.  He  rejected  the  Catholic  dogmas  of  original  sin,  of  the 
vicarious  satisfaction  of  Christ,  and  of  the  resurrection  of  the  flesh. 
Swedenborg  made,  however,  no  attempt  to  establish  a  sect.  It  was  not 
until  after  his  death,  in  1772,  that  the  first  congregation  of  ''  The 
New  Church  signified  by  the  New  Jerusalem  in  the  Apocalypse^' 
was  organized.  The  sect  has  never  been  numerous ;  it  counts  at  pres- 
ent, in  all,  between  ten  and  twelve  thousand  members  in  this  country 
and  Europe. 

378.  Another  sect  which  boasted  of  the  spiritual  joys  of  the 
heavenly  Jei*usalem  are  the  *'  Believers  in  Christ's  Second  Appearing,'' 
or  Millennial  Church,  commonly  known  as  Shakers,  so  called  from 
their  practice  of  shaking  and  dancing,  in  which  their  worship  princi- 
pally consists.  They  came  originally  from  England  and  settled  in  the 
State  of  New  York,  in  1774.  Their  leader  was  Anna  Lee,  who,  they 
ridiculously  claimed,  was  the  ''elect  lady"  mentioned  in  Revelation, 
(ch.  xii.  1.)  the  "Bride  of  the  Lamb,"  and  the  ''Mother  of  all  the  Elect 
and  Saints."  In  her  it  is  claimed  that  the  second  coming  of  Christ 
was  realized.  They  live  in  communities  and  do  not  marry,  their 
society  being  recruited  mostly  by  young  men  and  girls.  There  are 
some  eighteen  Shaker  settlements  in  this  country,  with  a  membership 
of  about  seven  thousand. 

379.  Other  sects  of  this  period,  mostly  secessions  from  Presbyte- 

1  The  principal  secessions  from  these  parent  bodies  are  the  Primitive  Methodists ;  the  Methodist 
Free  Church;  the  Bible  Christians;  the  Methodist  New  Convention;  the  Reform  Union;  the 
Methodist  Protestant  Church ;  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  in  the  United  States ;  the  Methodist 
Zion  Church ;  the  Reformed  Methodist  Church,  and  others. 


746  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH. 

rianism,  '  are  :  1.  The  Unitarians,  so  called  from  their  belief  in  the 
personal  Unity  of  God.  They  deny  the  divinity  of  Christ,  whom 
they  regard  as  a  dependent  though  highly  exalted  creature  of  God,  and 
of  the  Holy  Ghost,  who  is  a  divine  attribute  or  influence.  2.  The 
Universalists,  who  believe  in  the  final  salvation  of  all  intelligent  beings, 
whether  human  or  angelic.  3.  The  Congregationalists.  They  deny  all 
superior  jurisdiction  and  maintain  that  any  congregation,  or  society 
of  Christians  united  for  Christian  worship,  is  a  church  having  full 
power  to  rule  itself  and  to  set  up  its  own  articles  of  belief.  4.  The 
Mormons,  or  Latter  Day  Saints.  They  practise  polygamy  and  believe 
in  the  continual  inspiration  of  the  head  of  their  sect.  5.  In  this 
country  there  has  arisen  a  very  numerous  sect  of  Spiritualists,  as 
they  are  called,  who  profess  to  hold  intercourse  with  the  spirits  of  the 
unseen  world,  and  who  are  striving,  in  union  with  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness, to  substitute  a  devil- begotten  superstition  for  the  revealed  truths 
of  Christianity. ' 


CHAPTER  IV. 


CATHOLIC  SCIENCE  AND  LITERATURE. 


SECTION  LXn.       THE  THEOLOGICAL   SCIENCES — DISTINGUISHED  SCHOLARS 

AND   WRITERS. 

The  Church  and  the  Sciences — Relation  of  Reason  to  Revelation — Distinguished 
Dogmatic  Theologians — Revival  of  Scholasticism — New  Scholastic  School 
— Relation  of  Philosophy  to  Theology — Distinguished  Writers  on  Moral 
Theology — Noted  Church  Historians — The  Biblical  Studies — New  English 
Versions  of  the  Bible — Catholic  Literature  in  England  and  Ireland — la 
America — Distinguished  Authors. 

380.     During  the  present  epoch  the  arts  and  sciences  were  culti- 

1  other  secessions  from  the  orif?inal  Presbyterian  Church  of  Scotland  are  the  Covenanters,  or 
Reformed  Presbyterians ;  the  United  Presbyterian  Church ;  the  Free  Church  of  Scotland,  and  the 
Presbyteriaa  Alliance.  In  America  the  sect  Is  divided  into  the  Presbyterian  Church  North,  and 
Presbyterian  Church  South ;  the  Cumberland  Presbyterian  Church ;  the  Associate  Presbyterian 
Church,  and  the  Associate  Reformed  Church — The  principal  divisions  among  the  Baptists  are 
General,  or  A rminian Baptists;  Particular,  or  Calvlnlstic  Baptists;  Campbellite  Baptists,  or  Disci- 
ples ;  Free  Will  Baptists ;  Seventh  Day  Baptists ;  Dunkards,  and  Six  Principle  Baptists.  See  I.  D 
Rupp,  History  of  the  Religious  Denominations  in  the  United  States :  and  W.  Burder,  History  of 
aU  the  Religions  of  the  World. 

2  "  Modem  Spiritualism  is  substantially  but  a  revival  of  ancient  pagan  practices,  known  already 
many  years  before  Christ,  and  condemned  as  abominable  by  Moses.  Clairvoyants  take  the  place  of 
ancient  soothsayers ;  the  alleged  spirits  of  tie  departed  now  take  the  place  of  the  ancient  Pythonic 
Spirits,  and  Spiritualists  now  believe  to  learn  facts  or  truths,  secret  to  men,  from  the  dead,  as  pagans 
did  thousands  of  years  ago."    Rev.  J.  Gmeiner,  Spirits  of  Darkness,  p.  226. 

r 


THE  THEOL  OGICA  L  SCIENCES.  74? 

Tated  and  improved  with  remarkable  success  throughout  the  Christian 
world.  No  branch  of  literature  seemed  to  be  neglected.  Theology, 
■dogmatic  and  moral;  philosophy,  history,  and  all  the  sciences  that 
belong  to  the  respective  provinces  of  reason,  genius,  experience,  and 
observation  were  carried  to  a  high  degree  of  perfection.  Many 
famous  works  on  almost  all  the  sciences,  profane  as  well  as  sacred,  are 
due  to  the  Catholic  authors  of  this  epoch.  In  philosophy,  astronomy, 
physiology,  geology,  mechanics,  and  mathematics  Catholic  scholars 
hold  a  pre-eminent  place.  Copernicus,  a  priest  and  canon,  Galileo,  a 
devout  son  of  the  Church,  and  in  our  day  Secchi,  a  Jesuit,  are  recog- 
nized as  the  great  leaders  in  astronomy  and  other  sciences. 

381.  The  Church  ever  encouraged  and  fostered  science.  It  is  to 
the  learning  and  patronage  of  Pope  Gregory  XIII.  that  we  owe  the 
reformation  of  the  calendar  and  the  computations  which  determine 
with  great  accuracy  the  length  of  the  solar  year.  Since  God  is  the 
author  of  both  reason  and  revelation,  there  can  be  no  real  conflict  be- 
tween the  deductions  of  science  and  the  doctrines  of  Christian  faith. 
The  reason  of  the  apparent  conflict  between  science  and  faith  is  clearly 
pointed  out  in  the  following  Decree  of  the  Council  of  the  Vatican: 
"There  never  can  be  any  real  discrepancy  between  faith  and  reason, 
since  the  same  God  who  reveals  mysteries  and  infuses  faith  has  be- 
stowed the  light  of  reason  on  the  human  mind;  and  God  cannot 
deny  Himelf,  nor  can  truth  ever  contradict  truth.  The  false  ap- 
pearance  of  such  a  contradict io?i  is  mainly  due,  either  (a  the  dogmas  of 

faith  7iot  having  ieen  clearly  understood  and  expounded  according  to 
the  mind  of  the  Church,  or  to  the  inventions  of  opinion  having  teen 
taken  for  the  verdicts  of  reason  " 

382.  Confining  ourselves  strictly  to  the  theological  sciences,  we 
name  a  few  of  the  writers  that  have  been  conspicuous  in  that  depart- 
ment of  knowledge.  Prominent  among  the  dogmatic  theologians  in 
France  are  Bishop  Habert,  Tournely,  Witasse,  Natalis  Alexander, 
Billuart,  Collet,  Gonet,  Contenson,  Maranus,  Fenelon,  and  Antoine; 
in  Italy,  the  Cardinals  Pallavicini,  Sfondrati,  Gerdil,  and  Quirini;  in 
Spain,  Eoccaberti,  Cardinal  Aguirre,  and  the  Jesuits  Anton  Perez, 
Gonzalez,  Eibera,  and  Gener.  In  Germany  the  theologians  confined 
their  labors  principally  to  Scholastic  theology  and  Canon  Law.  Of 
the  writers  on  dogmatic  theology  flourishing  in  the  present  century 
the  best  known  are  Liebermann,  Perrone,  Klee,  Dieringer,  Archbishop 
Kenrick,  Jungmann,  Cardinal  Franzelin,  Heinrich,  Scheeben,  Hurter, 
Cardinal  Mazella,  and  Murray  of  Maynooth. 

383.  From  the  middle  of  the  eighteenth  century  the  study  of 
Scholastic  theology  and  philosophy  began  to  be  much  neglected,  and 


748  BISTORT  OF  TEE  CHURCH. 

the  attempt  was  made,  especially  in  Germany,  to  create  a  philosophy 
founded  on  a  basis  distinct  from  that  of  the  philosophy  of  the  ancient 
schoolmen.  The  supporters  of  the  new  school  profess  no  little  con- 
tempt for  the  scholastic  method  and  teaching,  as  unsuited  to .  the 
progress  of  modern  science  and  as  tending  to  hamper  the  freedom  of 
speculative  inquiries. 

384.  A  revival  of  the  Scholastic,  or  rather  Thomist,  philosophy  has 
begun  in  our  days.  The  New  Scholastic  school,  as  it  is  called,  accepts 
the  discoveries  of  science  and  the  modern  improvements  in  scientific 
method  of  teaching,  but  rightly  maintains  that  modern  philosophy 
must  be  raised  on  the  old  Scholastic  foundations,  so  long  approved  of 
by  the  Church.  It  denies  to  philosophy  unrestrained  freedom  in  its 
own  sphere  and  absolute  independence  of  theology,  as  claimed  by  the 
modern  rationalistic  school,  and  contends  that,  as  reason  is  in- 
ferior to,  and  must  be  enlightened  by  revelation,  so  philosophy  is 
dependent  on  theology,  and,  if  need  arise,  must  correct  its  conclusions 
by  the  higher  and  more  certain  truths  of  faith.  "  Philosophy, '^  as 
the  ancient  schoolmen  expressed  it,  ''is  the  handmaid  of  Theology — 
Philosophia  Tfieologice  anciUa.  In  the  Encyclical  ''  JEterni  Patris  '* 
the  present  Pope  Leo  XIII.  approves  and  urges  the  teaching  of  the 
philosophy  of  St.  Thomas. 

385.  In  the  study  of  Moral  Theology  an  important  change  was 
introduced  by  separating  from  it  what  belonged  to  Canon  Law,  which 
is  treated  now  as  a  distinct  branch  of  Theology.  Of  the  many  theologi- 
ans who  have  written  on  Moral  Theology  during  the  last  two  centuries, 
are  named  with  special  distinction  the  Salmanticenses,  Gobat,  La-Croix^ 
Gonzalez,  Sporer,  Eoncaglia,  Antoine,  Amort,  Voit,  and  Billuart. 
Valuable  works  on  Moral  Theology  have  been  published  in  our  days 
by  Bouvier,  Carriere,  Gury,  Scavini,  Ballerini,  Kenrick,  Konings, 
Lehmkuhl,  Sabetti,  and  others. 

386.  But  the  most  distinguished  moral  theologian  of  this  period, 
and  the  one  who  has  had  the  greatest  influence,  is  St.  Alphonsus 
Maria  de  Liguori.  His  numerous  writings,  ascetical,  dogmatical, 
and  moral,  have  given  him  rank  among  the  teachers  of  the  Church. 
He  was  declared  a  Doctor  of  the  Church  by  Pius  IX.,  in  1871.  The 
most  distinguished  among  the  Canonists  of  this  age  are  Laymann, 
Cardinals  Vincent  Petra,  and  Lambertini,  afterwards  Pope  Benedict 
XIV.;  Ferraris,  Keiffenstuel,  and  Schmalzgruber. 

387.  Much  labor  has  been  devoted  to  Church  History,  which  was 
richer  in  products  than  any  other  field  of  ecclesiastical  literature. 
The  advantages  that  flowed  from  the  researches  and  improvements 
made  in  ecclesiastical  history  were  innumerable  and  of  eminent  service 


r- 


THE  THEOLOGICAL  SCIENCES,  749 

to  the  cause  of  truth  and  religion.  The  most  distinguished  writers  in 
this  golden  age  of  ecclesiastical  history  are  Tillemont,  Mabillon,  Fleury, 
Natalis  Alexander,  Montfaucon,  Bossuet,  Muratori,  Orsi,  and  Card- 
inals Mai  and  Pitra.  Most  valuable  works  on  ecclesiastical  history 
were  written  in  the  present  century  by  Palma,  Rohrbacher,  Darras, 
Mohler,  Alzog,  Dollinger,  Bishop  Hefele,  Cardinal  Hergenrother, 
Jungmann,  Briick,  Kraus,  and  others.  The  works  of  Montalambert 
(author  of  the  well-known  ''  Monks  of  the  West  "),  Ozanam,  and  Rio 
are  studies  of  ancient  and  mediaeval  history  worthy  of  all  praise. 

388.  In  Biblical  studies  we  do  not  find  in  this  age  that  extraordi- 
nary industry  and  activity  that  was  shown  in  the  other  fields  of  theolo- 
gical literature.  Calmet,  a  Benedictine  (d.  1757),  left  many  learned 
works,  among  which  his  extensive  "  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,"  and  his 
"  Commentaries  on  the  Old  and  New  Testament "  are  the  best  known. 
Revised  English  versions  of  the  Bible,  with  copious  notes,  were  pub- 
lished by  Bishop  Challoner  (d.  1781);  the  learned  Father  G.  L. 
Haydock  (d.  1847);  and  Archbishop  Kenrick  of  Baltimore. 

389.  In  England  and  Ireland,  since  the  Emancipation,  a  rich 
Catholic  literature  has  grown  up.  Among  the  theologians  and 
writers  who  have  attained  to  high  distinction  are  to  be  named  the 
accomplished  Charles  Butler,  nephew  of  Alban  Butler,  the  venerable 
author  of  the  "^ Lives  of  the  Saints;"  Dr.  Baines,  Vicar- Apostolic  of 
the  Western  District;  Cardinals  Wiseman,  Newman,  and  Manning; 
Father  Faber  (d.  1863),  superior  of  the  London  Oratory,  the  author  of 
many  spiritual  works  of  great  worth;  Dr.  Lingard  (d.  1851),  the  histo- 
rian; Marshall,  author  of  the  well-known  '*  Christian  Missions; "  North- 
cote,  Ward,  Wilberforce,  Thomas  Moore  (d.  1852),  Richard  Madden, 
Archbishop  Mac  Hale,  and  Dr.  Moran,  now  Cardinal  and  Archbishop  of 
Sydney.  The  works  published  by  these  authors  are  mostly  of  a 
religious,  historical,  and  controversial  character,  written  in  defence  of 
Catholicism.  A  number  of  excellent  periodicals,  such  as  the  "  The 
Month,''  "  Tlie  Lamp,''  "  The  Dublin  Review,"  "  The  Irish  Ecclesiasti- 
cal Record,"  and  others  have  been  founded,  which  compare  most 
favorably  with  the  best  on  the  Continent. 

390.  In  the  United  States  there  was  no  original  Catholic  work 
published  in  the  English  language  until  after  the  Revolution.  Since 
then  much  has  been  done  and  achieved  by  the  Catholics  in  the  field 
of  literature  and  learning.  Catholic  literature  in  this  country  began 
in  controversy,  and  to  controversy  it  was  long  confined.  Bishop 
England,  Archbishops  Hughes,  Kenrick,  and  Spalding,  the  latter 's 
nephew.  Bishop  Spalding,  Drs.  Pise  and  Corcoran,  Fathers  Fredet, 
Hewit,  Thebaud,  and  Weninger  have  by  their  writings  gained  great 


750  EISTOBY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

and  well-deserved  reputation.  Distinguished  writers  among  the 
Catholic  laity  are  Dr.  Brownson,  J.  Gilmary  Shea,  Campbell,  Dr. 
McSherry,  Murray,  Walter,  E.  H.  Clark,  Webb,  and  many  others.  In 
The  Catholic  World,  a  monthly  magazine,  and  especially  in  the 
American  Catholic  Quarterly  Revieiu,  a  most  scholarly  and  instructive 
periodical,  the  great  religious  and  intellectual  questions  of  the  day  are 
most  ably  discussed/ 


CHAPTER  V. 


RELIGIOUS  LIFE. 


SECTION  LXIII. — FA.M0US  SAINTS  OF  THIS  EPOCH. — NEW  EELIGIOUS   ORDERS. 

The  Church  the  Mother  of  Saints — Different  Saints  of  this  Period — New  Relig- 
ious Orders — Of  Men — Of  Women — Confraternities — Revival  of  Religion — 
Sacerdotal  Jubilee  of  the  Holy  Father,  Leo  XIII. 

391.  The  glorious  host  of  Saints  with  which  God  has  adorned  the 
Church  also  in  these  latter  days,  bears  witness  to  the  truth  and  sanc- 
tity of  the  Catholic  religion.  The  great  and  heroic  deeds  which  these 
Saints  performed,  the  exalted  virtues  which  they  practised,  and  the 
countless  miracles  wrought  through  their  intercession,  are  incontest- 
able proofs  that  the  Catholic  faith,  which  they  professed,  is  the  only 
saving  faith,  and  that  the  Church  to  which  they  belonged  is  the  true 
Bride  of  Christ  and  the  mother  of  his  elect. 

392.  The  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries  were  edified  by  the 
holy  lives  of  St.  Peter  Claver,  St.  Francis  Solanus,  St.  Francis  of 
Hieronymo,  St.  Joseph  of  the  Cross,  St.  John  Baptist  de  Rossi,  St. 
Leonard  of  Portu  Mauritio,  St.  Benedict  Labre,  St.  Veronica  Giuli- 
:ani,  and  St.  Alphonsus  Liguori,  (d.  1787).  In  no  age  has  the  Church 
witnessed  the  beatification  and  canonization  of  so  many  servants  of 
God  as  in  the  present  century,  especially  under  the  pontificates  of 
Gregory  XVI.,  Pius  IX.,  and  the  present  Pope,  Leo  XIII.  ' 

393.  The  religious  orders,  by  their  zeal  and  self-sacrificing  char- 
ity, have  gained,  in  our  days,  both  in  numbers  and  influence.      Many 

»  The  reader  will  find  an  Interesting  sketch  of  the  "  Catholic  Literature  of  the  United  States  "  In 
J.  O'Kane  Murray's  Popular  History  of  the  Catholic  Church,  etc..  Book  V. 

2  His  Holiness,  Leo  XIIL,  twice  performed  the  solemn  ceremony  of  canonization.  In  1887,  he 
declared  beatified  Cardinal  Fisher,  Bishop  of  Rochester ;  Thomas  More,  Lord  Chancellor  of  England; 
Margaret  Pole,  mother  of  Cardinal  Pole,  and  many  others— in  all  fifty-four  English  Martyrs  who 
suffered  for  the  faith  under  Henry  VIIL  and  Elizabeth,  from  the  year  1535  to  1583. 

r 


SAIXTS  AND  RELIGIOUS  ORDERS.  751 

new  commrinities  of  both  men  and  women  have  been  added  to  the 
older  ones.  Among  the  more  noted  congregations  of  priests  which 
arose  during  this  epoch  we  may  mention  :  1.  The  ''  Trappists/'  a 
branch  of  the  Cistercian  Order,  founded  in  France,  in  1660  ;  2.  The 
^'Society  of  the  Foreign  Missions,"  instituted  in  the  same  country  and 
about  the  same  time  ;  3.  The  "  Passionists,"  founded  in  Italy  in  1720, 
by  St.  Paul  of  the  Cross ;  4.  The  *'  Congregation  of  the  Redemptor- 
ists,"  which  was  formed  in  the  same  country,  in  1732,  by  St.  Alphonsus 
Liguori ;  5.  The  ''Congregation  of  Picpus,"  and  the  "  Oblates  of 
Mary  Immaculate,"  established  in  France,  the  former  in  1806,  by  Fr. 
Coudrin,  and  the  latter  in  1826,  by  Fr.  de  Mazenod,  afterwards  bishop 
of  Marseilles ;  6.  The  ''  Congregation  of  the  Precious  Blood,"  insti- 
tuted in  Rome,  in  1814,  by  Fr.  Caspar  del  Bufalo  ;  7.  The  ''  Salvator- 
ists,"  or  "  Congregation  of  the  Holy  Cross,"  which  originated  in  France, 
in  the  time  of  the  Revolution  ;  8.  The  "Paulists,"  or  ''Institute  of 
the  Missionary  Priests  of  St.  Paul,"  established  in  New  York,  in  1858, 
by  Father  Hecker.  To  these  are  to  be  added  the  "Fathers  of 
Mercy,"  "Salesians,"  "  Resurrectionists,"  and  others. 

394.  Besides,  there  arose  numerous  Brotherhoods,  and  new  Con- 
gregations of  women,  which  have  the  education  of  the  young  and  the 
relief  of  human  suffering  as  their  object.  Of  the  former  we  may 
mention  :  1.  The  "  Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools,"  founded  in 
France,  in  1681,  by  Blessed  De  La  Salle  ;  2.  The  "Brothers  of  the 
Immaculate  Mother  of  God  ;  "  3.  The  "  Brothers  of  St.  Xavier,"  and 
the  "Brothers  of  Charity,"  founded  in  Belgium,  in  1839,  and  1841, 
respectively;  4.  The  "Brothers  of  Mar}^,"  instituted  in  France, 
in  1817. 

395.  Among  the  new  Congregations  of  women  the  more  noted 
are  the  following:  1.  "The  "Sisters  of  St.  Joseph,"  founded  in 
France,  in  1650  ;  2.  The  "  Sisters  of  the  Good  Shepherd,"  established 
in  the  same  country  and  about  the  same  year  ;  3.  The  "  Presentation 
Nuns,"  instituted  in  Ireland,  in  1777  ;  4.  The  "  Sisters  of  the 
Sacred  Heart,"  formed  in  France,  after  the  Revolution,  by  Fr.  Varin 
and  Madame  Barat ;  5.  The  "  Sisters  of  Notre  Dame,"  founded  in 
France,  in  1804  ;  6.  The  "Sisters  of  Charity  of  Nazareth,"  instituted 
in  Kentucky,  in  1812,  by  Bishop  David  ;  7.  The  "  Sisters  of  Mercy," 
established  in  Ireland,  in  1827,  by  Catharine  McAuley ;  8.  The 
"Little  Sisters  of  the  Poor,"  originated  in  France,  in  1840.  We  add 
yet  the  "  Sisters  of  Providence,"  "  Sisters  of  'the  Holy  Childhood,' 
"  Poor  School  Sisters,"  "Handmaids  of  Christ,"  and  the  "  Sisters  of 
Christian  Charity." 

396.  The  piety  and  devotion  of  the  Catholic  people  in  our  day 


752  BISTORT  OF  THE  CHURCH, 

have  been  stimulated  and  much  promoted  by  frequent  missions,  by  an 
unwonted  number  of  feasts  and  jubilees,  granted  within  the  last  forty 
years,  and  especially  by  various  sodalities  and  confraternities,  which 
have  been  formed  all  over  the  Catholic  World  for  the  relief  of  the  poor 
and  otherwise  suffering,  as  well  as  for  the  personal  sanctification  of 
their  members.  The  more  important  confraternities  are  those  of  the 
**  Scapular,"  of  the  ''Most  Holy  Eosary,''  of  the  ''Most  Holy  and 
Immaculate  Heart  of  Mary,"  for  the  conversion  of  sinners  ;  of  "  St. 
Francis  Xavier,"  or  of  the  "Missions,"  for  the  propagation  of  the 
faith;  of  "  St.  Vincent  de  Paul,"  for  the  relief  of  the  needy,  and 
many  others. 

397.  If  we  examine  more  closely  the  course  of  recent  events,  we 
find  that  during  the  last  forty  or  fifty  years  much  has  changed  in  favor 
of  the  Church.  Though  the  enemies  of  religion  have  had,  in  many 
countries,  everything  their  own  way,  yet  it  cannot  escape  us  that  the 
Catholic  spirit  has  everywhere  undergone  a  great  revival.  Especially 
deserving  of  mention  is  that  filial  piety  and  devotion  which  Catholics 
all  over  the  world  manifest  towards  their  Supreme  Head  of  the  Church. 
This  was  unmistakably  shown  on  the  occasion  of  the  Sacerdotal 
Julilee  of  our  Holy  Father^  Leo  XIII.,  December  31,  1887,  which 
was  celebrated  with  much  universal  rejoicing  in  Catholic  Christendom, 
and  attracted  so  much  attention,  even  among  non-Catholics.  Emper- 
ors and  kings,  including  the  Czar  of  Eussia,  the  Protestant  rulers 
of  Germany  and  England,  the  Sultan  of  Turkey,  the  Shah  of  Persia, 
and  the  President  of  the  United  States,  vied  with  each  other  in  sending 
costly  gifts  and  congratulatory  envoys.  Thousands  of  pilgrims 
from  all  quarters  of  the  globe  streamed  into  Eome,  to  pay  their  homage 
to  the  Vicar  of  Christ  and  lay  their  testimonials  of  respect,  sympathy, 
and  love  at  the  feet  of  Leo  XIII.,  happily  reigning  with  imperishable 
sway  over  the  Universal  Church  of  God. 


CONCLUSION. 
We  have  thus  briefly  sketched  the  "  History  of  the  Church,"  from 
its  first  establishment  down  to  our  own  time.  The  revolution  wrought 
by  Christianity  in  the  world  was  unlike  anything  which  had  occurred 
before  in  the  history  of  the  human  race.  It  was  absolutely  without  a 
precedent.  While  the  wise  and  learned  among  the  heathen  were 
despairing  of  human  society,  and  were  expressing  their  utter  hopeless- 
ness as  to  the  world's  course  and  destiny,  Christianity  gently  insinu- 
ated itself  into  the  minds  of  men,  grew  and  increased  both  in  strength 
and   number,  in   spite   of   all  opposition  ;   and   quietly   and    without 


CONCLUSION.  753 

ostentation  inaugurated  a  reformation  of  morals  and  an  amelioration 
of  human  society.  It  grew  up  first  in  silence,  but  gradually  emerged 
into  air  and  light,  and  finally  rose  to  such  a  height  of  greatness  and 
splendor,  as  drew  the  attention  of  all  mankind,  and  struck  the  world 
with  wonder  and  amazement.  What  power,  but  that  of  Almighty 
God,  could  have  worked  a  change  so  extraordinary  and  wonderful. 
Although  *'  to  the  Jews  a  stumbling-block,  and  to  the  Gentiles 
foolishness,"  the  teaching  of  the  Apostles  prevailed  and  forced  itself 
on  men's  acceptance  as  the  teaching  of  God. 

Butt  he  continuance  of  the  Church  is  not  less  wonderful  and  is  in 
itself  a  standing  miracle.  We  have  seen  the  manifold  trials  which  the 
Ohurch  endured  from  her  infancy  down  to  the  present  time — three 
hundred  years  of  cruel  persecution,  during  which  the  blood  of  her 
children  flowed  in  torrents  ;  the  Arian,  Macedonian,  Nestorian,  and 
other  heresies^  from  which  she  suffered  even  more  than  from  heathen- 
ism ;  the  incursions  of  the  Huns,  Vandals,  and  other  barbarian  hordes 
from  the  North,  which  flung  themselves  upon  the  Christian  lands, 
laying  everything  waste  with  fire  and  sword  ;  the  fierce  and  prolonged 
struggle  with  the  Iconoclasts  ;  the  Greek  Schism,  which  resulted  in  the 
renunciation  of  allegiance  to  the  Holy  See  by  the  greater  part  of  the 
Eastern  nations  ;  the  prolonged  struggle  of  the  Popes  with  the  German 
Emperors  for  ecclesiastical  liberty  and  independence  ;  the  great  Papal 
Schism,  so  detrimental  to  the  Church  ;  the  great  Protestant  secession 
in  the  sixteenth  century,  when  almost  all  Northern  Europe  apostatized 
from  the  Catholic  faith  ;  and  lastly  the  horrors  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion, when  in  Catholic  France  the  Catholic  religion  was  proscribed  and 
abolished.  Still,  the  Church  has  not  perished  in  any  of  the  tempests 
that  paganism,  heresy,  or  infidelity  had  raised  against  her.  *^The 
gates  of  hell  shall  not  prevail  against  her."  Had  the  Church  not  been 
divinely  protected,  the  might  and  cunning  of  her  numerous  foes 
would  long  since  have  overthrown  her.  In  our  own  day  we  witness 
the  machinations  and  conspiracies  of  secret  societies  aiming  at  the 
overthrow  of  all  authority,  human  and  divine.  "  At  this  period,"  says 
Pope  Leo  XIIL  in  his  admirable  Encyclical  Humanum  ge7ius,  *'the 
partisans  of  evil  seem  to  be  combining  together,  and  to  be  struggling 
with  united  vehemence,  led  on  or  assisted  by  that  strongly  organized 
and  wide-spread  association  called  Freemasons.  No  longer  making 
any  secret  of  their  purposes,  they  are  now  boldly  rising  up  against  God 
Himself.  They  are  planning  the  destruction  of  the  Holy  Church, 
publicly  and  openly  ;  and  this  with  the  set  purpose  of  utterly  despoil- 
ing the  nations  of  Christendom,  if  it  were  possible,  of  the  blessings 
obtained  for  us  through  Jesus  Christ  our  Saviour." 


764  HISTORY  OF  THE  CHURCH 

The  enemies  of  religion  are  very  active  in  our  day,  especially  so  in 
Italy,  where  they  suppress  convents,  seize  Church  property,  persecute 
the  clergy,  have  deprived  the  Holy  Father  of  all  his  possessions,  and 
threaten  yet  worse  things.  The  secret  societies,  it  would  seem,  have 
united  all  their  forces  in  one  desperate  attempt  to  destroy  the  increas- 
ing power  of  the  Church  and  to  raise  the  standard  of  godlessness  in 
its  place.  But  this  design  shall  come  to  naught,  for  it  is  the  design  of 
the  wicked.  As  the  Psalmist  says  :  '^  The  desire  of  the  wicked  shal^ 
perish." 

Notwithstanding  grievous  persecution  in  some  countries,  the  Catholic 
Church,  during  the  present  century,  has  made  most  wonderful  prog- 
ress in  both  the  Old  and  the  New  World.  In  most  of  the  Catholic 
countries — Italy,  France,  Belgium,  Austria,  Bavaria,  Spain,  Portugal, 
and  Ireland — where  nearly  the  whole,  if  not  the  whole,  population  is 
Catholic, — the  Church  now  enjoys  a  greater  measure  of  freedom,  and 
Catholic  life  in  consequence  has  experienced  a  most  encouraging 
revival.  In  what  are  called  the  Protestant  countries,  the  progress  of 
Catholicism  is  most  astonishing.  This  is  especially  the  case  in  the 
Netherlands  and  the  British  dominions,  where  the  Catholic  population 
has  increased  wonderfully,  both  in  numbers  and  influence.  In  the 
Canadas  and  the  United  States,  the  condition  of  the  Catholic  Church, 
its  growth  and  prosperity,  are  all  that  could  be  expected.  Alike 
remarkable  is  the  progress  of  Catholicism  in  Australia,  New  Zealand, 
India,  and  the  other  British  possessions.  The  Catholic  Church  is  to 
day  as  vigorous  and  as  strong  in  the  loyalty  of  her  children  all  over 
the  world,  as  she  has  been  at  any  period,  ever  since  her  existence.  It 
is  to  her  that  history  bears  testimony,  as  being  that  community  of  the 
faithful  which  Christ  founded  for  the  salvation  of  mankind.  If  a 
cloud  sometimes  passes  over  that  Church,  it  soon  disappears.  Thou- 
sands of  years  pass  by,  but  she  neither  decays  nor  alters.  For  to  her 
belongs  the  promise  of  our  Lord  :  *'  The  gates  of  hell  shall  not  pre- 
vail against  it."  (Matt.  xvi.  18). 


Ad  majoeem  Dei  gloriam. 


List  of  Roman  Pontiffs. 


Naioe.  duration  of 

Pontificate  : 
Ptrst  Century. 

St.  Peter,  Prince  of  the  Apos- 
tles, who  received  the  su- 
preme Pontificate  from 
Christ.  He  resided  for  a 
time  at  Antioch,  and  after- 
wards established  his  See  at 
Rome,  where  he  died  a  mar- 
tyr with  St.  Paul,  under  Nero, 

on  June  29th,  67 42—67 

St.  Linus 67—78 

St.  Cletus  or  Anacletus » 78—91 

St.  Clement  1 91—100 

Second  CENxmiY. 

St  Evaristus 100—109 

St.  Alexander  1 109—119 

St.  Sixtus  1 119—127 

St.  Telesphorus 127—139 

St.  Hyginus 139—142 

St  Pius  1 142-157 

St  Anicetus 157—168 

St  Soter 168—177 

St  Eleutherus 177—192 

St  Victor  I 192—201 

Third  Century. 

StZephyrinus 202—218 

St  Calixtus  1 218—222 

St  Urban  1 223—230 

St  Pontian 230—235 

St  Anterus 235-236 

St  Fabian 236—250 

St  Cornelius 251—252 

St  Lucius  1 252—253 

St  Stephen  1 253—257 

St  Sixtus  II 257—258 

St.  Dionysius 259—269 

St  Felix  1 269-274 

St  Eutychianus 275—283 

St  Cajus 283—296 

St  Marcellinua 296—304 

>  See  page  106. 


765 


Name.  Duration  of 

Pontificate  ; 
Fourth  Century. 

St  MarceUus  i 308—310 

St  Eusebius 310—311 

St  Melchiades 311—313 

St  Sylvester  I , 314—335 

St  Marcus 336—337 

St  Julius  1 337-352 

Liberius.     (Felix  II.   Anti- 
pope.)  2 352—366 

St  Damasus  1 366—384 

St.  Siricius 385—398 

St  Anastasius  1 398 — 402 

Fifth  Century. 

St  Innocent  1 402—417 

St  Zosimus 417—418 

St  Boniface  1 418—422 

St  Celestine  1 422—432 

St  Sixtus  III 432—440 

St  Leo  L    (the  Great) 440-461 

St  Hilary. 461—468 

St  Simplicius 468—483 

St  Felix  III .' . . .  483-492 

St  Gelasius  1 492—496 

St  Anastasius  II 496—498 

Sixth  Century. 

St  Symmachus 498—514 

St  Hormisdas 514—523 

St  John  1 523—525 

St  Felix  lY 526-530 

Boniface  II 530—532 

John  II 532—535 

St  Agapetus  1 535—536 

St  Silverius 536-540 

Yigilius 540—555 

Pelagius  1 555—560 

'  Owing  to  the  violent  persecution  then  rag- 
ing, the  Holy  See  remained  vacant  nearly  four 
years  304—308. 

2  Felix  Is  put  in  the  list  of  Popes  by  some, 
though  he  is  generally  held  to  be  an  Intruder. 
See  p.  235. 


756 


LIST  OF  ROMAN  PONTIFFS. 


Name.  Duration  of 

Pontificate  : 

John  III 560—573 

Benedict  1 574-578 

Pelagius  Tl 578-590 

St.  Gregory  I.  (the  Grteat) 590—604 

Seventh  Century. 

Sabinianus 604—605 

Boniface  III 606 

St.  Boniface  IV 607—614 

St.  Deusdedit 615-618 

Boniface  V 619—625 

HonuriusI 625—638 

Severinus 639 

John  IV 640-642 

Theodoras  1 642—649 

St.  Martin  1 649—655 

Eugenius  1 655 — 657 

St.  Vitalian 657—672 

St  Adeodatus 672—676 

Donus 676—678 

St.  Agatho 678—681 

St.  Leo  II 681—684 

St.  Benedict  If 684—686 

John  V 686—687 

Conon 687 

St.  Sergius  1 687—701 

Eighth  Century. 

John  VI... 701—705 

John  VII.... 705-707 

Sisinnius ...  708 

Constantine 708—715 

St.  Gregory  II 715—731 

St.  Gregory  III 731  —  741 

St.  Zacharias. 751    -752 

Stephen  II 752 

Stephen  III 752—757 

St.  Paul  1 757—767 

Stephen  IV 768—772 

Hadrian  1 772-795 

Ninth  Century. 

'St.  Leo  III 795-816 

Stephen  V 816—817 

Paschal  1 817-824 

Eugenius  11 824—827 

Valentine 827 

Gregory  IV 827—844 

Sergius  II 844—847 

Leo  IV 847—855 

Benedict  III 855-858 

St.  Nicholas  I.  (the  Great). . ..  858—867 

Hadrian  II 867—872 

John  VIII 872—882 


Name.  Duration  of 

pontificatk  : 

Marinus  1 882—884 

Hadrian  III 884—885 

Stephen  VI 885—891 

Formosus .' 891—896 

Boniface  VI 896 

Stephen  VII 896—897 

Romanus 897 

Theodorus  II 897—898 

John  IX 897—900 

Tenth  Century. 

Benedict  IV 900—903 

LeoV 903 

Christophorus 903—904 

Sergius  III 904—911 

Anastasius  III 911—913 

Lando 913—914 

JohnX 914-928 

Leo  VI 928—929 

Stephen  VIII 929—931 

John  XI 931—936 

Leo  VII 936-  939 

Stephen  IX 939—943 

Marinus  II 943-946 

Agapetus  II 946—956 

John  XII  1 956—964 

Benedict  V 964-965 

John  XIII 965-972 

Benedict  VI. , 972—974 

Benedict  VIL. 975—983 

John  XIV 983-985 

John  XV 985—996 

Gregory  V 996—999 

Eleventh   Century. 

Sylvester  II   999—100" 

JohnXVII^ 1003 

John  XVIII 1003— 1 009 

Sergius  IV 1009—1012 

Benedict  VIII 1012—1024 

John  XIX 1024—1032 

Benedict  IX 1033—1044 

Gregory  VL  (abdicated).  ..1044— 1046 

Clement  II 1046—1048 

Damasus  II 1048 

Leo  IX 1049—1054 

Victor  II 1054—1057 

Stephen  X 1057—1058 

Nicholas  II 1059—1061 

'  Leo  VIII.  and  Benedict  VI.  were  antlpopes. 

2  This  Pontiff  took  the  name  of  John  XVII.  to 
prevent  his  acts  being  confounded  with  those  of 
the  antlpope  John  XVI.,  In  the  time  of  Gregory  V. 


r 


LIST  OF  ROMAN  PONTIFFS. 


717 


name.  duration  of 

Pontificate  : 

Alexander  II 1061—1073 

St.  Gregory  YII 1073-1085 

Victor  III 1086—1088 

Urban  II •  .1088—1099 

Twelfth  Century. 

Paschal  II 1099—1118 

Gelasius  II 1118—1119 

Calixtus  II 1119—1 124 

Honorius  II 1124—1130 

Innocent  II 1130—1143 

Celestine  II 1143—1144 

Lucius  II 1144—1145 

Eugenius  III. 1145—1153 

Anastasius  IV 115.3—1154 

Hadrian  IV 1154—1159 

Alexander  III 1159—1181 

Lucius  III 1181— 1185 

Urban  III 1185-1187 

Gregory  VIII 1187 

Clement  III .1187—1191 

Celestine  III 1191—1198 

Thirteenth  Century. 

Innocent  III 1198—1216 

Honorius  III 1216-1227 

Gregory  IX 1227—1241 

Celestine  IV  » 1241 

Innocent  IV : 1243—1254 

Alexander  IV 1254-1261 

Urban  IV 1261—1264 

Clement  IV  2 1265—1268 

Gregory  X 1272—1276 

Innocent  V 1276 

Hadrian  V 1276 

John  XXI 1277 

Nicholas  III 1277-1280 

Martin  IV  » 1281—1285 

Honorius  IV 1285-1287 

Nicholas  IV 1288-1292 

St.  Celestine  V.  (abdicated)... .  1294 

Boniface  VIII 1294—1303 

Fourteenth  Century. 
Benedict  XI 1303-1304 

1  After  the  death  of  this  Pontiff  followed  an 
interregnum  of  nearly  two  years,  caused  by  the 
hostile  attitude  of  Emperor  Frederick  II.  towards 
the  Holy  See. 

2  After  the  death  of  Clement  IV.  there  was  a 
vacancy  of  nearly  three  years- 

3  See  page  388,  note. 


Name.  duration  of 

Pontificatk: 

Clement  V 1305-1314 

John  XXn 1316  - 1334 

Benedict  XII ...1334—1342 

Clement  Vl 1342—1352 

Innocent  VI. .  , 1352—1362 

Urban  V 1362-1370 

Gregory  XI 1370—1378 

Urban  VI  ^ 1378-1389 

Boniface  IX 1389—1404 

Fifteenth  Century. 

Innocent  VII 1404—1406 

Gregory  XII 2 1406—1415 

Martin  V 1417—1431 

Eugenius  IV 1431—1447 

Nicholas  V 1447-1455 

Calixtus  III 1455—1458 

Pius  II 1458—1464 

Paul  II 1464—1471 

Sixtus  IV 1471—1484 

Innocent  VIII 1484—1492 

Alexander  VI 1492—1503 

Sixteenth  Century. 

Pius  III 1503 

Julius  II 1503—1513 

LeoX 1513—1521 

Hadrian  VI 1522—1523 

Clement  VII 1523—1534 

Paul  III 1534—1549 

Julius  III 1550—1555 

Marcellus  II 1555 

Paul  IV 1555—1559 

Pius  IV 1559—1565 

St.  Pius  V 1566—1572 

Gregory  XIII   1572—1585 

Sixtus  V 1585—1590 

Urban  VII 1590 

Gregory  XIV 1 590  -1591 

Innocent  IX 1591—1592 

Clement  VIII 1592—1605 

^  Several  discontented  cardinals  elected  an  an- 
tipope,  Clement  VIII.  (1378—1394),  who  resided 
at  Avignon.  He  was  succeeded  bv  Benedict 
XIII.  (1394-1417). 

2  This  Pontiff  abdicated  In  1415  in  the  Council 
of  Constance.  Alexander  V.,  who  was  elected 
by  the  Council  of  Pisa,  In  1409,  and  his  successor 
John  XIII.,  although  generally  classed  as  anti- 
popes,  are  found  in  many  of  the  lists,  even  in 
those  published  at  Rome. 


768 


LIST  OF  ROMAN  PONTIFFS, 


Hams,  Duration  or 

Pontificate: 

Sbvbntbenth  Century. 

lieoXI 1605 

Paul  V 1605—1621 

Gregory  XV 1621-1623 

Urban  VIII 1623—1644 

Innocent  X 1644—1655 

Alexander  VII  1655—1667 

Clement  IX 1667—1669 

Clement  X 1670—1676 

Innocent  XI 1676—1689 

Alexander  VIII 1689-1691 

Innocent  XII 1691—1700 

ElQHTBENTH    CbNTIJRY. 

Clement  XI 1700—1721 


Name.  Duration  or 

Pontificate  : 

Innocent  XIII 1721—1724 

Benedict  XIII 1724—1730 

Clement  XII 1730—1740 

Benedict  XIV 1740—1758 

Clement  XIII 1758—1769 

Clement  XIV 1769—1774 

Pius  VI 1775—1799 

Nineteenth  Century. 

Pius  VII 1800—1823 

Leo  Xn 1823-1829 

Pius  VIII 1829—1830 

Gregory  XVI 1830—1846 

Pius  IX 1846—1878 

LeoXni 1878 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Abbot  or  Archimandrite,  249. 

Abelard,  456. 

Abyssinia,  Evangelization  of ,  134;  Missions 

in,  647. 
Acacius,  and  the  "  Acacians,"  190. 
Acacius  (Patr.  of  Constantinople),  Schism 

of,  207,  236. 
Acadia,  Missions  in,  522. 
Adalbert,  Archbp.  of  Bremen,  265. 
Adalbert,  Archbp.  of  Prague,  337. 
Adamnan,  310. 

Adelphius  and  the  "  Adelphians,"  218. 
Adolph  of  Nassau,  Emperor,  394 
Adoptionist  Heresy,  216. 
Adrumetum,  Monks  of,  200. 
-^desius,  134. 

^lurus,  Timothy,  priest,  207. 
^neas  Sylvius,  424. 
iErius,  priest  of  Sebaste,  218. 
Aetius,  deacon  of  Antioch,  190. 
Africa,  Propagation  of  Christianity  in,  35. 
African  Synods,  93. 
Agatho,  St.,  Pope,  217,  642. 
Agnes,  St.,  Martyr,  55. 
Agnoites,  208. 

Agrippa  Castor,  Eccl.  "Writer,  75. 
Agrippinus,  Bp.  of  Carthage,  97. 
Aistulph,  the  Lombard,  285. 
Alaric,143. 

Albanians,  Conversion  of  the,  133. 
Alban,  St.,  139. 
Albergati,  Cardinal,  421. 
Albertus  Magnus,  459. 
Albert  L,  Emperor,  394. 
Albert,  Grand  Master  of  the  Teutonic  Order, 

495,  540. 
Albert,  Archb.,  527. 
Albigenses,  467. 
Alboin,  Saxon  chief,  263. 


Alcantara,  (Military)  Order  of,  495. 
AJcantarines,  625. 
Alcuin,  306,  312. 
Aldhelm,  St.,  312. 
Alemannia,  Christianity  in,  257. 
Alexander,  Bp.  of  Alexandria,  182. 
Alexander  of  Hales,  459. 
Alexander  Severus,  Emperor,  47. 
Alexander  I.,  of  Russia,  712. 
Alexander  I.,  Pope,  106. 
Alexander  II.,  Pope,  355. 
Alexander  III.,  Pope,  376. 
Alexander  IV.,  Pope,  385. 
Alexander  V.,  (Pisan)  Pope,  411. 
Alexander  VI.,  Pope,  427,  508. 
Alexander  VIL,  Pope,  628,  648,  737. 
Alexander  VIII.,  Pope,  649. 
Alexandria,  Councils  of,  182,  187,  202. 
Alexandrian  School,  77,  161. 
Alexian  Brothers,  496. 
Alfred  the  Great,  277. 
Algiers,  the  Church  in,  637. 
Allegiance,  Oath  of,  584. 
Allen,  Cardinal,  581. 
AlUance,  the  Holy,  68L 
Allouez,  Claude,  524. 
Alogi,  90. 
Amalricians,  465. 
Ambrose,  St.,  166. 
Ambrosian  Chant,  167. 
Ambrosian  Liturgy,  248. 
America,  Missions  in,  507-526. 
America,  the  Church  in,  714-733. 
Ammonius,  St.,  249. 
Ammonius  Saccas,  49. 
Amsdorf,  543. 
Anabaptists,  537,  609. 
Anastasius  L,  Pope,  235. 
Anastasius  II.,  Pope,  236. 
Anastasius  I.,  Emperor,  207. 


759 


760 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Anatolius,  Eccl.  "Writer,  76. 

Anchieta,  Missionary,  515. 

Anchorites,  248. 

Ancyra,  Synod  of,  190. 

Anderson,  Lawrence,  608. 

Andrew,  St.,  Apostle.  25. 

Angela  of  Mericia,  St.,  631. 

Anglo-Saxons,  See  England. 

Anglican  Church,  574. 

Anglican  Orders,  Invalidity  of,  576. 

Anicetus,  Pope,  96,  106. 

Anomoeans,  190. 

Anscharius,  St.,  264. 

Anselm,  St.,  433,  455. 

Anthony  the  Hermit,  St.,  249. 

Anthony  of  Padua,  St.,  481. 

Antichiliasts,  95. 

Antioch,  School  of,  161. 

Antioch,  Councils  of,  91,  185,  187. 

Antitrinitarians,  90. 

Antonines,  (Military  Order),  496. 

Antoninus,  St.,  462. 

Antoninus  Pius,  Emperor,  44. 

Aphraates,  Syrian  "Writer,  79. 

Apocryphal  Gospels,  9. 

Apollinaris,  St.,  42. 

ApolKnaris,  the  Apologist,  65. 

ApoUinaris  (Father  and  Son),  Heresy  of, 

196. 
ApoUonius,  Eccl.  "Writer,  75. 
Apollonius,  Senator,  46. 
ApoUonius  of  Tyana,  61. 
Apologists,  Christian,  64. 
Apostles,  History  of  the,  10,  24-28. 
Apostolical  Brethren,  466. 
Apostolicals,  675. 
Apostolic  Fathers,  62. 
Appellants,  738. 
Aquileja,  Schism  of,  212. 
Arabia,  Christianity  in,  132. 
Aranda,  651. 

Arcadius,  Emperor,  130,  194. 
Archelaus,  Bp.  and  Eccl.  Writer,  75. 
Archbishops,  (Metropolitans),  102. 
Archpriests  and  Archdeacons,  230. 
Archpriests  in  England,  585. 
Argentine  Republic,  Missions  in,  615. 
Arianism,  181-193. 
Ariold,  366. 


Aristides,  Apologist,  44, 65. 

Aristo  of  Pella,  64. 

Arius,  181. 

Aries,  Council  of,  97,  521. 

Artnenians,  Conversion  of,  132 j  Reunion  of, 
422,  645. 

Arminius  and  the  Arminians,  611. 

Arnobius,  Apologist,  68. 

Arnauld,  Autoine,  629,  738 

Arnold  of  Brescia  and  the  "  Amoldists," 
464. 

Artemon,  Antitrinitarian,  90. 

Articles  (Book  of)  564. 

Articles,  Thirty-nine  (Anglican),  577. 

Articles  of  Rehgion,  568. 

Ascetics,  248. 

Ascidas,  Bp.  210. 

Asia,  Propagation  of  Christianity  in,  34. 

Asterius  Urbanus,  Eccl.  "Writer,  75. 

Asterius,  Bp.  and  Eccl.  "Writer,  165. 

Athanaric,  King,  143. 

Athanasius,  St.,  153,  185-194. 

Athenagoras,  Apologist,  45. 

Attila,  147. 

Audians,  Heresy  of  the,  218. 

Augsburg,  Confession  of,  541. 

Augustine  (St.)  Bp.  of  Hippo,  168,  199. 

Augustine  (St. ),  Apostle  of  the  Anglo-Sax- 
ons, 150. 

Augustinians,  492,  625. 

Australia,  Church  in,  733. 

Austria.  Evangelization  of,  258.  The 
Church  in,  680. 

Autos-da-Fe,  472. 

B 

Bacon,  Roger,  462. 

Baius,  Michael,  627.  • 

Balaeus,  Syrian  Writer,  180. 

Balmes,  677. 

Baltimore,  Lord,  717. 

Baltimore,  Councils  of,  725,  727. 

Baptism,  Sacrament  of.  111,  243. 

Baptism,  Infant,  112. 

Baptists,  610. 

Bar-Cochba,  Sunon,  30 

Bardesanes,  the  Gnostic,  85. 

Barlow,  W.,  576. 

Barnabas,  St.  20,  27. 


r 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


761 


Barnabites,  625. 

Bartholomew,  St.,  Apostle,  25. 

Bartholomew's  Day,  603. 

Basil  the  Great,  St.,  155,  250. 

Basil,  Bp.  of  Ancyra,  190. 

Basihscus,  Emperor,  207. 

Basle,  Council  of,  417. 

Bautain,  664. 

Bavaria,  Evangelization  of,  255 ;  the  Church 
in,  680. 

Beaton,  Cardinal,  585. 

Bee,  Abbey  and  School  of,  455. 

Bede,  the  Venerable,  276,  312. 

Beghards,  497. 

Beguines,  497. 

Belgium,  Evangelization  of,  259;  the  Church 
in,  678. 

Bellarmine,  629. 

Benignus,  St.,  Bp.,  138. 

Benedict,  St.,  of  Aniane,  332. 

Benedict,  St, ,  of  Nursia,  and  the  Benedict- 
ines, 251,  625. 

Benedict  Biscop,  275. 

Benedict  I.,  Pope,  239. 

Benedict  TIL,  Pope,  292. 

Benedict  V.,  Pope,  300. 

Benedict  YTI.,  Pope,  300. 

Benedict  VIII.,  Pope,  302. 

Benedict  IX.  Pope,  302. 

Benedict  XII.,  Pope,  403. 

Benedict  XIII.,  Pope,  650. 

Benedict  XIV.,  Pope,  650. 

Berengarius,  Heresy  of,  324. 

Bernard,  St.,  345,  457,  464,  489. 

Bernardin  of  Siena,  St.,  482. 

Beryllus,  Bp.  of  Bozra,  Antitrinitarian,  92. 

Bessarion,  421. 

Beza,  Theodore,  552. 

Bible,  Canon  and  ancient  Versions  of,  78- 
79,  236;  Vernacular  translations  and 
Eeading  of  the,  487  ;  King  James' 
Bible,  487. 

Bishops,  Appointment  of,  101. 

Biriuus,  St..  Bp.,  151. 

Blackwell,  Archpriest,  585. 

Blue  Laws,  721. 

Boethius,  177. 

Bogomiles,  467. 

Bogoris,  Bulgarian  Prince,  267. 


Bohemia,  Conversion  of,  268. 

Bohemian  Brethren,  480. 

Bollandists,  630. 

Boleyn,  Anne,554,  563. 

Bonaventure,  St.,  387,  480. 

Boniface,  St.,  Apostle  of  Germany,  260-262, 

Boniface  I.,  Pope,  235. 

Boniface  III.,  Pope,  241. 

Boniface  IV.,  Pope,  241. 

Boniface  VIII.,  Pope,  389,  393-398. 

Boniface  IX.,  Pope,  408. 

Bonosus,  Bp.,  His  Errors,  219. 

Book  of  Common  Prayer,  568. 

Book  of  Common  Order,  594 

Book  of  Discipline,  591,  594. 

Borgia,  St.  Francis,  631. 

Borromeo,  St.  Charles,  630. 

Bossuet,  739,  749. 

Bradwardine,  462. 

Brazil,  Missions  in,  515. 

Brebeuf,  Missionary,  523. 

Brethren  of  the  Free  Spirit,  466. 

Bridget,  St.  138. 

Bridgittines,  496. 

Brothers  of  the  Common  Life,  497. 

Brothers  of  the  Sword,  494. 

Brothers  of  Charity,  751. 

Brothers  of  the  Christian  Schools,  751. 

Brothers  of  Mary,  751. 

Brownists,  578. 

Bruys,  Peter,  463. 

Bucer,  567,  Note. 

Bugenhagen,  607. 

Bulgarians,  Conversion  of  the,  645,  266. 

Burgundians,  Christianity  among  the,  148. 

Burmah,  Missions  in,  639. 

c. 

Caecilian,  Bp.,  220. 

Caslestius,  197. 

Csesarea,  School  of,  78. 

Csesarius,  Bp.,  178. 

Cainites,  83 

Cajetan,  Cardinal,  529,  630. 

Cajetan,  St.,  625. 

Cajus,  Eccl.  Writer,  75. 

Calatrava.  Order  of,  495. 

Calendar.  Gregorian.  621. 

California.  Missions  in,  521  729. 


762 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Calixius   I..  Pope.  108. 

Calixtus  II.,  Pope,  370. 

Calixtus  III.,  Pope,  425. 

Calixtines,  480. 

Calmet,  749. 

Calvert,  See  Lord  Baltimore. 

Calvin  and  Calvinism,  550-552. 

Camaldolites  333. 

Campeggio,  Cardinal,  538,  555. 

Canada,  Missions  in,  522 ;  Church  in,  714. 

Canon  of  the  Mass,  237. 

Canon  Law,  329,  485,  630,  748. 

Canones,  Poenitentiales,  114. 

Canus,  Melchior,  630. 

Canute,  the  Great,  431. 

Capuchins,  625. 

Caracalla,  Emperor,  47. 

Cardinals,  328,  354,  621. 

Carlstadt,  530,  537,  548. 

Carmelites,  492,  625. 

Caroline  Books,  316. 

CaroU,  Archbp.,  724. 

Carpocrates,  the  Gnostic,  84. 

Carthage,  Councils  of,  70,  97,  222. 

Carthusians,  489. 

Casas,  Las,  509. 

Cashel,  Synod  of,  446. 

Cassianus,  Abbot  and  latin  "Writer,  176,  200. 

Cassiodorus,  Eccl.  "Writer,  175. 

Castelnau,  Peter  de,  468. 

Catacombs,  120. 

Catechumenate,  111. 

Catharists,  466. 

Catharine,  II.  of  Russia,  711. 

Catharine  of  Siena,  St.,  406 

Cathedral  Schools,  306. 

Cecilia,  St.,  45. 

Celestine  L,  Pope.  235 

Celestine  IIL,  Pope,  S78. 

Celestine  Y.,  Pope,  389. 

Celestinians,  496. 

Celibac}',  Clerical,  99,  227. 

CelUtes,  496. 

Celsus,  Pagan  Philosopher,  58. 

Cenobites,  249. 

Central  America,  Missions  in,  512. 

Central  India,  Missions  in,  505. 

Cerinthus,  81,  95. 

Cerularius,  Michael,  322. 


Cesarini,  Cardinal,  421. 

Cesena,  Michael  402. 

Ceylon,  Mission  in,  505. 

Chalcedon,  Council  of,  206. 

Chaldean  Christians,  132,  645. 

Challoner,  Bp.,  700. 

Chapters,  the  Three,  210. 

Charity,  Sisters  of,  626. 

Charlemagne,  286-289. 

Charles  Martel,  283. 

Charles  of  Anjou,  385,  388. 

Charles  lY.,  Emperor,  404 

Charles  Y.,  Emperor,  533,  545. 

Charles  I.  of  England,  585,  702,  705. 

Charles  II.  of  England,  697,  703,  707. 

Charter  Schools,  710. 

Oh&tel,  Abb^  Francis,  740. 

Chili,  Missions  in,  516. 

Chiliasm,  95. 

China,  Missions  in,  506,  635,  639. 

Choiseul,  651. 

Chorepiscopi,  102,  272. 

Chosroes  I.  and  II.  of  Persia,   132. 

Christ,  History  of,  1-10. 

Christian,  Name  of,  15. 

Christianity,  Propagation  of.  31,  131,  257, 

336,  501,  635. 
Christina  of  Sweden,  648. 
Chrysologus,  Peter,  171. 
Chrysostom,  St.  158. 
"  Church  Established  by  Law,"  574. 
Church  Historians,  629,  630,  748. 
Circumcelliones,  222. 
Cistercians,  489. 
Clarendon,  Constitutions  of,436. 
Clares,  Poor,  492. 
Claver,  St.  Peter,  513,  750. 
Claudius  Apollinaris,  Apologist,  45. 
Claudianus  Mamertus,  178. 
Clement  L,  Pope,  106. 
Clement  IL,  Pope,  303. 
Clement  Y.,  Pope,  399. 
Clement  YL.,  Pope,  406. 
Clement  YIL,  Pope,  538,  554. 
Clement  YIIL,  Pope,  621. 
Clement  XL,  Pope,  649. 
Clement  XIIL,  Pope,  651. 
Clement  XIY.,  Pope,  653. 
Clement  Augustus,  Archbp.,  688. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


763 


Clement,  St.,  Consul,  42. 

Clement  of  Alexandria,  66,  71,  18. 

Cleraentinse,  485. 

Clementine  Peace,  737. 

Clergy  and  Laity,  98. 

Clergy,  Education  of,  99,  227. 

€lerks,  Regular,  625. 

Clermont,  Council  of,  342 

Clovis  and  Clotilda,  148. 

€luny,  Abbey  and  Congregation  of,  307, 
488. 

Cochin-China,  Missions  in,  505,  636. 

Colonnas,  Cardinals,  393. 

Columba  or  Columkil,  St.,  140. 

Columbanus,  251. 

Commodianus,  Eccl.  Writer,  76. 

Conception,  Controversy  on  the  Immacu- 
late, 626;  Definition  of,  667. 

Concordats  of  Princes,  424. 

Confession,  Public  and  Auricular,  114,  244; 
Annual,  486. 

Confession,  Augsburg,  541. 

Confirmation,  Sacrament  of,  113,  248. 

Congregatio  Concilii  Tridentini,  620. 

Conrad  IL,  Emperor,  302. 

Conrad  III.,  Emperor,  345. 

Conrad  of  Marburg,  471. 

Constance,  Council  of,  412 

Constans,  Emperor,  126. 

Constantino,  Pope,  282. 

Constantino  the  Great,  56,  124. 

Constantius  Ghlorus,  Emperor,  52,  55. 

Constantius,  Emperor,  126,  188. 

Constitutum  and  Judicatum,  211-212. 

Converts,  Distinguished,  689,  701. 

Copernicus,  622 ;  Note,  747. 
I       Copts,  208,  647. 
^'       Corea,  Missions  in,  636. 

Cornelius,  Pope,  93,  109. 

Cornelius  a  Lapide,  630. 

Corpus  Christi,  Feast  of,  486. 

Councils,  Ecumenical: 

T.  Ecumenical,  1st,  of  Nice,  181. 
n.  Ecumenical,  1st,  of  Constanti- 
nople, 194. 
m  Ecumenical,  of  Ephesus,  201. 
IV.  Ecumenical,  of  Chalcedon,  204. 


V.  Ecumenical,  2d,  of  Constanti- 
nople, 210. 
YI.  Ecumenical,   3d,  of  Constanti- 
nople, 216. 
YII.  Ecumenical,  2d,  of  Nice,  313. 
VIII.  Ecumenical,  4th,  of  Constanti- 
nople, 322. 
IX.  Ecumenical,  1st,  Lateran,  370. 
X.  Ecumenical,  2d,  Lateran,  372. 
XI.  Ecumenical,  3d,  Lateran,  377. 
XII.  Ecumenical,  4th,  Lateran,  380. 
XI  IL  Ecumenical,  1st  of  Lyons,  384. 
XIY.  Ecumenical,  2d  of  Lyons,  386. 
XV.  Ecumenical,  of  Yienna,  400. 
XYI.  Ecumenical,  of  Constance,  412. 
XYII.  Ecumenical,  of  Ferrara,  420. 
XYIIL  Ecumenical,  5th  Lateran,  430. 

XIX.  Ecumenical,  of  Trent,  616. 

XX.  Ecumenical,   of  the  Yatican, 

668. 
Court  of  High  Commission,  580. 
Covenant,  Scotch,  589,  594. 
Cramner,  556-567,  573. 
Creagh,  Archbp.  of  Armagh,  576,  597. 
Crescens,  Pagan  Philosopher,  59. 
Cromwell,  Thomas,  557,  564;   Oliver,    706. 
Cross,  Sign  of  the,  119  ;  Discovery  of,  125. 
Cross,  Congregation  of  the  Holy,  751. 
Crusades,  341-348. 
Culdees,  448. 
Cullen,  Cardinal,  711. 
Cummian,  St.,  Irish  Scholar,  310. 
Cycle,  Dionysian,  1. 

Cyprian,  St.,  of  Carthage,  68,  69,  93,  97. 
Cyril,  St.,  of  Alexandria,  159,  202. 
Cyril,  St.,  of  Jerusalem,  154. 
Cyril,  St.,  Apostle  of  the  Slavonians,  266. 
Cyrillonas,  Syrian  Writer,  180. 
Cyrus,  Bp.  of  Alexandria,  216. 


Dablon,  Missionary,  525. 
D'Alembert,  656. 
Damasus  I.,  Pope,  195,  235. 
Damasus  IL,  Pope,  303. 
Daniel,  Missionary,  523. 
Darboy,  Archbp.,  674. 
David  Dinanto,  465. 
Deacons,  12,  99. 


(64 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Docius,  Emperor,  49. 
Declaration,  Galliean,  649. 
Decretals,  Papal,  48.'>. 

Denmark,    Conversion   of,  264,    338 ;     The 
Reformation  in,  606 ;  Church  in,  680. 
Desiderius,  the  Lombard,  286. 
Diderot,  656. 

Didjmus,  the  Blind,  Eccl.  writer,  163. 
Diocletian,  Emperor,  51—55. 
Diodorus  of  Tarsus,  Eccl.  Writer,  163,  203, 
Dionysius  the  Areopagite,  21,  77. 
Dionysius  of  Alexandria,  70,  92. 
Dionysius,  Pope,  92,  110. 
Dionysius  Exiguus,  177. 
Dioscorus  of  Alexandria,  205. 
Discipline  of  the  Secret,  118. 
Ditheism,  92. 
Docetse,  81. 

Doctors  of  the  Church,  152,  Note. 
Dolcino,  Era,  466. 
Dominic,  St.,  468,  491. 
Dominicans,  491. 
Doraitian,  Emperor,  42. 
Donation,  Pretended,  of  Constantine,  234. 
Donatists,  220. 
Dositheus,  82. 
Douay  Seminary,  581. 
Douay  Bible,  630,  Note. 
Duns  Scolus,  461. 
Dunstan,  278. 

Dangal,  Irish  Scholar,  311. 
Dupanloup,  Bp.,  673. 
Durandus,  462. 


Easter,  Controversy  on  the  Celebration  of, 

96,  116,  184. 
Easter  Communion,  486. 
Ebionites,  80. 

Ecclesiastical  Titles  Bill,  702. 
Eccleston,  Archbp.,  725. 
Eck,  530,  547. 
Edessa,  School  of,  178. 
Edmund,  St.,  of  Canterbury,  441. 
Ekthesis  of  Heraclius,  215. 
Edward,  the  Confessor,  431. 
Eligius,  Bp.,  259. 
Elipandus,  Archbp.,  317. 
Elizabeth  of  England,  674. 


Elkesaites,  Gnostic  Sect,  86. 

Emancipation,  Catholic,  in  England,  700 ;  in 
Ireland,  710. 

Empire,  Holy  Roman,  287. 

Empire,  Latin,  345. 

Ems,  Congress  of,  656. 

Emser,  Jerome,  530,  535. 

Emmeran,  St.,  258. 

Emmeric,  St.,  270. 

England,  Bp.,  749,  725. 

England,  Evangelization  of,  138,  149 ;  Ref- 
ormation in,  553 — 586;  The  Church 
in,  275,  431—438,  696—702. 

EugUsh  Catholics,  Sufferings  of,  578,  582. 

English  Seminaries,  581. 

Enkyklion  of  Emperor   Basihscus,  207. 

Encratites,  Gnostic  Sect,  86. 

Eon,  (Eudo  de  Stella),  463. 

Ephesus,  Council  of,  198,  202. 

Ephesus,  Robber  Synod  of,  205. 

Ephraem,  St.,  179. 

Epiphanius,  St.,  157,  209. 

Erasmus,  539,  540,  Note. 

Eremitical  Life,  248. 

Erigena,  John  Septus,  311. 

Essenes,  6,  Note. 

Estius,  630. 

Ethelbert,  King  of  Kent,  150. 

Ethelwold,  Bp.,  278. 

Eucharist,   Practice  of  Primitive  Church 
regarding  the  Holy,  115—118,  245; 
Controversy  on  the  Holy,  324. 

Eucherius,  St.,  148,  177. 

Euchites,  or  Eupheraites,  218. 

Eugenius  I.,  Pope,   242. 

Eugenius  II.,  Pope,  290. 

Eugenius  III.,  Pope,  344,  373. 

Eugenius  IV.,  Pope,  417—424. 

Eunomians,  190. 

Eusebius,  St.,  Pope,  111. 

Eusebius  of  Caesarea,  162,  184. 

Eusebius  of  Nicomedia,  182. 

Eusebius  of  Yercelh,  189. 

Eustathius  of  Antioch,  185,  223. 

Eustathius  of  Sebaste  and  the  Eustathians, 
218. 

Eutyches,  204. 

Evagrius,  Eccl.  Writer,  165. 

Bvodius,  Bp.  of  Antioch,  16. 


r 


GENERAL    INDEX, 


765 


P^xarclis,  229. 
Excommunication,  113. 
Exorcism,  119, 
Extravagantes,  486. 


Faber,  F.  W.,  Oratorian,  149. 

Fabian,  Pope,  108. 

Faith  and  Science,  747. 

Farel,  W.,  600. 

Fasts,  119. 

Fathers,  the  Apostolic,  63. 

Fathers  of  the  Church,  152. 

Faustus,  Bp.,  200. 

Fawke's,  (Guy,)  Day,  721. 

Febronianism,  655,  672- 

Felicissimus  of  Carthage,  93, 

Felix  of  Aptunga,  220. 

Felix  of  Urgel,  217. 

Felix  of  Valois,  St.,  495. 

Felix  I.,  Pope,  110. 

Felix  III ,  Pope,  236. 

Felix  IV.,  Pope,  238. 

Felix  II.  and  Felix  Y.,  Antipopes,  236,  419. 

Fenelon,  649,  739. 

Ferdinand  I.,  Emperor,  545. 

Ferrara,  Council  of,  420. 

Filioque,  322,  387. 

Finian,  St.,  138. 

Firmilian,  Bp.,  97. 

Fisher,  Bp.  of  Rochester,  555,  563. 

Flagellants,  466. 

Flavian,  Bp.  of  Antioch,  223. 

Flavian  Family,  42. 

Flavins,  Josephus,  9. 

Fleury,  749. 

Florence,  Council  of,  420. 

Florida,  Missions  in,  519. 

Flotte,  Peter,  396. 

Fontevrault,  Order  of,  490. 

Formosus,  Pope,  295-296. 

Fortunatus,  93. 

France,  Evangelization  of,  148;  The  Church 

in,  279,  389,  672;    Protestantism  in, 

600. 
Francis  Borgia,  St.,  630. 
Francis  Regis,  St.,  630. 
Francis  de  Sales,  St.,  630. 
Francis  Xavier,  St.,  501,  631. 


Francis  of  Assisi,  St.,  492. 

Frances  de  Chantal,  St.,  626,  631. 

Frances  of  Rome,  St.,  497. 

Franciscans,  492. 

Francis  II.,  of  Austria,  682. 

Fratricelli,  402. 

Frederick  L,  Emperor,  345,  374-78. 

Frederick  II.,  Emperor,  381-385. 

Frederick  II.,  of  Prussia,  687. 

Frederick  William  III.,  of  Prussia,  6B1, 

Freemasonry,  664,  753. 

Fridoliu,  St.,  297. 

Frumentius,  St.,  134. 

Fulgentius,  (St.)  Bp.  of  Ruspe,  200. 

Fulda,  Abbey  of,  262. 


Galileo,  Case  of,  622. 

Gallic  Churches,  the  seven,  109. 

Garibaldi,  666. 

Garnet,  Father,  584. 

Galerius,  Emperor,  52,  55. 

Gallienus,  Emperor,  50. 

Gallican  Liberties,  649. 

Garcio  Diego,  Bp.,  730. 

Gardiner,  English  Bp.,  572. 

Gaul,  Propagation  of  Christianity  in,  36, 

148. 
Geisa,  Duke  of  Hungary,  270. 
Geissel,  Archbp.  of  Cologne,  688,  690. 
Gelasius  I.,  Pope,  236. 
Gelasius  II.,  Pope,  370. 
Gennadius  of  Marseilles,  200. 
Genseric,  146. 
Gentilis,  Valentine,  610. 
George,  Duke  of  Saxony,  530. 
Gerbert,  309. 
G^rmanus,  St.,  139. 
Germany,    Evangelization  of,    257 ;     The 

Church  in,  686-689. 
Gerson,  John,  462. 
Ghibellines  and  Guelfs,  376,  Note  2. 
Gibbons,  Cardinal,  728. 
Gilbert,  St.,  and  the  Gilbertines,  496. 
Gilbert,  Irish  Bp.,  443.  j 

Gilbert  de  la  Paree,  458. 
Giscard,  Robert,  355,  365. 
Glastonbury,  Monastery  of,  278. 
Gnosticism,  83-87. 


766 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


Goa  Schism,  638. 

Goch,  John  Van,  480. 

Godfrey  of  Bouillon,  343. 

Golden  Bull,  404. 

Gomarists,  611. 

Gordon  Riot,  700. 

Goerres,  688. 

Goths,  143. 

Gottschalk,  318. 

Grace,  Controversy  on,  62t. 

Grace,  Pilgrimage  of,  561. 

Grammont,  Order  of,  489. 

Gratian,  Canonist,  485. 

Greek  Fathers  and  Writers,  152-165. 

Greek  Schism,  318-324. 

Greek  Church,  Reunion  of,  387, 420  ;  Pres- 
ent state  of,  641. 

Greenland,  Discovery  and  Evangelization 
of,  265. 

Gregorian  Chant,  170. 

Gregory  Thaumaturgus,  St.,  70. 

Gregory  the  Illuminator,  St.,  132. 

Gregory  Nazianzen,  St.,  155. 

Gregory  of  Nyssa,  St.,  156. 

Gregory  of  Tours,  St.,  173. 

Gregory  I.,  Pope,  150,  170. 

Gregory  II.,  Pope,  283. 

Gregory  III.,  Pope,  283. 

Gregory  IV.,  Pope,  291. 

Gregory  V.,  Pope,  301. 

Gregory  VI.,  Pope,  303. 

Gregory  VII.,  Pope,  356—365. 

•Gregory  IX.,  Pope,  382. 

'Gregory  X.,  Pope,  386. 

•Gregory  XI.,  Pope,  406. 

'Gregory  XII.,  Pope,  410-414. 

•Gregory  XIII.,  Pope,  621. 

'Gregory  XIV.,  Pope,  621, 

'Gregory  XV.,  Pope,  622. 

Gregory  XVI.,  Pope,  664. 

Grey  Nuns,  626. 

Groteste,  English  Bp.,  441. 

Oualbert,  John,  St.,  333. 

'Guibert,  Antipope,  364. 

Gunpowder  Plot,  583. 

Gustavus  Adolphus,  615. 

Gustavus  Vasa,  608. 

Guyana,  Missions  in,  512. 

Guy  on,  Madame,  739. 


H 

Hadrian  I.,  Pope,  286. 

Hadrian  II.,  Pope,  293. 

Hadrian  IV.,  Pope,  374  ;  AUeged  Bull  of, 
376,  446. 

Hadrian  VI.,  Pope,  537. 

Hadrian,  Emperor,  44. 

Hales,  Alexander,  459. 

Hamilton,  Scotch  Archbp.,  592. 

Hamilton,  Protestant  Proto-Martyr,  588. 

Hanno,  Archbp.,  356. 

Harald  Harfager,  264. 

Harald,  King  of  Norway,  338, 

Harding,  Abbott,  457. 

Hay,  Scotch  Bp.,  704. 

Hefele,  749. 

Hegesippus,  75. 

Helena,  St.,  52,  125. 

Helsen,  Abbe,  740. 

Helvidius,  Heresiarch,  219. 

Henoticon,  207. 

Henricians,  464. 

Henry,  Bp.  of  Upsala,  337. 

Henry,  St.,  338. 

Henry  II.,  Emperor,  302. 

Henry  III.,  Emperor,  303,  353. 

Henry  IV.,  Emperor,  359,  368. 

Henry  V.,  Emperor,  368. 

Henry  I.,  of  England,  433. 

Henry  II.,  of  England,  435. 

Henry  VIIL,  of  England,  553-566. 

Heraclius,  Emperor,  215. 

Heresy,  its  Advantages,  122;  Pum'shment 
of,  469. 

Herlembald,  356. 

Herman,  Archbp.  of  Cologne,  543. 

Hermas,  63. 

Hermenegild,  144. 

Hergenroether,  749. 

Herluin,  Abbott,  464. 

Hermes,  64. 

Hermias,  Apologist,  66. 

Hermogenes,  Bp.  184. 

Herrnhuters,  742. 

Herod  the  Great  and  the  Herodian  fam- 
ily, 2. 
Hierarchy,  101. 
Hierocles,  62. 
Hilarion,  St.,  250. 


QENEBAL  INDEX. 


767 


Hilarj,  St.  of  Aries,  177. 

Hilary,  St.,  of  Poitiers,  171,  189. 

Hincmar,  of  Rheims,  293. 

Hincmar  of  Laon,  293. 

Hippolitus,  Eccl.  Writer,  75,  78, 92. 

Holy  Scriptures,  See  Bible. 

Holland,  Church  in,  679. 

Homagiura,  434, 

Honorius  I.,  Pope,  217. 

Honorius  11. ,  Pope,  371. 

Honorius  III.,  Pope,  381. 

Honorius,  Emperor,  130. 

Honoratus,  St..  177. 

Horebites,  Party  of  Hussites,  479. 

Hosius,  Bp.,  183,  192. 

Hospitallers,  494,  496. 

Hugh  Capet  389. 

Hugh,  St.  Victor,  455. 

Huguenots,  600. 

Humanists,  531,  613. 

Humiliati,  496. 

Hunneric,  146. 

Huns,  147. 

Huss  and  the  Hussites,  177. 

Hutten,  Ulrich,  531. 

Hypatia,  150. 


Ibas  of  Edessa,  203. 

Iberians,  Conversion  of  the,  133. 

Iceland,  Evangelization  of,  265;  Protestant- 
ism in,  607. 

Iconoclasm,  313. 

Iconium,  Synod  of,  97. 

Idacius,  Bp.,  219. 

Idolatry,  forbidden,  130. 

Ignatius,  St.,  Martyr,  43,  63. 

Ignatius  of  Constantinople,  St.,  320-323. 

Ignatius  of  Loyola,  St.,  623. 

Illuminati,  Order  of  the.  683. 

Images,  Controversy  on,  in  the  East, 
313-315;  in  the  Prankish  Empire, 
316. 

Immunities  of  the  Clergy,  327,  394. 

India,  Missions  in,  501,  504,  636. 

Indians,  of  America,  See  Missions  in 
America. 

Indulgences,  486. 

InfaUibility,  Papal,  670. 


Innocent  I.,  Pope,  235. 

Innocent  IL,  Pope,  371-373. 

Innocent  III.,  Pope,  379-381. 

Innocent  lY.,  Pope,  384. 

Innocent  YI.,  Pope,  404. 

Innocent  YIII.,  Pope,  427. 

Innocent  X.,  Pope,  622. 

Innocent  XL,  Pope,  648. 

Innocent  XII.,  Pope,  649. 

Innocent  XIIL,  Pope,  650. 

lona.  Island  of,  140. 

Inquisition,  Ecclesiastical,  470 ;  Spanish, 
471. 

Instantius,  Bp.,  219. 

Interdict,  327,  374. 

Interim  of  Ratisbon,  544. 

Investitures,  Contest  of,  366-370. 

Irenasus,  St.,  47,  69,  96. 

Irene,  Empress,  317. 

Ireland,  Conversion  of,  135;  The  Church 
in,  270,  444,  705;  Attempts  to  Prot- 
estantize, 594. 

Irish  Martyrs,  597. 

Irish  Colleges  and  Seminaries,  599. 

Isaac,  Abbot,  Syrian  Writer,  180. 

Isidore,   St.,  Archbp.  of  Seville,  173,  329. 

Isidore,  Archbp.  of  Kiew,  421. 

Isidore,  (Pseudo),  False  Decretals  of,  329. 

Islam,  See  Mohammedanism. 

Isay,  Articles  of,  739. 

Itala,  (Ancient  Yulgate),  79. 

Ithacius  of  Ossonoba,  219. 

Ivo  or  Yves  of  Chartres,  St.,  481. 

J. 

Jacobins,  657. 

Jacobites,  208,  422. 

Jambhchus,  Pagan  Philosopher,  61. 

James  the  Elder,  Apostle,  15. 

James  the  Less,  Apostle,  24. 

James  I.,  of  England,  582. 

James  IL,  of  England,  698. 

Jansenius   of   Ypres  and  the  Jansenists, 

628,  737. 
Japan,  Christianity  in,  503,  667. 
Jerome,  St.,  167. 
Jerome  of  Prague,  479. 
Jeronymites,  Order  of,  497. 


768 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Jerusalem,  Council  of,  16  ;  Destruction  of, 

29 ;  Church  of,  31,  81. 
Jesuats,  Order  of,  496. 
Jesuits,  Foundation  of,  623;  Suppressioji  of, 

651;  Restoration  of,  664. 
Jesus   Christ,   Birth  and  Early  Life  of,  1 ; 

Public  Life  of,  3 ;  Passion  and  Death 

of,  6. 
Joane,  Fable  of  Popess,  292,  Note. 
Jocques,  Missionary,  523. 
John,  St.,  the  Baptist,  3. 
John,  St.,    the  Apostle,  24. 
John  of  Damascus,  St.,  160. 
John,  Bp.  of  Antioch,  203. 
John  Capistran,  St.,  482. 
John  of  the  Cross,  St.,  630. 
John  of  God,  St,  630.  '      '    "  ' 

John  L,  Pope,  238. 
John  III.,  Pope,  240. 
John  VI.,  Pope,  282. 
John  VIIL,  Pope,  293. 
John  IX.,  Pope,  297. 
John  X.,  Pope,  29t. 
John  XL,  Pope,  298. 
John  XII.,  Pope,  299. 
John  XIII.,  Pope,  300. 
John  XIV.,  Pope,  301. 
John  XV.,  Pope,  301. 
John  XIX.,  Pope,  302. 
John  XXII. ,  Pope,  402. 
John  XXIIL,  Antipope,  411. 
John  (Lackland),  of  England,  439. 
John,  Knights  of  St.,  494. 
John  de  Hatha,  St.,  495. 
John  of  Monte  Cor  vino,  339. 
John  of  Ragusa,  421. 
John  of  Salisbury,  446,  Note. 
John,  Archbp.  of  Ravenna,  293 
John  Turrecremata,  421. 
Josephus  Flavins,  9. 
Joseph  IL,  Emperor,  654. 
Jovian,  Emperor,  129,  193. 
Jovinian,  (Monk),  Heresy  of,  218. 
Juarez,  Mexican  President,  730. 
Jubilee,  486. 

Judaism,  Overthrow  of,  28. 
Jude,  St.,  Apostle,  26. 
Judaizing  Christians,  80. 
Julian,  the  Apostate,  127. 


Julian  of  Eclanum,  198. 
Julius  I.,  Pope,  234. 
Julius  IL,  Pope,  428. 
Julius  III.,  Pope,  618. 
Julius  Africanus,  Eccl.  "Writer,  75. 
Justin  Martyr,  Apologist,  65,  69,  78. 
Justin  I.,  Emperor,  207. 
Justin  IL,  Emperor,  212. 
Justinian  I.,  Emperor,  131,  145,  207,  210, 
Justinian  IL,  Emperor,  282. 
Justus,  Archbp.,  of  Canterbury,  151. 
K. 

Kant,  German  Philosopher,  683. 
Kenrick,  Archbp.,  726. 
Kentigren,  St.,  140. 
Kilian,  St.,  259,  272. 
Kitchin,  English  Bp.,  575. 
Knighis,  Religious  Orders  of,  494. 
Knox,  John,  567,  587. 

L. 

Lacordaire,  673. 

Lactantius,  68. 

Lalemant,  Missionary,  523. 

Lamennais,  664. 

Lanfranc,  432. 

Langton,  Cardinal,  439. 

Lapsi,  49,  93. 

Las  Casas,  509,  512. 

Lateran  Synods,  370,  372,  377,  380,  430. 

Latrocinium,  See  Ephesus. 

Laud,   Anglican  Archbp.   of    Canterbury, 

586. 
Laura,  Old  and  New,  250. 
Lawrence,  St.,  Martyr,  50. 
Lawrence,  Archbp.,  of  Canterbury,  16L 
Lawrence  O'Toole,  St.,  444. 
Lay  Abbots,  587. 
Lazarists,  626. 
League,  Holy,  542. 
League  of  Smallkald,  542. 
Legio  Fulminatrix,  46. 
Legio  Thebaica,  53. 
Leipzig  Disputation,  530. 
Leo  L,  Pope,  172,  205,  236. 
Leo  IL,  Pope,  242. 
Leo  IIL,  Pope,  287. 
Leo  IV.,  Pope,  292. 
Leo  IX.,  Pope,  303 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


769 


Leo  X.,  Pope,  527,  532. 

Leo  XIL,  Pope,  664. 

Leo  XTIL,  Pope,  694,  728,  752. 

Leo,  the  Isaurian,  Emperor,  313. 

Leo,  the  Armenian,  Emperor,  315. 

Leovigild,  144. 

Lepanto,  Victory  of,  620. 

Libellatici,  49,  93. 

Liberius,  Pope,  191,  234. 

Liberties,  Galhcan,  649. 

Libertines,  610. 

Licinius,  Emperor,  56,  125. 

Liguori,  St.,  478,  451. 

Lindisfame,  Abbey  of,  273. 

Literature,  Catholic,  62,  152,  304,  450,  629, 
746. 

Liturgies,  "Various,  followed  in  the  Mass, 
247. 

Llorente,  472. 

Lollards,  473. 

Lombards,  145,  285. 

Lombard,  Peter,  458. 

Lords,  Congregation  of,  590. 

Loretto  Nuns,  626. 

Lothaire  of  Lorraine,  293. 

Lothaire  II.,  Emperor,  371. 

Lucian,  Pagan  Philosopher,  59. 

Luciferian  Schism,  223. 

Ludmilla,  St.,  268. 

Luke,  St.,  Evangehst,  27. 

Louis  Bertrand,  St.,  513. 

Louis  I.,  Emperor,  290. 

Louis  the  Bavarian,  Emperor,  402-404. 

Louis  IX.,  St,  of  France,  347,  392. 

Louis  Xn.  of  France,  430. 

Louis  XIV.  of  France,  648-650. 

Louis  XVI.  of  France,  657-658. 

Louis  XVIIL  of  France,  661. 

Lucius  III.,  Pope,  378. 

Lugo,  Cardinal,  630, 

Luitprand,  the  Lombard,  283. 

Luitprand,  Bp.,  297. 

Luneville,  Peace  of,  681. 

Luther,  Martin,  528-531 ;  His  Condemna- 
tion, 532 ;  His  Translation  of  the 
Bible  and  his  Religious  System,  533- 
536;  His  Death,  544. 

Lutherans  and  Lutheran  Sect,  536-541. 

Lyons,  Councils  of,  384,  386. 


M. 

Mabillon,  749. 

Macarius,  the  Elder  and  Younger,  165,  250. 

Macarius  of  Jerusalem,  183. 

Macedonius  and  the  Macedonians,  194. 

Magna  Charta,  440. 

Mai,  Cardinal,  664. 

Maid  of  Orleans,  485. 

Maine,  Missions  in,  521. 

Majorinus.  220. 

Malabar  Customs,  504. 

Malachy,  St.,  443. 

Malchion,  Priest,  91. 

Maldonatus,  630. 

Manes  and  Manicheism,  87-88. 

Manning,  Cardinal,  702,  749. 

Mara,  Letter  of,  179. 

Marcellinus,  Pope,  Pretended  weakness  o^ 

110. 
Marcellus  II.,  Pope,  618. 
Marcellus  of  Ancyra,  183. 
Marcian,  Emperor,  205. 
Marcion,  the  Gnostic,  84. 
Marcus  Aurelius,  Emperor,  45. 
Maris,  Bp.,  Epistle  to,  203. 
Mark,  the  Evangelist,  27. 
Mark,  of  Ephesus,  421. 
Maronites,  423,  646. 
Marquette.  Missionary,  525. 
Martin  L,  Pope,  242. 
Martin  IV.,  Pope  388. 
Martin  V.,  Pope,  415. 
Martin  of  Tours,  St.,  219. 
Martyrs,  Number  of  early,  57.         • 
Maruthas,  Bp.,  131,  180. 
Mary,  Bl.  Virgin,  28  ;  Devotion  to,  120. 
Mary,  Queen  of  England,  570. 
Mary,  Queen  of  Scots,  574,  581,  591. 
Mary,  Brothers  of,  751. 
Maryland,  Missions  in,  521. 
Mass,  Sacrifice  of  the,  116,  247." 
Massacre  of  the  Irish,  598,  706. 
Massilians,  200. 

Matemus,  St.,  Bp.  of  Cologne,  36. 
Mathilda,  Countess,  364. 
Matrimony,  Sacrament  of,  118. 
Matthew,  St.,  Apostle,  26. 
Matthews,  Archbp.  of  Dublin,  599. 
Matthias,  St.,  Apostle,  26. 


770 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Matthiesen,  452. 

Maurice  of  Saxony,  544. 

Maur,  Congregation  of  St.,  625. 

Maurus,  St.,  251. 

Maxentius,  Emperor,  56. 

Maximilian  I.,  Emperor,  633. 

Maximilian  of  Mexico,  730. 

Maximilla,  89, 

Maximin  the  Thracian,  Emperor,  48. 

Maximin  Daja,  Emperor,  56. 

Maximian  Herculius,  Emperor,  52. 

Maximus,  Bp.  and  Eccl.  Writer,  173. 

Mazzini,  665. 

Mechitarist  Congregation,  645. 

Melanchton,  531,  541. 

Melchites,  645. 

Melchisedechians,  90. 

Meletian  Schism  in  Egypt,  94. 

Meletian  Schism  of  Antioch,  223. 

Melito,  Apologist,  65. 

Mellitus,  St.,  Archbp.  of  Canterbury,  151. 

Melville,  Andrew,  593. 

Menander,  82. 

Menard,  Missionary,  524. 

Mendicant  Orders,  490-493. 

Mennas,  Patr.  of  Constantinople,  211. 

Mennonites,  610. 

Mensurius,  Bp.  of  Carthage,  220. 

Mercy,  Order  of,  496. 

Methodists,  743. 

Methodius,  St.,  Bp.  and  Eccl.  Writer,  76, 

209. 
Methodius,  St.,  Apostle  of  the  Sclavonians, 

,  266. 
Metropolitan  Churches,  1 02. 
Metropc  litans.  Rank  and  Jurisdiction  of,  228. 
Mexico,  Missions  in,  510;  Church  in,  729. 
Mezzofanti,  Cardinal,  664. 
Michael  Cerularius,  323. 
Michael  of  Cesena,  402. 
Michaelade,  603. 

Michael  XL,  Balbus,  Emperor,  313. 
Michael  III.,  Emperor,  320. 
Middle  Ages,  Character  of,  253. 
Milan,  Edict  of,  124. 
Milevis,  Council  of,  198. 
Millennium,  Controversies  on  the,  95. 
Milner,  Vicar- Apostolic  in  England,  700. 
Miltiades,  Apologist,  65. 


Miltitz,  Charles,  529. 

Minims,  Religious  Order,  493. 

Minutius,  Felix,  Apologist,  67. 

Missions,  Society  of  the  Foreign,  751. 

Mohammed  and  Mohammedanism,  224. 

Mohler,  749. 

Molina  and  Moliuists,  628. 

Molinos,  Michael  de,  739. 

Mouarchia  Ecclesiastica  Sicilise,  368. 

Monarchians,  91. 

Monastic  Life  and  Communities,  248,  332, 

489,  623,  750. 
Mongus,  Peter,  207. 
Monophy sites,  204. 
Monothelites,  213. 
Montalembert,  673,  749. 
Montanus  and  Montanists,  86. 
Monfaucon,  749. 
More,  Sir  Thomas,  556,  563. 
Moral  Theology,  630,  748. 
Moran,  Cardinal,  736. 
Moravians,  Conversion  of  the,  266. 
Mormons,  746. 
Mozarabic  Liturgy,  248. 
Miinzer,  537,  539. 

Muratori,  79,  749.  ^ 

Mystical  Theology,  453. 

N. 

Nantes,  Edict  of,  604. 

Napoleon  Bonaparte,  660. 

Napoleon  III.,  673. 

Natalis,  Alexander,  749. 

Nazarenes,  81. 

Nectarius,  Patr.  of  Constantinople,  196. 

Nemesius,  Eccl.  Writer,  166. 

Neo-Platonism,  59. 

Neri,  St.  Philip,  626. 

Nero,  Emperor,  40. 

Nestorius  and  Nestorianism,  200. 

Nestorians,  203,  504. 

Netherlands,    Christianity    in    the,    259; 

Protestantism    in    the,    605;    The 

Church  in  the,  679. 
Newman,  Cardinal,  701. 
New  Granada,  Missions  in,  513. 
New  Mexico,  Missions  in,  520. 
New- York,  Missions  in,  524.  , 

New-Zealand,  Missions  in,  637. 


r 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


771 


Nice,  Councils  of,  183,  315. 

Nicolaitanes,  82. 

Nicholas  I.,  the  Great,  Pope,  292. 

Nicholas  II.,  Pope,  354. 

Nicholas  III.,  Pope,  387. 

Nicholas  IV.,  Pope,  388. 

Nicholas  V.,  Pope,  424. 

Nicholas  de  Clemangis,  409. 

Nicholas  I.,  of  Russia,  712. 

Nicholas  of  Cusa,  417. 

Ninian,  St.,  Bp.,  140. 

Nobili,  Robert  de,  Missionary,  504. 

Noetus,  91. 

Nogaret,  William,  396. 

Nominalism,  454. 

Non -Conformists,  578. 

Nonjurors,  657. 

Norbert,  St.,  463,  490. 

North  America,  Missions  in,  519;  The 
Church  in,  714-728. 

Norway,  Conversion  of,  264,  338 ;  Refor- 
mation in,  607  ;  The  Church  in,  679. 

Nova  Scotia,  Missions  in,  522. 

Novatian,  Schism  of,  at  Rome,  92, 184. 

Novatus,  Schism  of,  at  Carthage,  93. 

Nunciatures,  621. 


Oblates  of  St  Frances  of  Rome,  497. 

Oblates  of  the  Blessed  Virgin  Mary,  620. 

Ockham,  William,  402,  462. 

O'Connell,  Daniel,  410. 

Odoacer,  144. 

(Ecolampadius,  547. 

Olaf,  St.,  264. 

Old-Catholics,  740. 

Olga,  St..  269. 

Olier,  Jacques,  626. 

Olivetans,  496. 

Ophites,  Gnostic  sect,  85. 

Optatus,  St.,  of  Milevis,  172. 

Orange,   Council  of,  200. 

Orange,  William  of,  606. 

Oratorians,  626. 

Orders,  Religious,  248,  330,  488,  623,  751. 

Orders,  Mendicant,  490. 

Orders,  Military,  494. 

Organic  Articles,  660. 


Oriental  Churches,  Present  state  of  the, 

641-645. 
brigen,  72,  78. 
Origenist  Controversy,  209. 
Orphans,  Hussite  Sect,  479. 
Ostrogoths,  Christianity  among  the,  144. 
Otho  I.,  Emperor,  268,  299. 
Otho  III.,  Emperor,  301. 
Otho,  St.,  Bp.,  336. 


Pachomius,  St,  249. 

Paganism,  Extinction  of,    in  the  Roman 

Empire,  130. 
Palladius,  St,  Bp.,  135,  140. 
Palladius,  Bp.,  and  Eccl.  Writer,  165. 
Pallavicini,  630. 

Pamphylus,  St,  Eccl.  Writer,  76,  209. 
Pantaenus,  77. 
Papal  States,  284. 
Paphuutius,  183. 
Papias,  25. 

Paraguay,  Missions  in,  617. 
Paris,  Francis  of,  738. 
Parker,  Matthew,  576. 
Partition,  Bull  of,  428. 
Paschal  I.,  Pope,  290. 
Paschal  II.,  Pope,  268. 
Paschasius  Radbertus,  324. 
Patarines,  356. 
Patriarchs,  229. 
Patrick,  St,  135. 
Patripassianists,  91. 
Paul  the  Apostle,  14,  19-24. 
Paul  the  Hermit,  49,  249. 
Paul  of  Samosata,  91. 
Paul  of  Constantinople,  216. 
Paul  II.,  Pope,  425. 
Paul  III.,  Pope,  542,  617. 
Paul  IV.,  Pope,  618. 
Paul  v..  Pope  621. 
Paulianists,  91. 
Paulicianh,  466. 
Paulinus,  St,  151,  173 
Paulists,  751. 
Peasants'  War,  539. 
Pelagius  and  Pelagianism,  197. 
Pelagius  I.,  Pope,  239. 
Pella,  29. 


772 


GENERAL    INDEX. 


Penance,  Sacrament  of,  113,  244. 

Penitential  Discipline,  114-115. 

Pentecost,  10,  119. 

Pepin  the  Short,  283 ;  Grant  of,  285. 

Pepuzians,  89.  (131.) 

Persecutions  of  the  Christians,  37-57,  127, 

Persia,  Propagation  of  Christianity  in,    13 1. 

Peru,  Missions  in,  613. 

Peshito,  Syriac  Version,  78. 

Petavius,  630. 

Peter  the  Apostle,  Labors  of,  16. 

Peter  Alcantara,  St.,  631. 

Peter  Nolasco,  St.,  496. 

Peter  the  Hermit,  342. 

Peter  the  Venerable,  463-488. 

Peter's  Pence,  666. 

Petrines,  Judaic  Christians,  80. 

Philastrius.  Bp.  and  EcoL  Writer,  176. 

Philip  the  Apostle,  25. 

Philip  the  Deacon,  13,  28. 

Philip  Augustus  of  France,  392. 

Philip  the  Fair  of  France,  393. 

Philip  of  Hesse,  540,  543. 

Philippine  Islands,  Evangelization  of,  506, 

640. 
Philosophy,  Relation  of  Theology  to,  453, 

747. 
Philosophy,    Heathen,    in    opposition    to 

Christianity,  58. 
Philostratus,  Pagan  Philosopher,  61. 
Photinus,  Heresy  of,  196. 
Photius,  319-322. 
Piarists,  626. 

Picts,  (Lowland  Scots),  139. 
Pietism,  741. 
Pilgrimage  of  Grace,  561. 
Pilgrimages  to  the  Holy  Land,  341. 
Pisa,  Councils  of,  410,  430. 
Pistoja,  Synod  of,  656. 
Pitra,  Cardinal,  749. 
Pius  II.,  Pope,  425. 
Pius  IV.,  Pope,  618. 
Pius  v.,  Pope,  579,  620. 
Pius  VI.,  Pope,  654. 
Pius  VII.,  Pope,  659-664. 
Pius  IX.,  Pope,  665-671. 
Placet,  Royal,  656. 
Placidus,  St.,  26L 
Platina,  425. 


Plenary  Councils  of  Baltimore,  726-727. 

Pliny  the  Younger,  43. 

Plotinus,  Pagan  Philosopher,  60. 

Plutarch,  Pagan  Philosopher,  59, 

Poland,  Conversion  of,  269;  The  Church 
in,  713. 

Polding,  Archbp.,  734. 

Pole,  Cardinal,  563,  577. 

Polycarp,  St.,  25,  45,  96. 

Polynesia,  Missions  in,  637. 

Pombal,  651. 

Popes,  Lists  of  the,  by  early  "Writers,  105 ; 
Temporal  Dominion  of  the,  284. 

Poor  Priests  (Wycliffites),  476. 

Popish  Plot,  697. 

Porphyrins,  Pagan  Philosopher,  61. 

Portiuncula,  492. 

Port-Royal.  Monastery  of,  738. 

Pothiiius,  Bp.  46. 

Pragmatic  Sanction  of  Bourges,  423. 

Pragmatic  Sanction  of  France,  393. 

Praxeas,  Antitrinitarian,  91. 

Preachers,  Great,  481. 

Precious  Blood,  Congregation  of  the,  761. 

Predestinarianism,  200,  318,  550. 

Premonstratensians,  Order  of,  490. 

Presbyterianism,  586,  593. 

Presbyters,  99. 

Prester-John  (Priest-King),  339. 

Primacy  of  the  Roman  See,  103-105,  230- 
233. 

Primates,  228. 

Priscilla.  89. 

Priscillian,  Heresy  of,  219. 

Proclus,  Eccl.  Writer,  165 

Proclus,  Pagan  Philosopher,  61. 

Procopius,  the  Elder  and  the  Younger,  479. 

Propaganda,  622. 

Prophets,  Visionary,  of  Zwickau,  537. 

Prosper,  St.,  Eccl.  Writer,  176. 

Protestantism  Rise  and  Progress  of,  in 
Germany,  526-545;  in  Switzerland, 
545-552 ;  in  England,  553-586  ;  in 
Scotland,  587-594;  in  Ireland,  594- 
599;  in  France.  600-605;  in  the 
Netherlands,  605  ;  in  Denmark,  606; 
in  Sweden  and  Norway,  607.  Causes 
and  Effects  of  the  Protestant  Ref- 
ormation, 612. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


773 


Protestant  Sects,  609-612;  741-146. 
Prussia,  Conversion  of,   338;  the  Church 

in,  686 ;  Oppression  of  Catholics  in, 

691-695. 
Puritans,  578. 

Q. 

Quadragesimal  Fast,  119. 
Quadratus,  Bp.  and  Apologist,  44. 
Quakers,  742. 
Quartodecimans,  96. 
Quelen,  Archbp.,  673. 
Quesnel,  737. 
Quietism,  739. 
Quinisextum,  Concilium,  216. 

R. 

Rabanus  Maurus,  308,  318. 

Rabulas,  St.  Syrian  Bp.  and  Eccl.  Writer, 
180,  203. 

Badbertus,  Paschasius,  309. 

Ratramnus,  Monk,  318. 

Ravignan,  673. 

Raymond  of  Pennaforte,  St,  485,  496. 

Raymond,  Count,  468. 

Realism,  Nominalism,  Conceptualism,  454. 

Reccarred,  144. 

Recollects,  625. 

Redemptorists,  751. 

Reformation,  Protestant,  See  Protestan- 
tism. 

Regale,  Controversy  on  the,  649. 

Reiffenstuel,  748. 

Relief  Acts,  699,  705. 

Religio  licita,  50. 

Remigius,  St.,  149. 

Remonstrants  and  Anti-remonstrants,  611. 

Reuchlin,  531. 

Revolution,  French,  656-659. 

Rhodon,  Eccl.  Writer,  75,  77. 

Ricci,  Bp.  of  Pistoja,  656. 

Ricci,  Matteo,  Missionary,  506. 

Richard  of  St.  Victor,  455. 

Richard  I.  of  England,  345,  439. 

Richelieu,  605. 

Rienzi,  Nicola,  405. 

Rimini,  Council  of,  193. 

Robert  of  Molesme,  St.,  489. 


Robert  of  Abrissel,  490. 

Robespierre,  658. 

Roman  Empire,  Holy,  287,  680. 

Rome,  Founding  of  the  See  of,  16. 

Romuald,  St.,  333. 

Ronge,  740. 

Rosa  of  Lima,  St.,  514,  631. 

Roscelin,  454. 

Rossi,  Minister,  666. 

Roumanian  Catholics,  645. 

Rousseau,  656. 

Rudolph  jof  Hapsburg,  387. 

Rufinus,  Monk,  197. 

Rufinus,  Eccl.  Writer,  174,  209. 

Russia,  Conversion  of,  269  ;  The  Church 

in,  711. 
Russian  Church,  642. 
Ruthenian  Catholics,  645,  711. 


Sabas,  St.,  Abbot,  250. 

Sabellius  and  Sabellianism,  92,  181. 

Sacramentarian  Controversy,  548. 

Sacred  Heart,  Ladies  of  the,  751. 

Salvianus,  Eccl.  Writer,  178. 

Samosatians,  91. 

San  Jago,  Order  of,  495. 

Santa  Anna,  Mexican  President,  729. 

Sapor  IL,  Persian  King,  131. 

Sardica,  Council  of,  187. 

Saturninus,  the  Gnostic,  83. 

Savonarola,  428,  480. 

Saxons,  Conversion  of  the,  262. 

Scandinavia,  Evangelization  of,  262. 

Schism,  Definition  of,  92. 

Schism,  Greek,  318. 

Schism,  Great  Papal,  406. 

Schmalzgruber,  748. 

Scholasticism  and  Distinguished  School- 
men, 453—462. 

Science,  Catholic,  304,  450,  629,  746. 

Sclavonic  Liturgy,  267. 

Sclavonic  Nations,  Conversion  of,  265-270. 

Scotus  (Duns),  and  the  Scotists,  461. 

Scotland,  Conversion  of,  139  ;  Reformation 
in,  587-594 ;  The  Church  in,  447, 
702. 

Secularization  of  Ecclesiastical  Estates, 
622.  681. 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Seleucia,  Council  of,  193. 

Secundus  of  Tigisis,  220. 

Semi-Arians,  190. 

Semi- Pelagians,  199. 

Separatists,  578. 

Septuagint  (Version),  78. 

Sergius  I.,  Pope,  282. 

Sergius  IL,  Pope,  291. 

Sergius  III.,  Pope,  297. 

Sergius,  Patr.  of  Constantinople,  213. 

Servetus,  Michael,  610. 

Servites,  493. 

Severians,  208, 

Severus,  Monk,  207. 

Shaftesbury,  Earl  of,  698,  Note. 

Shakers,  745. 

Shepherd,  Sisters  of  the  Good,  626. 

Sicilian  Vespers,  388. 

Sickingen,  Francis,  531. 

Sidonius  ApoUinaris,  St.,  177. 

Sigismund,  Emperor,  412. 

Simeon,  St.,  Bp.  of  Jerusalem,  24,  80. 

Simeon,  Persian  Bishop,  131. 

Simeon  the  Stylite,  250. 

Simon  the  Apostle,  26 

Simon  the  Magician,  i3,  81. 

Simon  de  Montfort,  468. 

Simon  Stock,  St.,  493. 

Sirmium,  Councils  of,  188,  190, 

Sirmian  Formularies,  190. 

Sisters  of  the  Free  Spirit,  466. 

Sixtus  IV.,  Pope,  426. 

Sixtus  v.,  Pope,  621. 

Socinus  and  the  Socinians,  611. 

Socrates,  Church  Historian,  164. 

Sophronius,  St.,  159,  214. 

South  America,  Missions  in,  510-516 ;   The 

Church  in,  729-733. 
Sozomenus,  Eccl.  "Writer,  164. 
Spain,  The  Church  in,  280,  675. 
Spalding,  Archbp.,  727,  749. 
Spee,  Frederic,  473. 
Spiritualists,  455,  746. 
Stephen  the  Deacon,  St.,  13. 
Stephen  I.,  Pope,  104. 
Stephen  III.,  Pope,  285. 
Stephen  IV.,  Pope,  286. 
Stephen  VII ,  Pope,  296. 
Stephen  X,  Pope,  364. 


Stephen,  St.,  of  Hungary,  270 

Stephen  Harding,  St.,  489. 

Stephen  of  Tigerno,  St.,  489. 

Stylites,  250. 

Suarez,  630. 

Subunists,  480. 

Sulpicians,  626. 

Sulpicius  Severus,  BccL  Writer,  174. 

Sunday,  118. 

Supralapsarians,  611. 

Supremacy,  Establishment  of  Royal,  667 ; 
Oath  of,  560. 

Sweden,  Conversion  of,  264 ;  Reformation 
in,  608 ;  The  Church  in,  680. 

Swedenborg,  745. 

Switzerland,  Conversion  of,  257 ;  Refor- 
mation in,  545-552  ;  The  Church  in, 
685,695. 

Sylvester  I.,  Pope,  183,  234. 

Sylvester  II.,  Pope,  301,  311. 
Synesius,  Bp.  and  Eccl.  "Writer,  166. 

Syrian  Christians,  646. 

Syrian  Fathers,  178. 

T. 

Taborites,  480. 

Talleyrand,  657. 

Tanchelin,  463. 

Tarasius,  Patr.  of  Constantinople,  315. 

Tatian,  first  Apologist,  66 ;  then  Gnostic,  84, 

Templars,  Knights,  400,  494. 

Teresa,  St.,  631. 

Teman,  St.,  Scotch  Bp.,  140. 

Tertullian,  67,  73,  89. 

TertuUianists,  91. 

Test-Act,  697. 

Tetzel,  528. 

Teutonic  Knights,  496. 

Thaddeus,  Apostle,  26. 

Theatines,  625. 

Thebutis,  Ebeonite  80. 

Theodore  Ascidas,  210.  ''■ 

Theodore  of  Mopsuestia,  164,  311. 

Theodore  of  Pharan,  213. 

Theodore  of  Canterbury,  275. 

Theodoret  of  Cyrus,  164,  311. 

Theodoric,  King,  144. 

Theodosius  I.,  Emperor,  130,  194. 

Theodosius  II.,  Emperor,  194,  230, 


GENERAL   INDEX. 


776 


Theophilus  of  Alexandria,  209. 

Theophilus,  St.,  Apologist,  66. 

Theophilus,  Gothic  Bp.,  143. 

Thirty  Years'  War,  615. 

Thomas,  St.,  Apostle,  26. 

Thomas  Aquinas,  St,  387,  460. 

Thomas  h  Becket,  St  434-438. 

Thomas  k  Kempis,  497. 

Thomas  of  Villanova,  St.,  631. 

Thomas,  St,  Christians  of,  204. 

Thomists,  461,  628. 

Three  Chapters,  Controversy  on  the,  210. 

Thurlficati,  49. 

Thyestes,  Banquets  of,  39. 

Tiberius,  Emperor,  40. 

Timothy,  St.,  27. 

Titus,  St,  27. 

Titus,  Emperor,  29,  41. 

Titus  Gates,  697. 

Toledo,  Council  of,  144. 

Tolosa,  Council  of,  281. 

Tractarian  Movement,  701. 

Traditores,  54. 

Trajan,  Emperor,  43. 

Transubstantiation,  38L 

Trappists,  751. 

Trent,  Council  of,  616. 

Tribur,  Diet  of,  362. 

Trichotomy,  Platonian,  196. 

Trinitarians,  Grder  of,  494. 

TruUan  Synod,  216,  282. 

Turibius,  St.,   514,  631. 

Turstin,  Archbp.  of  Canterbury,  434. 


Ulfilas,  Bp.,  143. 

Unigenitus,  Bull,  738. 

Unitarians,  611,  746. 

United  States,  the  Church  in  the,  717-728. 

Universities,  450. 

Urban  II.,  Pope,  367. 

Urban  IV.,  Pope,  385. 

Urban  Y.,  Pope,  405. 

Urban  YI.,  Pope,  406. 

Urban  YIII..  Pope,  622. 

Ursula,  St,  and  her  Companions,  148. 

Ursulines,  626. 

Utraquists,  479. 

Theodotus  the  Elder  and  the  Tounger,  90, 


V. 

Yalens,  Emperor,  129. 
Yalentia,  Council  of,  200. 
Yalentinian  I.,  Emperor,  129. 
Yalentinian  II.,  Emperor,  130. 
Yalentinus,  the  Gnostic,  83. 
Yallombrofia,  Order  of,  333. 
Vandals,  Christianity  among  the,  146. 
Yarlet,  738. 
Yasquez,  630. 

Vatican,  Council  of  ^e,  668. 
Venezuela,  Missions  in,  512. 
Verbiest,  Missionary,  507. 
Verdun,  Treaty  of,  291. 
Verona,  Council  of,  470. 
Vespasian,  Emperor,  29,  41. 
Victor  I.,  Pope,  96, 107. 
Victor  II.,  Pope,  353. 
Victor  in..  Pope,  366. 
Victor,  Bp.  and  Eccl.  Writer,  176. 
Victor  Emmanuel,  King,  665. 
Victorinus,  Eccl.  "Writer,  175. 
Vienne,  Council  of,  400. 
Vigilantius,  Heresy  of,  218. 
Vigilius,  Pope,  211. 
Vincent  of  Lerins,  St,  178,  200. 
Vincent  Ferrer,  St.,  482. 
Vincent  de  Paul,  St,  630. 
Visigoths,  Christianity  among  the,  148. 
Visitation,  Order  of  the,  626. 
Voltaire,  656. 

Vulgate,   Ancient,  or    Itala,  79;   of    BL 
Jerome,  167. 

W. 

Waldo,  Peter,  and  the  Waldenses,  464. 
Ward,   Mary,  Foundress  of    the    Loretto 

Nuns,  626. 
Weishaupt,  683,  Note. 
Wenceslaus,  Emperor,  409. 
Wesel,  480. 
Wesley,  743. 
Wessel,  480. 

West  Indies,  Missions  in  the,  507. 
Westphalia,  Peace  of,  616,  622. 
Whitefield,  744. 
Wilfrid,  St,  260,  275. 
William,  the  Conqueror,  432. 
Wilham  of  Paris,  463. 


776 


GENERAL  INDEX. 


Winfrid,  261, 

Wiseman,  Cardinal,  "702. 

Wishart,  588. 

"Witchcraft  Frenzy,  473,  722,  Note  1. 

Wittekind,  263. 

Wolsey,  Cardinal,  553,  556. 

Worms,  Concordat  of,  370. 

Worms,  Diet  of,  533. 

Wycliffe,  473-476. 

X. 

Xavier,  St  Francis,  501. 


Xaverian  Brothers,  751. 
Ximenes,  Cardinal,  510. 


Zacharias,  Pope,  262,  282. 
Zeno,  St.,  Bp.  172. 
Zeno,  Emperor,  207. 
Zinzendorf,  742. 
Ziska,  479. 

Zosimus,  Pope,  198,  235. 
Zwickau,  Prophets  of,  531, 
Zwincrle,  545-546 


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